Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars

Always on the hunt for grab-and-go breakfast ideas, I started to research breakfast bars made with oatmeal and banana. The first banana oatmeal bars I considered making called for an entire cup of butter. That’s two sticks! That’s more butter than I’ve ever used to make a cake… A CAKE!

Therefore, I continued searching until I found this recipe that contained no butter, only 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and most importantly added peanut butter to the concept.

When I was a kid, my favorite thing to have for lunch was a peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was great on regular bread, and especially delicious on challah!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars? Cha-ching! Sign me up. I quickly pulled two bananas out of my freezer to defrost and use.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars (adapted from Gingerbread Bagels)

Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 egg
• 2 mashed bananas

• 1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon)
• Add vanilla extract, milk and egg and mix well
• Add in the mashed bananas and peanut butter
• Combine all of the ingredients
• Spread mixture into a lightly greased pan (I used an 11 x 6 inch pan)
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, depending on the size of your pan
• Cut into squares and enjoy

Storing Tip: When I leave food out on the counter in the summer in my hot, non air-conditioned house, I start seeing mold within three days. If this happens to you too, store these bars (and any other baked treats) in the refrigerator for more preservation.

Photography Tip: A lot of food blogging sites suggest creating a space to take pictures using direct light and a white backdrop to reflect the light. I did that with the first picture at the top of the page. The second picture was taken in direct mid-afternoon sunlight. Spot the difference?

And now, breakfast is officially the single most blogged tagged item on my blog. Those who knew about my blogging plans early on predicted that cupcakes would be the most blogged about treat. Two months in, breakfast is the winner. 

What will be the most blogged about category come October? Place your bets here. Winner gets a cookie! (might be a hypothetical cookie depending on your location, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it)

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