Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with Wild Blueberries

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By: The Real Food Dietitians Posted: 8/21/23

Breakfast just got better with these soft Oatmeal Breakfast Bars, which can be hand-held or eaten with a fork. Featuring antioxidant-rich frozen wild blueberries, this make-ahead breakfast can make your mornings easier, tastier, and healthier all at the same time! Whether you’re looking for something to make back-to-school season less chaotic, need healthier options in the morning, or just want to get out of a breakfast rut, these Wild Blueberry Breakfast Bars can solve the problem. 

Oatmeal breakfast bars cut into squares stacked up on each other.

This post was created in partnership with Wild Blueberries of North America

Recipe Highlights: Wild Blueberry Breakfast Bars

There’s a lot to love about these soft and chewy oatmeal breakfast bars, including:

  • They’re a make-ahead breakfast that you can grab and go on busy mornings
  • A naturally gluten free recipe that can be easily modified to be dairy free by using coconut oil in place of the butter 
  • A simple recipe that calls for easy-to-find ingredients and just 15 minutes of prep time 
  • Feature anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich ingredients, including wild blueberries, bananas, cinnamon, and walnuts
  • Can also be served as a healthy snack any time of the day
A serving of oatmeal breakfast bars with blueberries on white plate topped with yogurt, almond butter, frozen blueberries, and walnuts

Can You Make Your Own Breakfast Bars? 

When busy seasons of life come your way, an easy breakfast is just the thing to make mornings a little smoother. These Oatmeal Breakfast Bars with Wild Blueberries check all the boxes for make-ahead prep, great taste, good nutrition, and on-the-go convenience. You’ve likely seen many breakfast bar options on the shelf at your local grocery store and wondered if you can make your own. The answer is yes! This recipe for DIY Breakfast Bars results in soft and tender breakfast bars that you can eat right out of your hand, or if you have a little more time, sit down to enjoy a piece with a fork, topped with some yogurt, a drizzle of nut butter, more wild blueberries or banana slices, and some chopped walnuts. 

All ingredients for oatmeal breakfast bars arranged together in small bowls

Ingredients to Make Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Here’s what you’ll need to gather to make a batch of these gluten-free breakfast bars: 

  • Old-fashioned rolled oats – use old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats or steel-cut oats, both of which would not result in the right texture for these bars. Oats are naturally gluten free, but if you’re making these bars for someone with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, ensure the oats were made in a factory that does not also process gluten-containing grains to avoid cross contamination
  • All-purpose gluten-free flour blend – our go-to’s are Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour and King Arthur Measure for Measure. Regular all-purpose flour may also be used if you don’t need your breakfast bars to be gluten-free 
  • Baking soda
  • Ground cinnamon – you’ll need 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Fine salt – you’ll need ½ teaspoon salt
  • Banana – use a yellow or spotted brown banana; may sub ½ cup applesauce
  • Eggs
  • Butter – may substitute coconut oil for a dairy-free option
  • Maple syrup – honey may also be used as a natural sweetener option, or may sub ¼ cup brown sugar 
  • Pure vanilla extract
  • Frozen wild blueberries – find these in the freezer case and look for “wild” on the package
  • Walnuts – may sub pecans or another favorite nut
  • Optional toppings – you may want to serve these bars topped with yogurt, almond butter or peanut butter, additional fresh fruit and nuts, chocolate chips, or a dash of cinnamon

To make these breakfast oat bars, find the ingredient list with exact measurements in the recipe card below.

Spotlight On: Wild Blueberries

Wild blueberries are one of just three indigenous fruits that are native to North America. They first started growing in Maine more than 10,000 years ago and still grow there today. Unlike other types of produce, wild blueberries have never been hybridized or genetically modified to enhance or alter their naturally occurring benefits and great taste. Wild blueberries are:

  • High in antioxidants
  • A naturally low-sugar fruit
  • Top source of manganese
  • A fiber-rich fruit
  • Good for your brain

Learn More About Wild Blueberries

Frozen wild blueberries being folded into oatmeal breakfast bar batter in clear glass mixing bowl

How To Make These Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

These yummy wild blueberry baked oatmeal bars come together in these quick steps: 

  1. Prep your space: Preheat the oven and grease a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray, butter, or line with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients: Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. 
  3. Mix the wet ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla.
  4. Combine the dry and wet ingredients: Gently fold the oat mixture and the banana mixture together. Next gently fold in the add-ins: walnuts and wild blueberries.  
  5. Add toppings and bake: Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and top with more wild blueberries and walnuts. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until golden brown and the center is baked through (a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). 
  6. Cool and cut into squares: Let the bars cool at least 15 minutes before cutting into squares. If desired, top servings with yogurt, a drizzle of peanut butter, additional fruit, and a dash of cinnamon. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. 

