Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars
If you’re in need of portable whole grains, these are perfect. They are the flavor of good nutrition!
Baked Oatmeal Snack Bars
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cup dried fruit (I used 1/4 cup cranberry trail mix, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup chopped dried "just banana" from TJ’s)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1.25 cups skim milk
- 1 egg or egg substitute
- 1 tsp vanilla
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350*
- Mix dry ingredients.
- Mix wet ingredients.
- Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
- Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
- Cut into 9 squares.
Makes 9 servings . Each bar is appx. 165 calories, 3 grams fiber and 5 grams protein.
You can double the recipe and use a 9×13 baking dish. While delicious, the only sweetness in these comes from the dried fruit. Add in 1/4 – 1/2 cup brown sugar if you like.
The variations are endless: cranberries, coconut, all kinds of dried fruit, nuts, etc.
Going into the oven :
Parchment makes this SO easy:
So does a pizza cutter :
Whole grains to go.
NOTE: These are NOT crunchy like a granola bar. They are chewy like thick muffin.
I wrapped each bar in plastic wrap and put them in a ziplock bag in the freezer . When ready to eat, just grab and go, or microwave for instant enjoyment.
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Yum! I just made these and they’re terrific – far better and healthier than anything you can buy premade. Thank you so much for sharing this!
how do you think it would work with half rolled oats and half oat bran? anybody? thanks!
i made these last night for a long car ride we’re taking today (from FL to TN – ugh!). I used almonds instead of walnuts and all raisins. they are delicious!
I made these last night, and they’re amazing! That might be because I added 2/3 a bag of chocolate chips! I also doubled the recipe and used 1/4 c pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts, dried cherries for the fruit, and vanilla almond milk. They tasted like a big chewy cookie. Thanks for this awesome base recipe!
Awesome Erin!! Glad you like ‘em. I need to put choco chips in next time
K
This recipe looks great!! I just wanted to check though, how much milk is 1.25 cups? Is that 1 1/4 cups, I don’t want to seem dense but wanted to be sure!
Thanks!
Cindy ,
Yes, 1.25 cups is 1 and 1/4 cups.
Kath
Thanks Kath! I am loving your website.
Take care
Cindy
I have made these twice so far. They are really good! I use dates for the dried fruit and chopped almonds instead of the walnuts. I also use 3 tbsp honey and add 1/4 cup wheat germ. YUM! Thanks for the great recipe!
How long would these be good for if you didn’t freeze them? Thanks!
Laura,
I’m not sure, but probably about a week?
Kath
I made these and loved them. I would heat them up and they reminded me of warm bread pudding. I wonder if pumpkin could be added….or maybe a carrot cake version.
These look so good and like the perfect healthy snack! Definitely saving this recipe.
Hi there!
I tried this recipe and it was great! It is super easy to make and super healthy! I recommend it to anyone who want to have a energy snack on hand and homemade. Thanks Kath!
I made these and instead of using 1 1/4 cups of milk, I used 1/2 cup of ceres juice blend and the rest water, also instead of the egg I used about 2 tbsp plain PB(no salt or sugar in the PB). The recipe says 1 tsp salt, I added this but found these to be wayyy too salty! Is this a typo or are they supposed to taste this salty?
Allison ,
Did you use table salt? I usually cook with kosher salt, which is much better crystals and much less salty. I’m going to go edit the recipe to say so, but that’s probably why yours was too salty.
Kath
Would I be able to substitute rolled oats for the quick cooking oats in this recipe?
Nadia ,
Since quick oats are cut smaller and cook much quicker, you need less liquid and less time. I think if you use rolled oats you might want to par-cook them first to ensure they cook fully.
Kath
Probably a dumb question…but are quick oats the same thing as rolled oats? I made these last week and used quick oats, rather than rolled…not on purpose, just an oversight. I baked them for 50 minutes and they were still a little raw on the bottom.
melissa ,
Rolled oats are steel cut oats that have been flattened; quick oats have also been cut to increase the surface area (and cooking time) and may have been par-cooked as well. So if anything quick oats should have cooked faster than rolled. I’m not sure why they were raw on the bottom, but these bars are kind of on the gooey/moist side so maybe that’s just how they are? (I haven’t made them in a while to remember).
