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 the Banana 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
- 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
- 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.
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These sound so good! My toddler is in a super picky eating stage so maybe I’ll throw these in and see if they stick! If not I will be more than happy to eat them all myself, ha!
My two boys (3 and 1) aren’t particularly picky eaters but these would be great for a breakfast or snack on the go. We will definitely be trying this recipe!
I just made these with my boys to take on an road trip this weekend. They are yummy and will be an easy breakfast to serve the boys in the hotel!
Thank you for this recipe, Julie!!! I think it will be a hit with my three (very picky…) daughters. This morning, the older two (ages 4 and 5) rejected vanilla yogurt (insert huge eye roll!!). One thing they’ve been loving lately are simple peanut butter roll-ups. I buy “Flat-Out” tortillas (they’re healthier than regular tortillas and have extra fiber) and roll them up with peanut butter and a sliced banana!
Hope you have a wonderful day!!
Your pumpkin muffins and banana bread (made it last night and it’s already almost gone lol) are a huge hit in our house!! I am always sharing your blog/recipes with others!! and if I know chase approves than my picky toddler will as well!! thank you for all your recipes 🙂
I’m so glad you’ve liked those recipes enough to make and share them a few times! I appreciate it so much!
This looks like a great breakfast the munchkins could eat on their way to school.
Love this recipe! However I only have honey instead of molasses, would that be an adequate substitute?
honey should also work but i’ve never personally made the swap! you might need a bit more honey than the 3 tbsp of maple syrup since the syrup is a bit more liquidy.
These sound great – is there an oil that could be easily substituted for coconut oil?
These look so good!! Definitely going to try them!
As far as favorite recipes, my picky toddler has eaten this bread… https://cookieandkate.com/2015/healthy-banana-bread-recipe/ for breakfast every day for probably 8 months haha! I usually make 2 loaves at a time and freeze one and I mix it up a little by throwing in some blueberries or whatever frozen fruit I might have at the time. My son has a severe egg allergy so I substitute 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce in place of the egg and it works perfectly!
Ooh! Thank you for sharing!!
This sound so good. These look beautiful as well. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh thank you for these! They are also allergy-friendly for my son who is allergic to dairy, peanuts, and tree nuts. It’s so hard finding recipes sometimes, especially
for breakfast, so yay! We’ll make these today!
So….does that 10 times rule apply to 36 yr old picky eater boyfriends? 🙂
They look amazing, can’t wait to try!
??????
It does???
Mine is the same
This was perfect timing! I made these with my little one this morning! Ours came out super gooey. I cooked for double the time but they never really set. I used cashew milk instead of whole. I’m wondering if that made a difference. Yummy regardless!
Oh interesting! I haven’t made them with cashew milk before so I am thinking that probably was the difference because they’ve always set up just fine with whole milk. I’m glad you guys still enjoyed them!
These look great! I’m always looking for good snacks to take on the go for my 2 year old. I would love chocolate chips in these for myself, or even those raspberries in the photo baked into the bars. Yum!
It helps me to think about feeding as “exposing.” My daughter may not necessarily eat the beets or brussels sprouts on her plate, but I serve teeny tiny portions of everything (because you can always add more!) and let her see and explore them. I feel good offering a wide variety of choices (including her faves) and letting her choose what/how much to eat. My bigger issue is seeing food go to waste. I hate throwing food away! I think its awesome that you let Chase eat what feels comfortable for him. I bet he’ll eat ALL THE FOOD as a teenager (and if he doesn’t, you’ll save approximately a million dollars).
Hmm I don’t have kids yet but I think I’m going to make these for myself and my husband! They are perfect to take to work!
My son is a picky eater – he is 6.5 and I’ve put the same food in front of him for years and he still won’t even try things. While I appreciate this recipe and do think my son would like it as a mom to a picky eater the term ‘kid friendly’ isn’t always true. I don’t think I can hold myself back from adding chocolate chips to it though!
Hi, I was wondering if I can omit the banana, or is there something that would work as a substitute for the moisture it adds? Thanks! PS-I was never a fan of pumpkin anything until I tried your whole wheat pumpkin muffins, and I absolutely LOVE them! Fantastic recipe.
So glad you like that recipe! I am not sure about omitting the banana since it’s great for both moisture and natural sweetness. My first thought was unsweetened applesauce but the idea of using that in this recipe makes me worry a bit about how it would hold together… If you try a swap of some sort and have success, please let me know!
I would have no problem demolishing these breakfast bars! I wonder if these would work with nuts or maybe chocolate chips?? 😉
Greetings from Germany!
Yesterday I came home from work and felt sick. I knew this week will end with me in bed and my husband leaving house without breakfast. Then I found this recipe and made it. Its so fast and so good. We both love it. As we have no kids we can’t tell you about that aspect but one of the dogs stole one and loved it 🙂
Thanks a lot
I made these tonight. LOVE them!
I’ve already made these twice for myself! 🙂 I’m loving them topped with peanut butter and also in my yogurt! They’re easy for me to grab in the morning to take to work. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you guys are enjoying them!! <3
I too am wondering about using a different oil. I don’t have any coconut oil. I love to try this recipe today. Is there another oil you can suggest?
This looks so good! What a great breakfast meal prep for the family!
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?