These date and banana oaty bars are perfect if you're looking for healthy homemade recipes for after school snacks. With no added sugar and just naturally sweetened by the dates and banana they are a tasty alternative to traditional sugar-laden flapjacks.
These date and banana oaty bars are ideal after school snacks!
As I write this Little Miss Spice is beginning her first week of doing full days at school. Like many mums, one of the things I'm worried about is whether she will actually eat the school lunches!
Her fussy eating has improved a lot over the summer and she is a lot more willing to try new foods which is great. At least I know she will have eaten something! Even so, one of the things I do know is that she will be hungry when I go to pick her up. I really want her to have a healthy diet and so I'm now planning to start making a lot more healthy homemade bars and savoury snacks that I can take to school at pick up time. I've even started to make snack balls like these coconut, apricot and sultanas ones!
Can you adapt these healthy homemade flapjacks?
We made these homemade cereal bars together last week and she loved them. Dates and overripe bananas are very sweet and so the bars really are sweet enough without you needing to add any extra sugar at all. I've also added some sunflower and chia seeds which provide a bit of protein. You could substitute these for other seed or nuts to use whatever you have at home. I'm thinking of substituting some of the dates for chopped dried apricot next time but I haven't tried this yet. I'm sure it will work but the bars will be slightly less sweet.
In texture the bars are soft and chewy but with a little caramelised crispier bit around the edges that were touching the tin. The seeds also give them a lovely bit of crunchiness too.
Get your kids to help make these cereal bars!
If you have young children or toddlers then making these bars together is a great easy baking activity. My children absolutely love taking turns to mash the banana. It keeps them busy so I can get all the other ingredients ready. They then love stirring it all up and patting it down into the tin.
How long do these date and banana oaty bars stay fresh?
If you store these oat bars in an airtight container they should be good to eat for at least a week. If you want to keep them for longer you can freeze them for up to 3 months. Just defrost them at room temperature or in the fridge before you want to eat them.
Recipe
Date and Banana Oaty Bars
Ingredients
- 2 bananas
- 170 g dates chopped
- 180 g oats
- 40 g oil I used vegetable but coconut oil would be great
- 40 g sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C
- Mash up the bananas with a fork.
- Mix in all the other ingredients and press into a greased cake tin.
- Bake in the oven at 170c for 25 minutes.
- When the bars come out of the oven, cut them into squares but leave in the tin to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
More Healthy Sweet Treats
These recipes for tasty sweet treats are all free from refined sugars. They are perfect if you're looking for ideas for healthy after school snacks or just want to lower your sugar intake.
To make life easier in the kitchen why not check out my Cook Once Eat Twice recipe collection too?
Places I'm sharing these Date and Banana Oaty Bars
These date and banana oaty bars are a great way of using up blackened bananas so I am linking them up to:
Cook Blog Share at Easy Peasy Foodie
Keep in touch
Do let me know if you make these date and banana oaty bars or any of my other recipes. I love to get feedback from readers.
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Dan
Hello, do you need to soak the chia seeds first? Thank you 🙂
Corina Blum
No, I don't soak them. I hope you like it!
Danielle
Great, thanks so much! Going to make them now 🙂
Kate
Delicious! I didn’t have enough sunflower seeds so also used some pumpkin seeds. Not hugely keen on dates so I used the food processor to chop them really finely. Nice and sweet despite having no added sugar. Yummy 🙂
Corina Blum
I'm so happy you liked these bars! I really need to make them again for my family.
CC
Hi Corina
How do you store these bars after you cook them. In the fridge?
Corina Blum
Hi, they'll be ok for a few days not in the fridge, just in an airtight container. If you are going to eat them fairly quickly, within three days for example then it doesn't matter if they are in the fridge or not. If you want them to last longer then it's best to store them in the fridge.
Aleksandra Kazmierczak
Yummy!! Soft, chewy and sweet and no added sugar! Perfect for lunch boxes! Exactly what I have been looking for. I love the fact that you have used dates and bananas . Many thanks!
Corina Blum
I'm so pleased you like them! I'm always trying to find a few healthier sweet treats for my kids!
margaret
I have made them with dates, apricots and today, with dried cranberries. They always go down well.
Corina Blum
I'm do pleased you like them and that they've been easy to adapt too!
Robin Hall
Wondering what the dimensions of your cake tin is? I used an 8x8 and they are very thin.
Corina Blum
Hi Robin
I also used an 8"x 8" tin. Maybe I used larger bananas? Did you like them otherwise?
Mary Williams
I would love to make these. They sound delicious, my problem is that I don't know how grams match up with cup measures. could you help,please? Thanks.
Corina Blum
Hi Mary
I find this conversion table really helpful when converting from cup to gram and I think it would work the other way around too: http://dish.allrecipes.com/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Candace
I would love to make these. YUMMM! Living across the pond, it would be much easier if the measurements were in cups instead of grams. Do you have the conversions?
Corina Blum
Hi Candace
If you click on where it says "Us Customary" under the list of ingredients it will convert the ingredients into cup measurements. I hope that works for you.
Corina
Candace
Thank you SO MUCH for the tab to convert in your recipe. I had tried to do it on my own and with liquid measurements versus dry ingredient measures, I was way off! Now I can make these -- can't wait!
Corina Blum
I do hope you like them!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
I can't believe how healthy these are but the kids will never know! They sound good for days when there's no time to stop too!
Corina Blum
Exactly! My kids love cereal bars so it's good to know that they are healthy when they are homemade like this.
Lesli Schwartz
These bars look so healthy, easy and delicious! I made a batch of nutty oaty bars last week, and these will be high on the list for my next batch. Thanks!