Kath
These look amazing–nice and soft, like a big, guilt-free cookie. And for my two cents about the substitution, quick oats are cut much smaller and measure differently, so using them may have screwed up the balance of ingredients. Or your oven is wonky.
I went way out on a limb and made some of these today. I added chocolate chips. I used almonds and diced up some pitted prunes, but only about four of those – shhhh, they look like chocolate chips. I also put in some honey and brown sugar. Sorry, but I’ve still got a pampered sweet-tooth. They are delicious. I think my super-uber-megafussy and afraid to try anything new almost 10 year old son might even like these. Like a cookie, but like a muffin just as described. YUM!
OMgosh! I made these this morning, and they are WONDERFUL!!!! They will be the perfect snack to stash in my gymbag for a quick pre or post workout pick-me-up!! Love the blog…I’m addicted!
Thank you for your motivation!!
Thank you so much for these. I’ve been looking everywhere for a snack bar recipe and the only ones I can find seem to have tons of added sugar. (Why not just make cookies at that point?) I used slivered almonds, dried black currants, dried cranberries, and 1 oz. unsweetened baker’s chocolate. I also used light, plain soymilk and it worked well. They’re great! I’m going to make them for my boyfriend to take on his long days, but I’ll have to sweeten them up a bit for him
I’m thinking honey and ss choc chips.
These look so delicious Kath! Quick question – I am NOT a fan of dried fruit in any form (I’m working on this), so I am wondering if there is anything I could substitute for the dried fruit (more nuts?) that wouldn’t make these too unhealthy. Any ideas? Thanks!
Dale ,
Try fresh fruit – berries, banana, maybe even chopped apple. Or more nuts. Either would be good!
Kath
I printed this recipe a while back and just got around to making them today. They were really good. My kids just loved them. I did put some choc. chips in them. They kept asking for more.
I just made these, and boy let me tell you, I had the smoothest and best bowel movements that I have had in years! PLUS they are tastey as all hell.
Ps, for added enjoyment you can add some “herb” for a light kick and zing!
Yum! I made these last weekend with raisins, dried cranberries, and a few dark chocolate chips. so tasty!!
Next time i’m going to play around with some variations… maybe add some WW flour and mashed banana to see how it comes out? I’ll let you know
has anyone ever tried this with steel cut oats?
Kath,
I have to tell you that I love these bars! The first time I made them all I had was some almonds and walnuts and raisins.. and although it was sweet (since there was no fruit in it) it was fantastic in my morning yogurt! This time around I got some dried fruit. Who would have known that it was soooo easy to make this delicious snack! Thank you so much for sharing this receipe! I love it.
YUM! I made these this weekend with craisins and walnuts, along with a little brown sugar and honey. Perfect way to sneak in an oatmeal snack at work!!
Hi! I have a question, I love to eat chocolate chips as well, but how many chips is in a tbsp portion?
catherine dooley,
I really don’t know! Maybe 15? Do you not have a tbsp to put some in when you bake them?
Kath
These are awesome! I bring them to work on days when I go straight to the gym at the end of my work day. It gives me just the right kind of energy. I add no extra sweeteners except for the dried fruit and LOVE that it’s not too sweet. The fact that I can get all the ingredients organic feels extra good!
Kath, do you think I could substitute a cup of pureed banana in place of the milk?
Meghan ,
I think you need a little bit of liquid in there. Perhaps banana mixed with water? Or use soy milk?
K
Could you use applesauce instead of milk?
Amanda ,
I think you need the liquid. Maybe use applesauce + apple juice?
K
Mine totally stuck and the wax paper was stuck to them.
They weren’t even cooked through. I don’t know what I did wrong..
I stumbled onto your blog a week or so ago and couldn’t wait to make these! I’m huge into granola and granola bars, but always wanted to make them healthier. Granola has such potential to be a healthy snack, but everytime I found a recipe online it would have all these unnecessary oils or fats and didn’t have the texture I was looking for. I have to say-this recipe was like hitting the jackpot! The first time I made them I stuck to your recipe, and although I use kosher salt in everything I make as well, I found them to be quite salty (but still delicious after a little drizzle of honey!) The last (three!) times I’ve made them I cut down on the salt quite a bit (only about 1/4 tsp) and drizzled the top of the bars with real maple syrup (can you say YUM!!) I make them using Original Almond Breeze instead of skim milk and they come out perfect everytime
Thanks for such a great healthy recipe!
