Today I want to show you how to make a super tasty baked oat fruit bar recipe. It’s an easy recipe and eat like large soft granola bars. To make these oat bars, we’ll use a combo of fresh fruit, dried fruit, and freeze dried fruit, which will give them a lovely range of nutrition.
Once you’ve made these fruit bars once and understand the process, experiment with swapping the freeze dried fruit for another kind of fruit you enjoy (stick with freeze dried). Alternatively, you could swap half the strawberries for freeze dried blueberries for mixed berry oatmeal bars.
Holiday Note: Given the vibrant colour, this is the type of recipe you could share at a Christmas party or Valentine’s Day party if you’re looking to share something with less refined sugar.
Related Article: Gluten Free Oats: Know The Details
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nut (including Coconut), Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Alliums, Apple, Avocado, Beans & Lentils, Buckwheat, Cane/Refined Sugar, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Cooking Oil/Added Fats, Cruciferous, Garlic, Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshade, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Poultry, Red Meat, Rice, Seeds, Squash & Gourd, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: EOE, Vegan
Compatible With: Strawberry Free
For Berry & Strawberry Free: Swap the freeze dried strawberries for freeze dried cherries, or another freeze dried fruit you enjoy.
Specific Tools You’ll Need
It’s not often that I call out tools before a recipe, but these are critical for your success today:
- Food Processor (I have this large Breville, I think there’s a newer version now)
- Blender (I have a Vitamix with the old school buttons, not the digital display, did not like that one at all…)
- Offset Spatula (the 9 inch (22.5cm) is a good one, and it’s great for more than just frosting cakes)
Oat Fruit Bars Recipe Ingredients
Part 1 Ingredients
- 500g Organic Ripe Bananas (4 – 5 bananas)
- 130g Organic Medjool Dates, pitted (6 large dates)
- 70g Organic Freeze Dried Strawberries (I use the Karen’s brand)
- 2.5 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Part 2 Ingredient
- 400g Organic Gluten Free Purity Protocol Rolled Oats
Optional Toppings
- Chocolate Chips of Choice
- Chopped Nuts or Seeds of Choice
Recipe Directions with Pictures
Start by placing the bananas, dates, vanilla, and salt into your food processor. To weigh them, I like to use a regular bowl (think: for eating cereal) on the digital scale. Once I have the right weight, I transfer the ingredient to the food processor. I do this because the processor bowl is pretty large and doesn’t sit flat on my scale.
Now, place the freeze dried strawberries into your blender and blend on high to create a powder. Once that’s done, transfer the powder to your food processor. With all of the Part 1 Ingredients loaded into the food processor, process until pretty smooth.
Remove the lid from the processor, and the blade as well (this essentially makes the processor a large bowl and saves on dishes). Be careful as the top might be warm/hot. Scrape any batter off of the blade and put the scrapings back into the processor.
Add the oats to the mix and use a heavy duty spatula to mix the oats into the base (this is the heavy duty rubber spatula I love… so much so that I have 4 of them). It should feel like combining oats with a pasty batter.
Next, line a glass baking dish with parchment paper, and let the parchment hang over the edge. This will make the removal MUCH easier later. I opted to use a 9″ x 9″ (22.5cm x 22.5cm) glass baking dish which creates a pretty thick bar. You can use a larger dish for a thinner bar if that’s your jam.
With the dish lined, transfer the batter. Use your offset spatula to spread it around evenly. This is where you’ll add the optional ingredients.
For chocolate chips, sprinkle on top. When the dish comes out of the oven, you’ll spread them so when it sets, it makes a solid chocolate layer on top. If you opt for crushed seeds or nuts, press them down a little so they “stick” to the bars.
Bake at 350f/175c for 30 – 50 minutes. The height of your bars will determine how much time you’ll need to bake for. The taller your bars (like mine) the longer you’ll need to bake them, hence the large bake time range.
If you used chocolate chips, as soon as the bars come out of the oven, use an offset spatula to spread the very soft chocolate chips. The idea is that you spread evenly and this will create a set chocolate layer once the bars have cooled completely.
Wait until the bars have cooled to remove them from the baking dish. To do this, pull up on the parchment paper that’s hanging over and remove. Now it’s much easier to cut your bars with a sharp knife. Serve and enjoy!
