By Alexandra Caspero on January 24, 2018
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You’ve gotta try these healthy oatmeal bars, they’re naturally sweetened oatmeal cookie bars, layered with dark chocolate almond butter. A simple vegan cereal bar recipe!
this Recipe
Healthy Oatmeal Bars!
Let me introduce you to your new favorite snack. Or dessert. Or breakfast. Or, anytime you want really want chocolate but also the wholesomeness of oatmeal and almonds.
These bars don’t last too long in my house. I’ve been making a batch a few times a month and BL always bee-lines for them as soon as I set them in the fridge. If you’ve followed our story for any time, you know that BL doesn’t bee-line for everything. He’s particularly wary of anytime I use dessert and kinda healthyin the same sentence.
But these? These are a favorite.
A super simple vegan cereal bar recipe!
Thankfully, they are also easy to put together. If you’ve ever made any kind of cereal bar before, you can make these.
Combine the oats, flour, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond butter and spices together to make a dough. It should come together fairly easily, but you might need to add a little more almond butter/flour depending on what kind of oats you use and how runny your almond butter is. You’ll know it’s right when you can pinch off a piece with your hands.
Place half of that in a 8×8″ baking dish and press to form a thick layer. Pop that in the fridge to harden while you make the chocolate.
Oh yeah, the chocolate. See that ribbon of dark chocolate? That’s what takes these bars to a whole ‘nother layer of deliciousness. I used dark chocolate chips, but you could also use a combination of dark and milk chocolate if you prefer. Need to keep these vegan? Then be sure to select dairy-free chocolate chips. We love Enjoy Life dairy-free chips!
Melt the chocolate, spread on top and pop back into the fridge to harden. Don’t worry, it doesn’t take too long. You just need the chocolate firm enough to spread more of the almond-oat dough on top.
Top with the oat mixture, then place back in the fridge one last time to firm up. This is usually about the time when BL comes into the kitchen asking if they are done.
Patience grasshopper, patience.
Slice ’em and eat! Because these have coconut oil in them, you’ll want to store them in the fridge. If by some miracle you don’t eat all of them in a few days, wrap the bars in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for 2-3 minutes. Thaw before eating.
Watch how to make these Dark Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Bars!
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Dark Chocolate Almond Oatmeal Bars
- Author: Alex Caspero
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
- Category: snack
- Method: No bake
- Cuisine: vegan
Description
You’ve gotta try these healthy oatmeal bars, they’re naturally sweetened oatmeal cookie bars, layered with dark chocolate almond butter. A simple vegan cereal bar recipe!
Print Recipe
- Author: Alex Caspero
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
- Category: snack
- Method: No bake
- Cuisine: vegan
- Author: Alex Caspero
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
- Category: snack
- Method: No bake
- Cuisine: vegan
Scale
Ingredients
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup oat flour or almond flour*
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 3/4 cup almond butter, divided (or other nut-butter)
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line a 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, maple syrup, 1/2 cup almond butter, coconut oil, vanilla and cinnamon. The mixture should be sticky and clump together easily. If it’s too crumbly, add a bit more nut butter. If too wet, add in more oats/flour.
- Transfer half of the mixture into the baking pan and spread evenly. I like to use a piece of parchment paper to press down the mixture evenly, but a small rolling pin (or your fingers!) also works. Place in the fridge and let harden for at least 30 minutes.
- After the mixture has hardened in the fridge, melt the chocolate chips along with the remaining 1/4 cup almond butter in a double boileror small pot over boiling wateruntil creamy and smooth. Pour the chocolate on the oat layer and refrigerate until hardened, about 1 hour.
- Remove the chocolate layer from the fridge and place the remaining oat mixture on top. I think it’s easiest to crumble the the remaining dough all over the chocolate and press together. Place back in the fridge to harden, at least 30 more minutes.
- Slice into 9-12 bars (depending on what size bar you like). The bars will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer.
Notes
*To make oat flour: placed rolled oats into a blender or food processor and pulse until a fine flour forms.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 256
- Sugar: 19 g
- Sodium: 41 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 34 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 5 g
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If you like these Healthy Oatmeal Bars, then you’ll want to try my , Apple Pie Bars, Apple Pie Bars,Almond Joy Granola Bars, Almond Joy Granola Bars
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Meet Alex Caspero
Alex Caspero is a Registered Dietitian, New York Times Bestselling Chef, and mom of two. She aims to cut through the nutrition noise by providing real-life, nourishing tips for body and mind. Learn more about Alex.
(35 comments) leave a comment
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These are delicious. I cut mine much smaller though. Also, the granola top didn’t stick to the hardened chocolate so I will add the top while the chocolate is still soft.
Reply
I would put the oatmeal topping on top of the chocolate while the chocolate was still warm instead of waiting till the chocolate cools. My oatmeal topping wouldn’t stick to the chocolate and fell off.
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Love these!!!
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Looks like a good recipe. Could I use a butter substitute like Earth Balance instead of the coconut oil? And could I add some protein powder (I have unsweetened collagen powder), how much would you add, and do you have to change anything else if you add it? I want to have a good amount of protein in my bars for breakfast. Thanks.
Reply
Hi Cynthia,I have never made this with protein powder so not sure how that would effect the texture and ratio of other ingredients but if you try it, let me know how it works out. Earth Balance should be OK– the trick is that the fat needs to be solid at room temperature so the butter should work.
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These came out amazing!! Perfect snack to just grab and go for some energy!
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What would your replacement recommendations be if I have a tree nut allergy. I’m fine with peanut butter, but what about the almond flour? Thanks!
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You can do oat flour (just pulse rolled oats together until a flour forms)
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Can’t wait to try these but wondering if I could sub the melted coconut oil for mct oil? It’s essentially the same thing…
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I would think it would work… but haven’t tried it. My only hesitation is making sure it will help to solidify the bars like coconut oil does once chilled.
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The recipe is amazing! I used coconut butter instead of oil and I added roasted almonds (grounded, from the almond milk I make), so I increased a bit the peanut butter. I used teff flour for the whole grained one. It came out amazing!!!! Everybody loved it!! Thank you!
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So glad you liked them!
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Made these for Book Club and love that they were not too sweet. The oatmeal mixture seemed to hold together well until I cut them into bars and they just crumbled. Any thoughts on how to keep them from falling apart?
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I kept the bars wrapped individually with parchment paper in the refrigerator. Easier for the family to take with them even if they kept them outside for a while!
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Hi Lee- sorry to hear they fell apart. I keep them in the fridge until just ready to serve. Were they out at room temperature for a while?
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Hey! Your recipe yield says “16” but in the instructions, it says cut into 9-12. Just wondering which number was used in the nutrition calculation? Thanks!! They look awesome!
Reply
Just updated! 12 bars. Thanks 🙂
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