I’m brand new to the “food blogging” world and came across your site a few weeks ago…what a great find! You inspired me to start my own. I made the oatmeal bars tonight, following the recipe exactly except for adding dried cherries and cranberries and no dried banana. It was delicious. I can’t wait to take it for a snack tomorrow and make another batch soon. Thanks for such a healthy and tasty recipe!
Question instead of comment…..
I received a food box and in it was instant oatmeal with brown sugar, I would like to use it in the granola recipe. Hate to throw food away with the cost so high. How can I incorporate it into the bars?
Chris ,
I think these would be a good way to use up instant oats. But I only made this recipe once, so I don’t really know how the smaller quick oats would react. I would be tempted to mix instant and rolled together, and leave out the sweeteners due to the brown sugar flavor. Let us know how they turn out!
Kath
Just made these today… I tweeked them a bit based on what I had on hand. I reduced the walnuts to 1/3 c. (I’m calorie counting and that helps!). For the dried fruit I used ~1/3 c. of chopped crasins and ~1/8 c. of chopped dried apricots (had them leftover from another recipe). I also added 1.5 TBS mini chocolate chips, about 1/8 c. of stevia (I need some sweetness), and instead of skim milk… 1.25 c. unsweetened vanilla almond breeze. It turned out great!! I’m SO happy I stumbled across this site! I’m excited to try other recipes!
Oh yeah… they came out to approximately 115 calories a piece (with 9 servings like you called for!)
Is the oven F or C? Farenheit or whatever it is called?
My oven only goes up to 270 degrees C
Luna ,
Fahrenheit.
Kath
Thanks
They tasted great! Made them at a too high temperature but took them out a bit too early and they still tasted wonderful!
I made these. Talk about AWESOME. SO GOOD. Perfect for freezing. I’m in a dorm, but when I go home, I make these and freeze them and they are perfect in the morning after sometime in the microwave. <3
Amazing! I made these earlier; except I used dried apricots, dried apple, & slivered almonds. My toddler even loves these! THANKS! I will definitely be making these again!
We are always on the go and with two little ones, it’s important for me that we eat healthful! I was so excited to try these bars! They turned out okay, kind of mushy, not dry like I had expected. I used chocolate chips instead of dried fruit which may have been the reason. I used old fashion quakers oats. Is that the right kind?
Also, has anyone tried these with peanut butter and applesauce? I’m hoping to try but I’m not sure the amounts.
I made these with three smashed bananas, and no dried fruit – they were delicious and my 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and 1-year-old all loved their snack bars! Thanks for a great recipe…
I wanted to print the Baked Oatmeal Receipe and I don’t see a print friendly option???? It printed 17 pages – includes all comments???? Is their an easier and more economical way to print the recipes??
Thanks.
Donna ,
Sorry about that. I would suggest copying and pasting into a Word document.
Kath
I made a rookie mistake and put in pecans instead of walnuts. I DO NOT recommend this! Very bitter… Better luck next time!
Just found your website and I’m so excited. I’m on the “Fat SMash” diet (silly name, I know, but making sense for me) and I’m really tired of my food options. You opened a whole world.
Thanks for this blog. And all of your photos are great!
How much fat in these? They look amazing. Can’t wait to make them.
I have a batch of these in the oven right now…I’m going away for the weekend somewhere I know I won’t be able to get a lot of healthy food, so I wanted to bring something along and these fit the bill. I subbed hemp milk and cashew butter for the milk and egg, and threw in a mixture of gojis, chopped prunes and apricots, and almonds. I hope they’re good!
I have been looking for a recipe like this. I absolutely hate oatmeal when it is cooked and mushy – yuck. But since it is so good for you I am trying to incorporate it into my diet in some form other than cookie. Am going to give this recipe a try – it just may be the thing that gets me to eat morning oatmeal. Thanks.
I am sure these would be great if one did not forget the milk when making them.. I guess I will now have granola for my morning yogurt..