Storage
Store leftover bars in an airtight container in your fridge. Don’t freeze these bars, and don’t store them at room temperature.
More Delicious Snack Recipes
If you need gluten free, vegan, allergy friendly snack recipes, I’ve got you covered.
- Chewy Oat Fruit Bars
- Baked Fruit Bars (grain free, truly corn free, top 9 free, and more)
- Easy Seed & Nut Free Power Balls (top 9 free)
- Gluten Free, Egg Free, Grain Free Muffins (top 9 free, vegan, and more)
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Great Ways to Change Up Your Bars
Here are just a few ways you can variety to your bars:
- Chop and top with your favorite nuts.
- Top with a combo of white and dark chocolate chips.
- Add a pinch of salt (finishing salt) before serving.
- Roast the oats first, which will add a toasty flavor to your bars.
- Make a glaze and use that as a tasty topping.
Answering Your Oat Fruit Bars Recipe Questions
Can I use coconut sugar instead of dates?
No, you won’t be able to swap the dates for a granulated sweetener. If you need to avoid dates, I suggest making this baked oat bar recipe on my website instead. Honey is the sweetener for that recipe.
Will oat flour work in place of the rolled oats?
No, you won’t be able to swap the rolled oats for oat flour, or any other flour. If you do that, you’re making bar cookies more than this faux granola bar. You’d be altering the hight, texture, and overall structure of the bars.
Do I have to use gluten free oats, or can I use regular oats?
If you don’t have Celiac Disease, a wheat allergy, Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, or follow a gluten free (or wheat free) diet for any reason whatsoever, yes, you can use regular oats instead. Make sure you’re using regular rolled oats and not something like quick oats, as they aren’t the same thing.
I call for gluten free, purity protocol oats because my recipes are primary developed for those with food allergies and other dietary restrictions.
Can the freeze dried strawberries be swapped for fresh strawberries?
No, you won’t be able to swap the freeze dried strawberries for fresh strawberries. However, you can swap them for another freeze dried fruit of your choosing. The reason why is because you’ll want to maintain the ratio between wet ingredients and dry ingredient to get the binding and baking right. The moisture content of fresh fruit would throw the recipe way off, as it hasn’t been accounted for.
Could I add ground flax seeds to the recipe?
Yes, you can add up to 85g/3 ounces of ground flax seeds to the recipe. You’ll want to add the ground flax seeds with the Part 1 Ingredients in your food processor.
Can I use brown sugar instead of the dates?
No, you won’t be able to swap the dates for a granulated sweetener. If you need to avoid dates, I suggest making this baked oat bar recipe on my website instead. Honey is the sweetener for that recipe.
Will maple syrup work in place of the dates?
No, since maple syrup is a liquid sweetener, it won’t have the same affect on the bars. Part of the reason the dates are in this oat fruit bar recipe is to help bind everything together.
Now, liquid sweeteners (maple syrup, honey, etc.) do have some binding power, just not as much. You could experiment with leaving the dates out and only using maple syrup, but if I had to guess, you’d need at least 6 ounces to start with, if not more.
If you need to avoid dates, I suggest making this baked oat bar recipe on my website instead. It’s still fruity and delicious, but uses honey and a nut/seed spread to bind everything together.
Could I add coconut oil to these bars instead of the bananas?
No, you wouldn’t be able to add that much coconut oil to this recipe and still have the same results. Now, if you’re OK with that, technically you could. You would need to fridge your bars and allow them to set overnight (the coconut oil would be your setting agent), and enjoy them the next day.
Honestly, if there’s a reason you’re avoiding bananas, I’d suggest skipping this particular recipe and looking for one that doesn’t use the banana. I have this recipe on my website that’s also a baked oat bar style, and is banana free.
Are these considered healthy fruit bars?
It’s important to remember that the term “healthy” isn’t a regulated term, and it will mean something different to each person. If you have specific medical needs, you’d want to analyze the nutritional information of the ingredients, and that will help you determine if they’re healthy for you.
Personally, I’m happy with these and would call them healthy fruit bars. This fruit and oat mixture is free from refined sugars, is made from whole grains, and it comprised of ingredients you can pronounce. It’s the type of food I’m happy to serve my kids, and for my household, I’d call them healthy.
