Blackberry Oatmeal Bars with Peanut Butter

These low carb blackberry oatmeal bars with peanut butter, banana and cocoa make a delicious snack that’s full of protein and fruity goodness. 

Today on the blog – super nutritious and easy to make tasty blackberry oatmeal bars with peanut butter.

Being a parent I know just how challenging it can be to come up with delicious as well as healthy lunchbox ideas. Most commercially produced snacks contain too much sugar or fat or salt.  I am happy to say that this healthy oat bar recipe is 100% ‘kid approved’.  My son came back from school today, devoured a couple of these straight away and asked if he could take some to school tomorrow!

Healthy blackberry oatmeal bars

What I love about creating healthy snack recipes such as this one is that I can sneak lots of nutritious ingredients into them without making it too obvious. (Food that’s perceived as ‘healthy’ is not very popular in my house).

I tried to use a nutritious combination of ingredients to create an interesting combination of flavours and textures.  This is why I combined the blackberries (high in oxidants and Vitamins C) with peanut butter (good source of protein) and added almond flakes for flavour and texture.

I used cacao in this healthy oatmeal bars recipe simply because it’s more nutritious than cocoa, but you can use either.

I think all the different flavours in this fruity bars recipe work together really well without overshadowing one another.  So there is just a hint of fruit and peanut butter and subtle dark chocolate notes somewhere in there too.  You can’t really taste the banana much (I used it mainly as a sweetener).

Use honey or maple syrup and adjust the sweetness to suit your taste

These bars are moderately sweet but you can add more honey if you like (or even swap it for maple or agave syrup).  The best thing to do to decide whether they are sweet enough is to taste the mixture before tipping it into the baking tin.

RELATED POST: Blackberry Hazelnut Breakfast Bars

How to make healthy blackberries oatmeal bars

This is a no fuss recipe, where all the ingredients are basically mixed together and then briefly baked in the oven.  It’s almost as simple as that.

Start by cooking the blackberries with cocoa, banana, honey and butter until they form a thick syrupy mixture.  Then stir in the peanut butter, combine with the oats and almond flakes and press this mixture into your tin.  Bake for 25 minutes.

These peanut butter oat bars with blackberries have a soft, slightly moist and chewy texture, so once they cooled completely it’s easy to cut out different shapes.  I chose a geometrical theme, but you can use most cookie cutters. You can wrap them in paper and keep refrigerated for a couple of days.

Print Recipe

Blackberry Oatmeal Bars with Peanut Butter

These low carb blackberry oatmeal bars with peanut butter, banana and cocoa make a delicious snack that's full of protein and fruity goodness. 

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: International

Keyword: bars, blackberries, peanut butter

Servings: 9 -10 bars

Author: Everyday Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 180 g blackberries
• 4 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
• 1 ripe banana mashed
• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1.5 tablespoons cacao or cocoa
• 2/3 cup almond flakes a little less than a cup
• 50 g butter plus a knob for greasing the tin
• 5 tablespoons honey/maple or agave syrup

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325 F/ 170 C/ gas mark 3. Lightly grease a square 20cm tin (or equivalent), line with baking paper and set aside.
• In a saucepan combine the blackberries, butter, banana, honey and cocoa, and cook over a low heat for about 7-8 minutes, squashing the blackberries with the back of a spoon or fork, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanut butter. 
• In a large bowl combine the fruit mixture with the oats and almond flakes, stir thoroughly, then pack the mixture tightly into the baking tin. Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon or spatula and bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into bars (or other shapes).

Pin Blackberry Oatmeal Bars with Peanut Butter

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I am bringing this recipe to #CookBlogShare and Fiesta Friday.