You’d never believe that these soft-baked Greek yogurt banana oatmeal bars are gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, and made without any butter or oil! The simple banana oat base is topped with a thick and creamy Greek yogurt filling to make one deliciously healthy breakfast or snack bar!
Please tell me I’m not the only one who’ll drive to a grocery store that’s slightly (read: 10 minutes) further away just to buy organic Pink Lady apples.
Heck, you don’t have to tell me – I know I’m not! I know you’ve been driving along in your little car, fully intent on going to the closer store after barely managing to convince yourself that Galas are okay, when you make the last-minute executive decision to veer off to the right and go grab that pot of gold (<– true story; happened yesterday)
It might not be Pink Ladies for you, but I know you’ve got your thing… and I love you for it. It makes me feel like less of a freak over the fact that I’m constantly doing it for ripe bananas too 😆
But have you seen my recipes?!? I’m pretty sure that something like 87.2% of them have bananas in some form, meaning that momma ain’t got the time to sit around and wait for bananas to ripen… especially when I’ve got things like Greek yogurt banana oatmeal bars on the brain…
And because bananas like to take their sweet ass time in the winter months, and most of the bigger grocers only stock the neon green ones, I need to go on a trek across half the city to the one natural grocer that I can always count on to have spotty bananas on hand. You can thank them for this recipe showing up today instead of 2 weeks from now.
See, I got the idea for these bars while I was in the mountains this weekend (I’m pretty sure I was sitting on the chair lift – it’s a long ride up), meaning I needed ripe bananas yesterday (read: Monday).
It’s no secret that I love the banana, oat, and Greek yogurt combo, and I wanted to see if I could somehow incorporate it into bar form without actually baking the Greek yogurt into the bar. So! I went ahead and plopped it on top of a banana oat base…
… spread it out all nice and fancy…
… and sprinkled more of the banana oat mix on top to make something like an oatmeal crumble bar…
But here’s the best part.
The filling isn’t just Greek yogurt. It’s Greek yogurt sweetened with coconut sugar, thickened with a spoonful of coconut flour, and mixed with thin banana slices. It has a subtle tangy sweetness and a creamy, almost cheesecake-like consistency after it’s baked.
Pair that with a soft-baked banana oat base that’s made without flour, butter, oil, or refined sugar, and you’ve got one deliciously healthy breakfast or snack bar. Actually, 12. You’ve got 12 of them…
I’d love to know if you make this recipe! Leave a comment and rating down below to let me know what you think, and subscribe to our mailing list to receive new recipes in your inbox!
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Greek Yogurt Banana Oatmeal Bars
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
Ingredients
For the banana oat base:
- 2 cups (160 g) rolled oats, divided*
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 medium-sized ripe banana, mashed (100 g or 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp (32 g) almond butter**
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Greek yogurt filling:
- 3/4 cup (150 g) plain Greek yogurt
- 2 – 4 Tbsp coconut palm sugar***
- 1 Tbsp (7 g) coconut flour****
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 medium-sized ripe banana, thinly sliced (100 g or 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325F (163C) and prepare an 8×8 (20x20cm) baking dish by lining it with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. Spray the foil with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place 1 cup (80 g) of oats in a food processor or blender, and process until they resemble a fine flour. Transfer the oat flour to a large mixing bowl, and add the remaining rolled oats, cinnamon, and baking powder, mixing well.
- Add the mashed banana, maple syrup, almond butter, and vanilla extract, and mix until everything is well combined and a sticky dough is formed.
- Reserving 1/2 cup (120 ml), transfer the remaining oat mix into your prepared baking pan, using your fingers or a spatula to ensure that it is evenly distributed along the bottom. Set aside.
- Make the filling by combining the Greek yogurt, coconut sugar, coconut flour, and vanilla extract in a small mixing bowl. Mix until the coconut sugar has dissolved and all the ingredients are well combined before gently folding in the banana slices.
- Spoon the filling over the surface of the oat mixture, and use a spatula or knife to distribute it evenly. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top, using a fork to break up the bigger chunks.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top turns a light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to fully cool in pan before using a sharp knife to cut into bars. Store the bars in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
* Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need these to be gluten-free. ** You could easily sub this out for any nut butter you have on hand, or use a seed or soy nut butter to make it nut-free. *** These bars aren’t overly sweet, so add more sugar to the filling if you like your bars sweeter. **** You can use regular flour in place of the coconut, but you’ll have to up the amount to 2 Tbsp (14 g) and your bars won’t necessarily be gluten-free.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
Keywords: banana oat bars, breakfast, gluten-free, Greek yogurt, healthy, oat bars, recipe, snack
Looking for more banana oat Greek yogurt recipes? Try one of these!
Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Pancakes
The Ultimate Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffin
Greek Yogurt Banana Oat Bread
Greek Yogurt Blueberry Banana Bread
Wow these look amazing! Do you think this could work with soy or coconut yoghurt too?
I have made your recipe this weekend for my inlaws, and they really liked it! They were very surprised that they were finally enjoying something healthy-ish from my (Dutch) kitchen. They really liked that, even though it contains quite some oatmeal, it does not have that typical dry cardboard taste it can have
I have made use of your tips, so mine were not gluten-, dairy or entirely sugarfree like the original. But as I told before, my family approved them. And they can be picky
Thank you for sharing this recipe
★★★★
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My 18 month old loves these! He keeps asking for more. They’re a hit with the rest of the family, too. Thank you for the recipe! Delicious!
★★★★★
Ho w nice. Not one person in these reviews actually made the recipe. Why even comment?????????
Can I freeze these! They’re amazing!
★★★★★
Should be totally fine to freeze, Grace!
I’m planning to make these when I get to college; because I have early classes I can’t have a full breakfast and these look like a wonderful on-the-go breakfast bar but I don’t have a blender to make the oats floury so I was wondering if I could replace that with just two cups of oats or anything you recommend. Also how much would the taste be affected if I used vanilla Greek yogurt? I’m a big fan of vanilla and bananas 🙂
Awesome recipe though, it looks delicious and I’m excited to try it!
I’m not sure it would work as well with normal oats, Charlotte, but you can definitely replace it with pre-ground oat flour if you can get that at the store. It would be about 1 1/2 cups instead of 2 though.
These literally have me salivating. I would pay good money for this dessert at a restaurant! 🙂
Hi Amanda, i was wondering if i can use regular plain yogurt instead of greek yogurt, or does that affect the consistency? Also, would oat flour or flaxmeal be okay replacements for flour?
Regular yogurt might be a little too runny for the filling, Maggie. You could try, but you might have to add a little extra flour to thicken it up. And do you mean replacements for the coconut flour? Because there’s no regular flour in these bars.