Peanut Butter Banana Bars Recipe

Banana Bars Recipe.

These peanut butter banana bars are moist, gooey, chocolatey, and very delicious; my kids love them, my husband and I enjoy them! They make the perfect family snack any time, any day! If you and your family already enjoy peanut butter, then this snack should be a no-brainer! In other words, if you currently have peanut butter, bananas, and old-fashioned oats in your arsenal, the next natural step should be to make these peanut butter banana bars. The best thing about this snack is that the entire family can easily have fun with it together! And you know what they say “a family that plays together stays together.”

A Peanut Childhood

Growing up, my family snacked a lot on peanuts; we call them groundnuts in Nigeria. We boil them (probably my best way to eat peanuts!), roast them, make peanut butter dips, and make peanut soups. We use peanuts to make unique marinades, such as the one used for suya meats! And the easiest (and yummiest) of them all is eating a banana and roasted groundnuts, aka banana, and roasted peanuts. Such a perfect combo! Very closely related is roasted baked ripe plantains served with roasted peanuts! I should probably write an entire blog post about peanuts and bananas; and how impactful they were to my development!😂😂🤷🏾‍♀️

Anyways, fast forward to now, and my kids love bananas, peanuts, and anything you make with them! They were excited about these peanut butter and banana bars, and you can see in the video that they helped me put this together! And they ended up eating them all up!

[bctt tweet=”Here comes the easy snack you have been waiting for easy and salty peanut butter banana bars! Combine some oats, peanut butter, ripe bananas, and you have the best snack in no time! Yes, this peanut butter snack is that easy!” username=”NkechiAjaeroh”]

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars

To make these healthy and easy peanut butter banana bars, you will need the following ingredients:

Ripe bananas, Old-fashioned oats and Peanut Butter!

A banana is an excellent fruit with tons of vitamins and nutrients! Bananas can help improve digestion as well as help moderate blood sugar. They also support heart health, and you know on this blog, we love the things that love the heart. Ensure to check out my heart-healthy salad here. Oats can fill you up for a longer time and can support weight loss. Oatmeal has soluble fiber and can help improve cholesterol and blood sugar! AWESOME! Peanut butter provides the needed healthy fat for this recipe. You can also use almond butter or any other nut/seed butter!

Baking soda will help this rise. Vanilla extract is great fro flavor. You can add nutmeg, cinnamon, or other spices of choice alongside vanilla extract if you wish. Chocolate chips: the chocolate chips are optional; however, they totally elevated the already delicious peanut butter banana bars.

Maple syrup, Egg, Olive oil

To sweeten this bar, I use maple syrup; you can opt for any other sweetener of choice. I typically add an egg to this recipe; you can swap for a flaxseed egg to make this recipe vegan. Usually, I always like to add a teaspoon or two to these peanut butter banana oatmeal bars. EVOO is great for the heart, but this is optional!

How to make Peanut Butter Banana Bars:

Making peanut butter oat bars is not rocket science; this is probably the easiest thing in the universe!

1. Preheat the oven to 375, then grease a small baking pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Mash bananas in a bowl and set them aside.
3. Add olive oil, peanut butter, egg, and mix.
4. Then maple syrup, salt, and mix well.
5. Add baking soda, oats; mix well. Finally, add the chocolate chips and combine.
6. Pour the mixture into an already greased and parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake at 375 for 25 – 30 minutes. Allow cooling for at least 10 minutes before cutting!

SOME EASY VARIATIONS:

• Use any other nut/seed butter if you don’t like or eat peanut butter.
• Swap chocolate chips for dried fruits, chopped nuts such as walnuts, sliced almonds, etc.
• Make this nut-free, and use a seed butter instead.
• Make it vegan by removing/swapping the egg and chocolate chips.
• Add dried fruits, nuts, and seeds alongside the chocolate chips; the more, the merrier, remember?

BEST BANANA BARS TIPS:

• Add more oats, about half a cup if you want this to be more of a firmer energy bar.
• Use very ripe bananas; frozen works just fine—Thaw before using.
• Keep leftover peanut butter banana bars refrigerated and consume within five days!
• Top with more peanut butter for that rich nuttiness (I love eating mine this way)
• Sprinkle a dash of sea salt to complete the taste!
• Make this peanut butter banana oatmeal bars dairy-free by swapping the egg and chocolate!

These naturally gluten-free peanut butter banana bars are packed with healthy fat, energy-giving oats, fruits, chocolate chips, and soft baked to perfection! It has the right amount of saltiness and flavors! These easy to make peanut butter snack is currently my family’s best snack for so many reasons:

• Salty and flavorful!
• Easy to make (this is a no-brainer).
• Gluten-free!
• The kids love that they can make it with less help (well, that counts too)🤣🤣🤣
• Crowd-pleaser!

Are bananas and peanuts a healthy snack?

• Yes, bananas and peanuts are a healthy snack unless you are allergic to them, and then stay away from them!

Is Peanut Butter and Banana a Good Combination?

• Peanut butter and banana are a match made in food heaven in my opinion: first, you can eat them as snacks. Second, you can make these easy peanut butter banana bars by adding some oats to them. Third, get creative and blow your mind with everything you can do with peanut butter and bananas from ice cream to parfaits to soups! Finally, do not forget to add both to your yogurt or oat bowl next time you make some breakfast bowl!

Peanut Butter Banana Bars Recipe (Healthy and Easy)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 5 reviews

• Author: Nkechi Ajaeroh, MPH
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 12 1x
• Category: Snack
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

These naturally gluten-free peanut butter banana bars are packed with healthy fat, energy-giving oats, fruits, chocolate chips, and soft baked to perfection! It has the right amount of saltiness and flavors! These easy to make peanut butter snack is currently my family’s best snack for so many reasons, and I hope it would be yours! Don’t like nut butter or don’t eat it? No worries; use seed butter!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 small – medium size ripe bananas

• 1 ½ cups of old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used all-natural Peanut butter; this one.)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil (optional)
• ¼ cup of maple syrup (I used this one)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda or baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional; but necessary, totally elevated this bar)
• Salt to taste

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375, then grease a small baking pan and line with parchment paper.
2. Mash bananas in a bowl and set them aside.
3. Add olive oil, peanut butter, egg, and mix.
4. Then maple syrup, salt, and mix well.
5. Add baking soda, oats; mix well. Finally, add the chocolate chips and combine.
6. Pour the mixture into an already greased and parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
7. Bake at 375 for 25 – 30 minutes.
8. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, then cut, and enjoy; this recipe makes 12 bars. My kids’ fav!

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Notes

Olive Oil is optional.

You can swap peanut butter with any other nut butter or seed butter.

No need to worry about an electric mixer, all you need to make this recipe is a potato/banana masher, and a whisk.

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Want More Healthier Snack Recipes?

• Ripe Plantain Energy Balls
• Almond Oat Cacao Cookies
• Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Bread
• Frozen Yogurt – Oat Bars
• Delicious Plantain Brownies
• Baked plantains and Guacamole
• Sweet Potato Avocado Bites
• Banana Oat Waffles.

Is it Lunch Yet?

• Heart-healthy Beetroot and Feta Cheese Salad
• 4-Ingredient Spring Mix Salad
• Berry Spinach Salad
• Red Cabbage Taco Salad
• Chicken and Carrot Stir-fry
• Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

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