These Healthy Oatmeal Date Bars are sweet and sticky and just perfect for breakfast on the go. And I should know since we have these on a fairly (!) regular basis as breakfasts on the go. I'm sure I tell you this all the time but I just can't get myself together in the mornings. Anyway, enough of that. Be like me and make these ahead of time so however together you are or not...you can just grab and go!
Healthy Oatmeal Date Bars
Did you know I have an obsession with dates that I've passed down to my kids? They'll thank me one day. In fact some of them thank me already, they love them as much as I do. I would say I don't now what it is, but I do. I have a very sweet tooth and dates are sweet. It's really that simple. I ate them in abundance before we started eating Clean and naturally I was overjoyed to be able to keep that little habit up. I've been known to sit and eat whole packets so I do have to keep myself in check. To a point....
The problem is that so much of the food we eat now is just delicious. I know that's not really a problem but it is when you're naturally greedy like I am (and I've also passed this onto at least one of the kids) you have to make a really big effort to keep portion sizes under control.
How do I do this? I make sure to pre cut sweet treats into slices before anyone gets their mits on them, including me, and this way I can make some sort of effort to limit myself!
So, now we've established that I'm greedy and love food, let's talk about these bars dreams are made of. Basically these bars are breakfast oatmeal put together in such a way that you can cut them into bars, wrap them up in parchment (they're sticky!) pop one in the kids lunchboxes for morning snack or put one in a coat pocket for breakfast on the bus.
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You might notice I've left the dates whole in this recipe. They get chopped up when you slice the bar and I quite like the way you can see huge pieces of dates in these. But then that would appeal to me, wouldn't it :)
If you prefer you could chop the dates smaller and this is what I'd recommend if you're kids are littler than mine are now, or if heaven forbid, you have people in your family who're not as into dates as you might be.
More Clean Eating Bars
- Lemon curd no bake bars
- Superfood energy bars
- Peanut butter and choc chip oatmeal bars
- Healthy pumpkin brownie bars
Are These Good For You?
These are better for you than nearly all the store bought pre made breakfast options we used to eat. Yes, they're made with maple syrup and the dates also are pretty high sugar, but if the question is Are these healthy compared to what we used to eat? The answer is a very loud yes!
We didn't give up sugar when we started eating Clean. It wouldn't have been doable for us as a family if I'd taken away a lot of what the kids were used to. And sadly they were used to having refined sugars. I didn't think they had all that much to be honest but knowing what I do now, they were having it in spades, I just didn't realise it. So yes, we eat sugar in the form of maple syrup, honey and coconut sugar but it's always eaten with other foods that have a decent nutritional value. Like the oatmeal in this, and the dates, and the bananas.
Additions And Substitutions
I'm guessing you're good with dates since you've arrived at this page but should you prefer you could:
- Substitute the dates for raisins or sultanas. You could also use any other dried fruit or mix some dried fruit together with some chopped nuts
- Instead of using banana you could use apple sauce. You would then have an apple cinnamon bar. Kinda like an apple crumble bar!
Storing
I keep these bars in an airtight food storage container like these and I keep then for up to 4 days. The maple syrup in the recipe stops the banana going bad and they stay moist and sticky if they're not exposed to the air.
I have tried freezing these and I wouldn't recommend it. Freezing oatmeal turns it a little soggy and they never seem to recover non matter what you do. If you have a better way of freezing oatmeal that avoids this, I'd lobe to hear about it!
How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Date Bars
Ingredients
- 2 Large Bananas Very ripe
- 3 Cups Oatmeal
- ¼ Cup Maple syrup Or honey
- ½ Cup Dates Whole or diced, pitted
- 2 heaped tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 190c or 375f and line a 6 inch square baking tin with foil or parchment. If using foil, grease it as well
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork
- Add the oatmeal and cinnamon and combine well, then add the maple syrup and mix to fully combine. The mixture will look 'clumpy'
- Add in the dates and stir through
- Spoon the mixture into the baking tin and using a metal spoon, compress the Oatmeal mixture until it's pushed into the corners and the top if very flat. Use the spoon to push the dates into the mixture if they're sticking up!
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden on top
- Allow to fully cool in the baking tin and then slice into bars with a sharp knife
Healthy Oatmeal Date Bars Recipe
Healthy Oatmeal Date Bars
Ingredients
- 2 Large Bananas Very ripe
- 3 Cups Oatmeal
- ¼ Cup Maple syrup Or honey
- ½ Cup Dates Whole or diced, pitted
- 2 heaped tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 190c or 375f and line a 6 inch square baking tin with foil or parchment. If using foil, grease it as well
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork
- Add the oatmeal and cinnamon and combine well, then add the maple syrup and mix to fully combine. The mixture will look 'clumpy'
- Add in the dates and stir through
- Spoon the mixture into the baking tin and using a metal spoon, compress the Oatmeal mixture until it's pushed into the corners and the top if very flat. Use the spoon to push the dates into the mixture if they're sticking up!
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden on top
- Allow to fully cool in the baking tin and then slice into bars with a sharp knife
