Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with Wild Blueberries

Breakfast just got better with these soft Oatmeal Breakfast Bars, which can be hand-held or eaten with a fork. Featuring antioxidant-rich frozen wild blueberries, this make-ahead breakfast can make your mornings easier, tastier, and healthier all at the same time! Whether you’re looking for something to make back-to-school season less chaotic, need healthier options in the morning, or just want to get out of a breakfast rut, these Wild Blueberry Breakfast Bars can solve the problem. 

This post was created in partnership with Wild Blueberries of North America

Can You Make Your Own Breakfast Bars? 

When busy seasons of life come your way, an easy breakfast is just the thing to make mornings a little smoother. These Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with Wild Blueberries check all the boxes for make-ahead prep, great taste, good nutrition, and on-the-go convenience. You’ve likely seen many breakfast bar options on the shelf at your local grocery store and wondered if you can make your own. The answer is yes! This recipe for DIY Breakfast Bars results in soft and tender breakfast bars that you can eat right out of your hand, or if you have a little more time, sit down to enjoy a piece with a fork, topped with some yogurt, a drizzle of nut butter, more wild blueberries or banana slices, and some chopped walnuts. 

Ingredients to Make Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Here’s what you’ll need to gather to make a batch of these gluten-free breakfast bars: 

• Old-fashioned rolled oats – use old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats or steel-cut oats, both of which would not result in the right texture for these bars. Oats are naturally gluten free, but if you’re making these bars for someone with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, ensure the oats were made in a factory that does not also process gluten-containing grains to avoid cross contamination
• All-purpose gluten-free flour blend – our go-to’s are Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour and King Arthur Measure for Measure. Regular all-purpose flour may also be used if you don’t need your breakfast bars to be gluten-free 
• Baking soda
• Ground cinnamon – you’ll need 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Fine salt – you’ll need ½ teaspoon salt
• Banana – use a yellow or spotted brown banana; may sub ½ cup applesauce
• Eggs
• Butter – may substitute coconut oil for a dairy-free option
• Maple syrup – honey may also be used as a natural sweetener option, or may sub ¼ cup brown sugar 
• Pure vanilla extract
• Frozen wild blueberries – find these in the freezer case and look for “wild” on the package
• Walnuts – may sub pecans or another favorite nut
• Optional toppings – you may want to serve these bars topped with yogurt, almond butter or peanut butter, additional fresh fruit and nuts, chocolate chips, or a dash of cinnamon

To make these breakfast oat bars, find the ingredient list with exact measurements in the recipe card below.

Spotlight On: Wild Blueberries

Wild blueberries are one of just three indigenous fruits that are native to North America. They first started growing in Maine more than 10,000 years ago and still grow there today. Unlike other types of produce, wild blueberries have never been hybridized or genetically modified to enhance or alter their naturally occurring benefits and great taste. Wild blueberries are:

• High in antioxidants
• A naturally low-sugar fruit
• Top source of manganese
• A fiber-rich fruit
• Good for your brain

Learn More About Wild Blueberries

How To Make These Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

These yummy wild blueberry baked oatmeal bars come together in these quick steps: 

1. Prep your space: Preheat the oven and grease a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray, butter, or line with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients: Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Mix the wet ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla.
4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients: Gently fold the oat mixture and the banana mixture together. Next gently fold in the add-ins: walnuts and wild blueberries.  
5. Add toppings and bake: Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and top with more wild blueberries and walnuts. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until golden brown and the center is baked through (a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). 
6. Cool and cut into squares: Let the bars cool at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares. If desired, top servings with yogurt, a drizzle of peanut butter, additional fruit, and a dash of cinnamon. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. 

For the complete directions, ingredient amounts, and nutrition analysis that lists calories (kcal), protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, fiber, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol per serving, scroll down to the recipe card below.

Recipe Tips For Success

These two tips will help ensure your breakfast bars come out exactly right every time: 

1. Rather than letting them come to room temperature, keep the wild blueberries in your freezer until just right before you add them to the batter, which also helps prevent the juice from the blueberries bleeding into the bars and making them appear too dark
2. When you add the wild blueberries to the batter, fold them in very gently so they don’t discolor the bars

More Oat-Based Breakfasts To Try

Peanut Butter Banana Overnight Oats

Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Oat Cookies

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal with Toasted Pecans

Baked Vanilla Protein Oatmeal (Soft Breakfast Bars)

Wild Blueberry Mojitos

You can also enjoy frozen wild blueberries in these refreshing and lower added sugar Wild Blueberry Mojitos. They’re a 100-calorie cocktail and naturally sweetened and colored with gorgeous purple wild blueberries. Includes a mocktail option, as well. 

Try Wild Blueberry Mojitos

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Recipe

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Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with Wild Blueberries

A healthy oatmeal breakfast bar that can be eaten handheld or with a fork. Perfect for breakfasts on-the-go and make-ahead breakfasts for easy, healthy, and delicious mornings. Featuring naturally sweet and nutritious wild blueberries.

Prep: 15 minsCook: 22-26 minsTotal: 37-41 mins

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Servings: 9 servings 1x

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Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup gluten-free flour blend*
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 1 medium bananas (yellow or spotted brown), mashed (½ cup)** 
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (may substitute melted coconut oil)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅔ cups chopped walnuts, divided
• 1 cup frozen wild blueberries, divided***

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray or oil or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Give it a quick stir and set aside.
3. In another bowl, mix together the mashed banana, eggs, melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined.
4. Add the banana mixture to the oat mixture along with ½ cup of walnuts, and stir until combined.
5. Gently fold in 3/4 cup of frozen blueberries (fold just a few times so as not to discolor the bars).
6. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish, then top with the remaining wild blueberries and walnuts, pressing the toppings gently into the batter. 
7. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the center is baked through and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes or overnight before cutting into 9 squares.
8. Bars can be eaten handheld or with a fork. If desired, top servings with a dollop of yogurt or nut butter and additional banana slices, blueberries, walnuts, and cinnamon.

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Notes

These two tips will help ensure your breakfast bar batter doesn’t turn too dark from the wild blueberries:
1) When you add the wild blueberries to the batter, fold them in very gently so they don’t discolor the bars
2) Keep the wild blueberries in your freezer until just right before you add them to the batter, which also helps prevent the juice from the blueberries bleeding into the bars and making them appear too dark

*Our favorite gluten-free flour blends for baking are Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour and King Arthur Measure for Measure. Regular all-purpose flour may also be used if you don’t need breakfast bars that are gluten-free
**You may sub ½ cup applesauce of the mashed banana
***Find wild blueberries in the freezer case, and look for the word “wild” on the package

Nutrition Information

• Serving Size: Per bar (1/9th of recipe)
• Calories: 206
• Fat: 9 g
• (Sat Fat: 3 g)
• Sodium: 210 mg
• Carbohydrate: 26 g
• (Fiber: 3 g
• Sugar: 7 g)
• Protein: 4 g
• Cholesterol: 41 mg

Dietary

Gluten-freeVegetarian

© The Real Food Dietitians

Recipe By: Stacie Hassing

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The photos in this blog post were taken by Rachel Cook of Half Acre House.

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