Ooh! I love baking, especially desserts, but I’m trying to find some healthy alternatives to all the brownies and cupcakes I used to make. These look AWESOME! Plus I always have all of those ingredients on hand anyway, so making them will be easy. Love the idea that you had about wrapping/freezing them and taking them out whenever you need one–that’s super convenient! I can’t wait to bake some of these. Thanks for sharing the recipe and nutritional info.
I love these!! I have my third batch baking right now. I was looking for a healthy bar recipe of some kind for snacks for my toddler (and my husband and myself). This is the perfect recipe format and all the comments gave me great ideas. I basically do the oatmeal, cinnamon, pinch of salt, vanilla, milk, and egg and then add some mix of fruit and nut or seeds (either whole or in “butter” form). I make it different every time. We love them all. Thanks so much!
I made these last week, and I love the flavor. Finally, an unsweet granola-ish bar. But, I have a question – mine are kind of soggy on the bottom. Is this normal? In the pictures, the cut lines look so clean that I was expecting them to be a little crunchy on the bottom…
Stephanie,
They are not really that crunchy – chewy is better. And I think mine were a bit soggy as well. It’s been a while since I’ve made them!
Kath
Thanks, Kath! That’s a relief…they certainly are delicious. Yesterday, I had one has a late night snack. Yummy, yummy…
I have these in the oven right now, but I noticed you don’t say how long they should bake. Any chance you may answer this within the next half hour or I’ll just wing it.
Debbie
Debbie,
It says right in the recipe above for 40 minutes.
Kath
Had to leave a follow up comment. I just made these for the 3rd time in 1 month. It is the thing that gets me to eat oatmeal (other than cookies
I like apricots and cranberries so those are the dried fruits I use (chopping the apricots into small cubes).
I have also made them adding 2 TBSP of mini-chocolate chips. Very good, but I like them equally with or without chocolate.
I added 1-2 TBSP brown sugar once and could live without it. I also add a few dashes of nutmeg and cut the salt in half (even using kosher) to suit my taste.
Great breakfast or snack on the go. Thanks for the recipe.
A friend sent this blog to me a few days ago, (because I love oatmeal), so I decide to take a look at it today. Wow! all the oatmeal recipes look s great!
I’m making baking the Oatmeal Snake Bars right now.
YUM! Made these on a whim last night and couldn’t keep my fingers out of them as soon as they came out of the oven
I used So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk (only 50 kcals for 8oz) instead of skim milk, added about 1/2 C pumpkin puree (I’m a pumpkin freak), did pumpkin seeds and walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla. Next time I’ll whirl the wet stuff in a blender and add a banana and some flax seeds. So yummy Kath, I had half a one for snack this am and the other half tonight with a smear of PB, delish. Even my hubby likes them and that’s saying a lot! Thanks for the great recipe 
These are perfect. They’re not crumbly like so many healthy oatmeal bars are. They’re dense and the oatmeal and nuts add some great texture. The dried fruit (I used cherries) adds the perfect amount of sweetness. I added 2 tablespoon of brown sugar but I easily could’ve omitted sugar all together. Next time I’ll double the recipe and I will keep making this for a long time. My kids liked it, too.
I am making attempts at eating better but I have an insane sweet tooth. Recipes like this are incredibly helpful. Thanks so much.
I just made some of these for the second time. The first time around I added peanut butter, coconut oil, and applesauce. I love that they had a brownie like texture. They could do double duty as breakfast and dessert. This time around I kept it very simple. I used oats, coconut oil, soy milk, dried cranberry and dried apple. Nothing else. I doubled the recipe but I didn’t double the liquid, so this helped make them a little drier. They are delicious! My fiance loves them so much and keeps asking me to make them. They are an oatmeal lover’s delight!
I just made these. These are perfect for taking hunting! Thank you for this amazing reciepe!! Also perfect for taking them to the farm in the morning. Great reciepe! I put chocolate chips and pecans in mine.
I just made these and scarfed one hot out of the oven- yum! Definitely use kosher salt or reduce the amount if you use table salt. I used 1 tsp table salt and these are pretty salty, but it’s a nice contrast with the sweet raisins and dates I used. These would be tasty with some greek yogurt on top! Or, y’know, vanilla ice cream.
I subbed almond milk for the skim and 1/2 a well-mashed banana for the egg.
Thanks for a great recipe, Kath!
