by Julie 36 Comments
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This recipe for Healthy Blender Breakfast Bars is kid approved and comes together in a flash thanks to the use of a high-powdered blender. Naturally sweetened with banana and a bit of maple syrup, these healthy blender breakfast bars are refined sugar free and a great source of fiber.
I read somewhere on the internet – which NEVER lies (ha!) – that you may need to expose your child to a new food 10 or more times before they can truly decide whether or not they like it. TEN times… or more! I actually do agree with this but as a mother it’s quite frustrating and exhausting to put certain foods on your little one’s plate and watch them go untouched or watch them be cautiously licked and spit out time and time again. And then there are those amazingly victorious moments for the parents of a picky eater (I’m totally fine with that term, by the way) where a new food or a new recipe is an instant hit. HOORAY! High fives all around!
This recipe for healthy blender breakfast bars is one of those recipes.
I modeled this recipe after theBanana Oatmeal Blender Muffins for Baby recipe I shared that Chase loved when he was first beginning to navigate solid foods. I had a feeling the flavors would still appeal to our rather opinionated toddler. Bananas, cinnamon, oatmeal and a splash of maple syrup – all pretty safe on the food flavor scale and, better yet, all ingredients I feel good about incorporating into a recipe I’m going to feed to my toddler.
The bars are refined-sugar free and naturally sweetened with banana and a bit of maple syrup. They’re also very easy to adapt to make gluten-free as long as you use certified gluten-free oats in place of traditional oats, so keep that in mind if you’re on the lookout for a simple gluten-free breakfast bar! The texture is more similar to a dense baked oatmeal than a fluffy muffin and somehow this makes them taste more satisfying to me first thing in the morning.
I’ve made these bars a number of times and every time I find myself so tempted to throw in a handful of mix-ins of some sort, whether it be half a cup of chopped pecans, dried cherries, shredded coconut or fresh blueberries but time and time again, I stop myself. Why? Because I want to keep these bars kid-approved and while I think I could get away with fresh blueberries (or chocolate chips <—basically a sure thing), I have a feeling nuts or a chewy dried fruit would cause Chase to turn his nose up at this recipe. Don’t fix something that doesn’t need fixing, right!?
I only share this here because this recipe is the kind of recipe you can add things to if you wish. If I were going to make a batch just for me and Ryan, I’d add nuts for sure and think they’d give this recipe a fantastic bit of crunch and texture! I encourage you to play around with mix-ins if you think they will work well for you and your family. And please comment back to let me know what worked well for you if you give something new a shot.
Healthy Blender Breakfast Bars
Healthy Blender Breakfast Bars
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 6 reviews
- Author: Julie
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 9 bars 1x
- Category: breakfast, kid friendly, make ahead
Description
Naturally sweetened with banana and a bit of maple syrup, these healthy blender breakfast bars are refined sugar free and a great source of fiber.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large very-ripe banana
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8’’ baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine 1 1/4 cup of the old fashioned oats, cinnamon, salt and baking powder in a high-powdered blender and process until consistency resembles flour.
- Add milk, banana, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, egg and vanilla to the blender and process until a relatively smooth batter forms. (You may need to periodically stop the blending and scrape the edges of the blender with a spatula to make sure everything properly mixes together.)
- Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats.
- Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes or until edges appear golden brown and the center is cooked through.
- Allow to cool and slice into bars.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Per Bar
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 42 mg
- Fat: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 5g
Recipe Notes
- While you can melt your own coconut oil, I prefer using coconut oil that is already in liquid form at room temperature for baking. I buy mine through Thrive Market.
- Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator, as the dairy milk used in the recipe can cause them to spoil quickly.
- These bars are freezer friendly. Slice bars and wrap them individually in plastic wrap before freezing.
- Try crumbling up one of these bars and serving it on top of vanilla Greek yogurt with fresh berries. SO good!
Additional Kid-Friendly Recipes
- Paleo Blender Muffins
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
- Avocado Pesto
- Greek Yogurt Whole Wheat Muffins
- Banana Oatmeal Blender Muffins for Baby
Question of the Day
For those with little ones: What are some of your go-to recipes that are always a hit with your children?
Without a doubt, these whole wheat pumpkin muffins are the recipe I make the most for Chase in our house. He loves them and I love that they’re freezer friendly so I can make a big batch and simply take one out and microwave it 20-25 seconds when I need a quick breakfast or healthy snack option for him.
