What’s great about these Easy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars? You can eat them in a house. You can eat them in a rush. You can eat them in a car. You can eat them near or far. Inside outside upside down. Sam…I am.
We’re in the process of trading in Seuss for Shakespeare at this point in our lives, so apparently I felt the need for a Dr. Seuss flashback. I mean, I could have gone with Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet and said, “All that glitters is not breakfast” or “An oatmeal bar by any other name would smell as sweet” but those didn’t make nearly as much sense within the context of this post. And as all of us who have ever come across a nooth grush on our tooth brush can attest to, Dr. Seuss always makes perfect sense.
You might look at this recipe and ask, “How is this one different from your Breakfast Cake, Giant Breakfast Cookie, and Oatmeal Cookie recipes? I would answer by telling you that they are all similar, except that this recipe uses the fewest ingredients and is easiest to throw together. It’s also a little gooier and chewier and at this point in my life, since it’s so fast and easy, it has become my favorite of them all.
I usually try to make these at night before going to bed so that when we get up in the morning, breakfast is ready to eat right away. Which leads me back to how you can eat them in a rush, in a car, with your coffee, wherever you are. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I’ll stop now.
Easy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
1 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sucanat or 1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
Stir together melted butter and sucanat. Add eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in oats and flour until well combined. Spread mixture in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Feel free to stir 1/2 cup chocolate chips or dried fruit to the batter before baking!
To Freeze These Bars: Bake as directed and allow them to cool completely. Cut into bars, then wrap individually. Place wrapped bars in a freezer bag in the freezer. Thaw for at least one hour before eating.
Who do you enjoy more? Seuss or Shakespeare?
Certainly Seuss. :) Can’t wait to try these, btw! Thanks!
Anyone tried these with applesauce instead of butter? Curious to see if it would work…
I think I’ll make these tomorrow and add some dried fruit and nuts!
Would this work using stevia for sweetener?
It should work fine. I substitute applesauce all the time.
I just made applesauce so I could try them with it. I will post tomorrow after they are made. :-)
I’ve not tried it before so can’t say for sure. Probably?
I liked your Dr. Seuss association. =)
Actually neither. Seuss is a bit weird to me and Shakespeare although beautifully written is just not my cup of tea. But I am a rhymer. My son and I rhyme all.the.time. It’s so frequent that he’ll be all-you just rhymed again-did you do that on purpose? Don’t worry though-I can carry on an intelligent conversation without so much as one rhyme(well most of the time ;). Oh and these bars look fabulous no matter where you eat them!
I made these this morning with spelt flour because that is all I had ground and didn’t want to wake the little people up grinding wheat. I added a handful of Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (next time I will add a few more).They were delicious and even the picky 4 year old liked them. Thank you!
Depends on my mood. Shakespeare when I am thoughtful. Dr. Suess when I am silly; especially if it is silly with the grandchildren.
I am going to try these bars. They probably would be a great before run snack.
Well, I made them with applesauce, the texture looked good and they spread easily into the pan. I did half applesauce and half melted butter. When they were cooking I noticed that my oats had barely detectable mold all through out. So I did not eat them. They sure looked delish though.
Just made this for breakfast, using canned apricots. Yum, but a little crumbly. I probably should have reduced the liquid or added extra coconut to make up for the extra juice.
No contest – Dr. Seuss hands down! When the girls were little we had almost every children’s book he wrote; and by the time we were finished with Dr. Seuss i, at least, had most of them memorized!
Enjoyed Shakespeare in English Lit, with a prof to explain the nuances and veiled humor; otherwise, not so much.
Speaking of which, have y’all watched John Branyon’s Shakespearean version of the Three Little Pigs? It’s hilarious.
I had company come in late last night and I couldn’t decide what to make for breakfast. First thing this morning your e-mail popped up with this recipe so I made it. It was quite a hit. Thank you. I made it with Kamut flour, pumpkin, pumpkin spices and raisins. Yum.
Oh Granola Bar, Oh Granola Bar.
Where for art thou, Oh Granola Bar.
(I need to bake some, hee hee)
I used to have to read Dr. Seuss at the end of the day when my brain fell asleep. Not sure how I made it through all those twister sentences. Enjoyed seeing Twelfth Night live in grade 12. The sword fight was awesome.
These bars look very good.
I don’t care for Seuss or Shakespeare.
I would like to try these :) I am using your caramel sauce to make mini caramel apples. Thanks!
I have a very similar recipe with an apple filling. Never thought to eat them for breakfast, as my recipe has more sugar then yours :( I can’t wait to try your recipe with some finely chopped apples thrown in. Maybe my girls and I will whip up a batch after school.
Could these be made GF?
I just made them with 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup applesauce. It worked great!
That is sad. :-(
Pushing to get ready for CC and needed something easy and reasonably fast for breakfast. These were a lifesaver. Thanks Laura!!!
I sure would love the ratios you used for the pumpkin. Did u sub anything out?
I made these the other day and they turned out a little dry and crumbly although they tasted good. Do you think I just over baked them? I wasn’t sure how set they were supposed to be on top and I think maybe that is what happened? You said in the post they were gooey?
I’m not sure. ;)
Yes, mine get crumbly when I overbake them. Try taking them out when they are a tiny bit brown but not quite set yet and they’ll be chewy.
Making up a couple batches of these to take with us on vacation next week. Will be nice to pull these out and eat on a hike or on the way to somewhere fun.
Hi Laura-
I love reading all your articles and posts. I’ve been a reader for a few years now and have learned a lot. I’m learning from the spiritual journey the Lord has you on recently too. Thanks for your transparency and how you see this as a ministry.