Excellent ! I omitted egg in making this recipe. Keep up the good work.
Just wanted to drop a note here and thank you so much for this great recipe. I have a specially abled son and I don’t want him to have an over abundance of sugar. I looked and looked for something he could take to work for his breaks that didn’t have to much sugar but that he would eat.
This has the added advantage of my being able to sneak in a 7 grain type of oatmeal and anything I happen to have on hand. You are so right, the possibilities are endless. Great way to use up little bits of things too. I added a touch of nutmeg as well. Thanks again.
I have a batch of these in the oven right now, and I am using quick oats, which are not the same as rolled oats, are they? The recipe calls for rolled oats, is this a mistake? I hope they come out ok. I am so looking forward to a bar I can take with me when I am on the run. Thanks for your contribution and please let us know what type of oats to use, rolled oats or quick. I know instand is a whole diff parboiled oat.
Lori,
I used old fashioned rolled, but I think quick oats work OK too. They might need a little less liquid.
Hope yours turned out OK,
Kath
I loooove this recipe!! I made it yesterday and my family, which normally hates oatmeal, loved it! I like that the recipe doesn’t call for added flour or sugar. Perfect! Just perfect! Also I used soy milk. Thank you!!!
oh wow, i’m so excited to try out this recipe!!! i love taking granola bars as quick snacks for my busy school/work days, but i know they’re loaded with bad stuff, so this is great! thanks so much for sharing!
i’m a new reader but i ADORE your blog & am getting so many ideas! love it!
I have these in the oven right now. I changed the ingredients a bit, used pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, a few chocolate chips, raisins, and some dried mango. yum! I hope they come out great!
Kath,
New to your site, but so glad I found it! Great oatmeal bars. So many recipes out there are for more cake-like bars with tons of sugar, fats, flour, etc. These were PERFECT! I also added chocolate chips, as many readers did. Wondering if you could make this with tofu milk (soy milk) and flax seed (for the egg) instead. Then they’d be vegan as well! Will try that out someday and let you know. Thank you!
Wow. Great recipe and great suggestions. Liquid appears to be a 1 to 1 ratio to oatmeal (1.5 cups to 1.5 cups (1.25 cups milk, plus approx .25 cup of egg)). Do you think I could use water (1.5 cups) instead of the skim milk, omitting the egg or egg product and vanilla? Also, if I wanted it crunchier, should I halve the water or milk? Similarly, would you reduce the liquid if using fresh fruit that contains more water, such as bananas or berries? Thanks. I’m looking forward to trying this out.
Cliff,
I wouldn’t use water – I think it would be a bit bland. But you could certainly try it out. I also think the egg is important as a binder. I would add less liquid for a berry, but not for a banana. And they would probably be crunchier with less liquid, but they also might fall apart.
I’ve never made any changes to these (in fact, I’ve only made them once!!) so I really don’t know the recipe well enough to advise any alterations.
Kath
This bar turned out very chewy. I actually like my bars crunchy but this was okay. I replaced every ingredient. I still used oats, but I used fresh fruit, maple syrup and replaced milk with juice. Also, i didnt use any egg. I used a mashed banana instead. I used a lot of spices besides cinnamon and used cashews instead of walnuts. Turned out pretty good.
Definitely going to make these tomorrow…maybe even right now
Great website Kath, very motivating.
Just a comment on all the posting about soggy/mushy bars…Has anyone tried putting them in the toaster before eating them?? Just a thought.
I made these yesterday in my dorm room and kitchen downstairs! Followed the recipe except used dark chocolate chips instead of the dried fruit, and didn’t add as much salt. So tasty!
I just made these and they came out great! I only had quick cooking oats, so I used 1 cup of milk instead of 1.25 cups. I used craisins for the dried fruit, and added 1/4 cup light brown sugar.
I’m making these tonight – they look amaaaaazing! This semester is crazy for me, and I’m running out of on-the-go snacks for my hubs and I!! Thanks for the recipe and awesome website!! Give me a buzz if you ever make it to Houston:)
Hey Kath these look great!, I can’t wait to try the recipe. Do you know how many carbs are in each serving?
Dan, I don’t count anything anymore so I have no idea, but you could plug the ingredients into a nutrition calculator and figure it out.