So a few weeks ago I made PB & J cookies which were delicious – nothing better than peanut butter, banana and jam together. This recipe today is actually from the same person (@nataliesnaturalfood on Instagram). These are blueberry oatmeal bars (link here).

There are only a few ingredients in these bars, the main one obviously being oats. The others are bananas, eggs, blueberries, baking powder and one add-in. The original recipe calls for chocolate chips, but I used shredded coconut instead (1/4 cup). I wanted something a little lighter, I thought chocolate would be too rich and heavy.

I put the mixture in a 9×9 pan and it baked up perfectly. I was able to easily cut it into 12 pieces and they held together well because of the egg and mashed banana.

Also, these really are not oversweet like some other bars can be. This is due to the fact that the only source of sweetness is the mashed banana. There is some sugar in the blueberries but I actually found them to add a little tartness. However, if you were using chocolate chips, those would obviously add sweetness too. As well, I used unsweetened coconut, but you could use sweetened in its place.

Because these bars aren’t too sweet on their own, they are a great base for toppings. I think peanut butter and/or jam would be delicious on top. Another option would be eating it with some yogurt or even a little ice cream to turn this into a really nice dessert.

But as is, these are delicious oatmeal bars. They are a great breakfast on the go or midday snack. Also, what I did was individually wrap them and store in the freezer. That way, whenever you want to eat one, I just have to let it thaw a few minutes on the counter.