3 Ingredient Healthy Crispy Oatmeal Bars
These healthy crispy oatmeal bars need just 3 ingredients and don't contain any flour, eggs, refined sugar, butter or oil. They take only five minutes to prepare and are a great snack or dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (212 g) quick oats
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp (288 g) natural peanut butter with no added oils, or natural almond butter with no added oils
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (4.5 fl oz/133 ml) maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang for easy removal later.
- Add quick oats to a food processor. Pulse oats until they become very small and fine and start to partially become flour consistency. See photo in post for reference. I pulsed mine on high for about 25-30 seconds. You should hear a change in the sound of the oats when they are almost ready. It will change from a lot of clanging to becoming much more quiet.
- Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl. Add in the peanut butter and maple syrup (making sure to scrape the sides of your maple syrup measuring spoon/cup to get all of the syrup to release into the mixing bowl) and stir with a spatula until a thick dough forms.
- Transfer the mixture into your prepared pan. Use your fingers, a spatula or a metal spoon to press and spread the dough evenly across the pan. Use the back of a metal spoon to smooth and even out the surface.
- Bake bars for about 25-30 minutes or until the edges are medium brown and the surface is golden brown The longer the bars cook, the crispier they will be. Let bars cool completely before cutting. Use a large sharp knife to cut the bars. To help achieve smoother cuts, I recommend moving the knife back and forth in a sawing motion as you cut rather than just pressing down with the knife. Just pressing down with the knife will cause the bars to break before the knife cuts all the way through. If you use a more gentle sawing motion, you should be able to cut with the knife all the way to the bottom of the bars. Uneaten bars should be stored in an airtight container and can be kept at room temperature for 1-2 days and longer in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- These bars have a light, delicate, crispy texture. They are not hard/firm/crunchy. The bars are also a little crumbly once you bite in because of the delicate crispy layers.
- The bars are lightly sweet. If you prefer sweeter, you can add a few more tablespoons of maple syrup. I don't recommend using honey. The bars don't crisp up well with honey and the bars are more crumbly when made with honey.
- I made my bars thick, but you can also bake them in a larger pan for thinner bars, which will also be slightly less crumbly and slightly more crispy.
- I used Happy Belly Quick Oats*, Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter (Amazon | Costco)*, and Maple Grove Farms pure maple syrup (Amazon | Walmart)* to make these bars.
- *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Serving: 1bar, Calories: 174kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 37mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 7g, NET CARBS: 16
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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