Anyway, about oatmeal :-), I always seem to overestimate the oatmeal needed in our household. And end up with leftovers (we have 8 mouths to feed). I can’t bear to throw them away and no one wants to eat them heated up. Do you think it would work to put cooked oatmeal in for the dry oatmeal for this recipe? Or, do you have any excellent ideas for recipes that DO work well with leftover oatmeal? I tried a muffin one I found online and they turned out rather chewy.
I just made these tonight with chocolate chips and dried cranberries. So easy and so yummy! Will definitely be making these on a weekly basis. I love both Shakespeare and Seuss. Thank you so much for yet another amazing recipe
I am planning on trying these for breakfast. I really like your print friendly option!
I used 3/4 cup apple sauce and 1/4 butter. Mine were a bit dry. Do you think it was the 100% whole wheat flour I used? Everyone liked the taste, so I’d like to try again and hopefully make them moister.
OH- wait. I used instant oats, not rolled- do you think that was the problem?
I made these tonight and they came out great! I was out of succant so i used honey and agave nectar mixed for the 1/2 cup. Also i had leftover baked apples from the slow cooker that i mixed in. It firmed up,after it cooled some. But the first cut into it to try a bite was crumbly. Let it cool alittle before cutting into bars.
It could have been the flour – if it was store-bought whole wheat flour, then that can turn out a dryer baked good. Maybe try adding less next time. And you might also try baking for a couple minutes less to see if that helps.
I think instant oats would work okay in this recipe without causing dryness in the recipe.
Yes, some have tried using cooked oatmeal in my breakfast cookies and it has worked, so I think it’s worth a try in these too! I’m not sure about the specifics though. :)
I just made these (with 1/2 butter and 1/2 applesauce, and a very generous handful of PB & cinnamon chips, at my kids request). Very yummy! Looking forward to having some more for breakfast tomorrow!
First time poster here – just want to say that I love your website. I had never thought about milling grains and going back to the basics with cooking until I came to this site!! Now I don’t know how I lived without my grain mill. I absolute love it.
I saw in one of your posts about soaking milled hard wheat. Do you need to soak the wheat for 12 hours before making this recipe?
I actually don’t soak my grains anymore. You can read my thoughts about it here: https://heavenlyhomemakers.com/my-current-thoughts-about-soaking-or-not-soaking-grains
This is like dessert for breakfast. I did add a half cup of freeze dried strawberries and I’m not sure if I really taste them. This recipe is delicious. I love when I can make bars or loafs instead of muffins, it is just that much less work. I can’t express how good this was!
I just made these using half butter and the other half coconut oil. I sprinkled the top with cinnamon. Yum!
I just put these in the oven, can’t wait to see how they turn out. They went together really fast.
I was and am a Seuss fan, but some one gave me the Shel Silverstein books, my son and I both just always laughed a little harder than with Seuss.
Let’s see what the kids think.
I just made these tonight. I used all applesauce and flax instead of eggs. They turned out great! My girls (2 & 4) ate 1/4 of the pan by themselves after dinner, plus we’re leaving for a 2hr car ride before dawn and these will make great breakfasts!!
Thank you so much again for a recipe that is nutritious and easy :)
I’m so relieved to hear I’m not the only one who hears Dr. Seuss talking inside my head randomly. ;) One of these days, I think it’d be hilarious to write a mom version of “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket” which begins, “Did you ever have a feeling there’s a toddler in your toilet…” and so on. :)
Do you have the nutritional information? Also how many servings in one pan?
I’m not sure of the nutritional info, but I usually cut these into 24 bars.
I made my first batch this morning and they turned out crumbly and dry. Is that they way they are suppose to be? Bars are pretty much the only think I can get my 4 yr old to eat for breakfast but these would make a huge mess with her and the 1 yr old. Did I do something wrong?
Try cutting back on the flour next time by about a 1/4 cup, and/or try a slightly shorter baking time. :)
I was super excited to make these, because I was looking for something we could pack for Disneyland that wouldn’t be messy but still filling. Well I followed this recipe and added about 1/4 cup of peanut butter, 1 TBSP of Chia Seeds, and 2 TBSP of Wheat Germ. Cooked them at 20 minutes. I don’t know if the peanut butter threw things off, but the flavor was more bland than I expected (didn’t want to try these with Chocolate Chips in case they melted or something, and we didn’t have any dried fruits). So, i did something crazy and spread some raspberry preserves on it which helped give it more moisture and a little pop of flavor. Next time if I want to keep the PB in I’ll add a little extra water and maybe divide the mix in half, put the preserves in the middle and then put the next layer of bars. But Kudos for being so filling!!
Can you make these in muffin pan? And can you use self rising or reg flour instead of wheat?
Yes, these work well in a muffin pan. If you switch out the flour, I’d go with regular instead of self rising. :)
Thank you so much for this recipe! My family loves these bars. It is so easy to make different flavors of these. We have tried cinnamon and raisin, chocolate chip, white chocolate chips and dried cranberries, and caramel chips with chopped apples. The kids always want seconds (and sometimes thirds!) of these! I also use applesauce instead of butter sometimes and mine turn out fine. Thank you again for this great recipe! Blessings!
These are so dry and crumbly – no taste except for the raisins and cranberries I added. What a disappointment!!
Anyone tried subbing in protein powder (vanilla flavored)? I’m thinking of just removing the vanilla extra, but then I’m not sure if I should completely sub out the flour or do a partial? i.e. 1cup protein powder, 1cup flour.
How many servings does this make?
I’d say 10-12. :)
Just made these for breakfast. Simple and quick to make and tastes delicious. My kids loved them!
Did you ever make this with coconut oil instead of butter?
I have not, but it should work just fine!