Corina Blum
I'm so pleased you like them! I plan to make some more soon too and vary the ingredients a little.
Ramona
These bars are such a great idea for a healthy snack. I’ll need to make these fir work to snack on.
Corina Blum
Sometimes it is difficult getting the kids to eat healthy snacks or at least healthier options! My daughter loves these though.
Claudia Canu
These are a great idea for a healthy snack. I'll need to try it out. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Corina Blum
One of my kids has quite a sweet tooth so I'm trying to do what I can to give them slightly less sweet foods!
Beth Neels
These look so delicious! I want the crunchy pieces on the outside! I think apricot would be a delicious addition too! Love that there is no added sugar! I'm going to make these this weekend for my gang!
Corina Blum
That's great Beth! I hope everyone enjoys them. I need to make them again with apricots as I've been a bit lazy with homemade healthy snacks recently.
Rhiannon
Hello, these look delicious and I will definitely be making this afternoon with my almost 4 year old! Please could I just ask how long they keep and do they freeze well? Thank you 🙂
Corina Blum
I hope you enjoy them! They'll keep well for 3-4 days but you can freeze them. To freeze, wrap them up in clingfilm and then put them in a freezer bag. They'll keep well for at least a month in the freezer. Then just defrost them at room temperature.
Helen Kohn
These look delicious and they're dairy free! Will definitely have to give them a go 🙂
Corina Blum
I hope you like them!
Julie McPherson
These sound like the perfect after school snack. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor. 🙂
Corina
Thanks Julia! I'll be making them again soon and I hope my daughter likes them as much this time as she did last time.
Kate - gluten free alchemist
These sound delicious Corina and perfectly healthy too. I especially love the addition of the banana. Banana and Oats are such a great pairing x
Corina
Thanks Kate! These bars and variation on them are going to get made quite a lot from now on as they are so delicious and with the added bonus that the children love them of course! x
J at BlessHerHeartYall.com
What a great snack idea. I might even sneak a couple in for a quick breakfast on the go! YUM!
Corina
That's what my daughter had to do one day when we were running a bit late for school!
kushigalu
Love this combo! Looks beautiful!
Corina
Thank you so much!
Mindy Fewless
My kids would devour these!!!
Corina
So pleased they'd like them. My little girl especially loved these.
Ari Omipi
This slice looks great! I think it's inspired me to create my own tonight.
Corina
I hope you created something nice! We've almost run out of healthyish snacks so I need to make some more!
Kristine
These sound like a healthy and delicious snack! My kids would love these!
Corina
Thanks! My daughter gobbled them up faster than I could stop her!
Elizabeth
I am loving the sound of these! They'd be great fuel for when I'm out cycling too! Thanks for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge!
Corina
Thanks Elizabeth! I use them as a snack after running.
champagne-tastes
I keep meaning to make my own oat bars-- the store bought ones are either gross, expensive, or terrible for you! I need to make these!
Corina
I know, it's shocking how some of the bars are actually so bad for you even when disguised as being healthy! I hope you enjoy these ones.
Boastful Food
Bookmarking this recipe! Not a big fan of overly sweet bars, but this one sounds like the just type I'd be down for. I love dates! Thanks for sharing!
Corina
I do hope you like them! I also find a lot of bars too sweet but these are just right for us.
debi
I love these kinds of healthy and delicious recipes. It just goes to show that good for you can be super tasty too!
Corina
Definitely! I'm planning to make these again soon too.
Everyday Sarah Jane
Love dates, love bananas, love bars...so, basically, these sound absolutely perfect!! Can't wait to try them 🙂
Corina
I hope you enjoy them!
Cooking Chat
Great idea to rely on the natural sweetness of the fruits for a healthy snack!
Corina
Indeed! I'm lucky that I don't have a really sweet tooth and I'm hoping I can pass that on to my kids!
Petra Kravos (@BeHealthyFeelGd)
Lovely recipe, not difficult to make so definitely saving this for later. This is a much better snack for kids than some processed sugary snacks you can buy. Also, this would make a great afternoon snack for adults especially if they are planning to go to the gym after work.
#brillblogposts
Corina
Exactly! I loved these as well as the kids.
debsrandomwritings
Hi Corina, I don't really drink and I don't smoke, so sugar is my thing. But even so I do try to eat healthy. These oaty bars sound like they would hit the sweet spot in a mid afternoon slump.
#BrillBlogPosts
Corina
They certainly do and you don't feel guilty afterwards!
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
These sound fabulous, I love that they look a little bit sticky - just how I like them 🙂
Angela x
Corina
Yes, sticky is definitely the best. I prefer sticky bars rather than the crunchy ones!
Monika
These bars look and sound so good, I love the fact that all there is no added sugar in them:). And I would definitely use coconut oil!
Corina
I think coconut oil would be great and I'm going to use it next time! I have a big pot in the cupboard but I often forget about it.
Jacqui Bellefontaine
I do like the sound of these. They look fabulous.
Corina
Thank you Jacqui!
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed
Your oaty bars look delicious Corina, I love the idea of a healthy alternative to flapjack.
Corina
Thanks Sarah! They are delicious and although I love real flapjacks too they always feel so heavy if you eat too much.
Lisa Ray
Can't wait to make these, they look delish!
Corina
I hope you enjoy them!
Eb Gargano
What a lovely healthy flapjack recipe - I'm sure my kids would love to make these. They would be perfect as a pre or post running snack too. Definitely pinning!! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare 🙂 Eb x
Corina
I hope you do manage to make them with your kids! Little Miss Spice was such a big fan of them so I'll definitely be making them again soon. x