For the complete directions, ingredient amounts, and nutrition analysis that lists calories (kcal), protein, carbohydrates, total fat, saturated fat, fiber, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol per serving, scroll down to the recipe card below.

Close up overhead view oatmeal breakfast bars with wild blueberries and walnuts cut into squares

Recipe Tips For Success

These two tips will help ensure your breakfast bars come out exactly right every time: 

  1. Rather than letting them come to room temperature, keep the wild blueberries in your freezer until just right before you add them to the batter, which also helps prevent the juice from the blueberries bleeding into the bars and making them appear too dark
  2. When you add the wild blueberries to the batter, fold them in very gently so they don’t discolor the bars

More Oat-Based Breakfasts To Try

Batch of oatmeal breakfast bars with wild blueberries and walnuts cut into squares on parchment paper

Frequently Asked Questions

Are oat breakfast bars good for you? 

Oat Breakfast Bars can be a healthy food choice when made with real-food ingredients, such as oats, fruit, and nuts.

Are breakfast bars enough for breakfast?

Breakfast bars, whether homemade or store-bought, tend to be on the lower side of calories for what is sufficient for a typical breakfast. We suggest serving these breakfast bars with nutritious toppings, such as yogurt, a drizzle of nut butter, and additional nuts or fruit. Or, you could enjoy one of these breakfast bars on the go along with 2 hard-boiled eggs or a carton of yogurt for a well-rounded healthy breakfast that contains many of the nutrients people need to start their day, including fiber, protein, potassium, calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

What is the difference between a granola bar and a breakfast bar?

A breakfast bar is typically made with whole-grain ingredients and fruit, as is intended to be part of a healthy breakfast. Whereas a granola bar is typically a sweeter type of bar that is served as a snack.

How many calories are in an oatmeal breakfast bar?

This recipe for Oatmeal Breakfast Bars contains 200 calories per bar, and they’re made from all real-food ingredients. Prepackaged breakfast bars typically contain between 190 and 300 calories per bar.

Three tall glasses blueberry mojito on silver tray

Wild Blueberry Mojitos

You can also enjoy frozen wild blueberries in these refreshing and lower added sugar Wild Blueberry Mojitos. They’re a 100-calorie cocktail and naturally sweetened and colored with gorgeous purple wild blueberries. Includes a mocktail option, as well. 

Try Wild Blueberry Mojitos

Tip!

Switch Things Up

To switch things up, you could make these baked oatmeal bars with different add-ins, such as dried cranberries or another chopped dried fruit, sunflower seeds, flax seed or chia seeds. You could also increase the protein in these bars by stirring in ½ cup whey protein powder. Or, in place of the mashed ripe banana, you could use ½ cup unsweetened applesauce.

Side view serving of oat breakfast bar with walnuts and wild blueberries on plate topped with yogurt, frozen wild blueberries and walnuts

Ingredients

  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • ½ cup gluten-free flour blend*
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 medium bananas (yellow or spotted brown), mashed (½ cup)** 
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter (may substitute melted coconut oil)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ⅔ cups chopped walnuts, divided
  • 1 cup frozen wild blueberries, divided***

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray or oil or line with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Give it a quick stir and set aside.
  3. In another bowl, mix together the mashed banana, eggs, melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined.
  4. Add the banana mixture to the oat mixture along with ½ cup of walnuts, and stir until combined.
  5. Gently fold in 3/4 cup of frozen blueberries (fold just a few times so as not to discolor the bars).
  6. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish, then top with the remaining wild blueberries and walnuts, pressing the toppings gently into the batter. 
  7. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the center is baked through and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes or overnight before cutting into 9 squares.
  8. Bars can be eaten handheld or with a fork. If desired, top servings with a dollop of yogurt or nut butter and additional banana slices, blueberries, walnuts, and cinnamon.

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Notes

These two tips will help ensure your breakfast bar batter doesn’t turn too dark from the wild blueberries:
1) When you add the wild blueberries to the batter, fold them in very gently so they don’t discolor the bars
2) Keep the wild blueberries in your freezer until just right before you add them to the batter, which also helps prevent the juice from the blueberries bleeding into the bars and making them appear too dark

*Our favorite gluten-free flour blends for baking are Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1:1 Flour and King Arthur Measure for Measure. Regular all-purpose flour may also be used if you don’t need breakfast bars that are gluten-free
**You may sub ½ cup applesauce of the mashed banana
***Find wild blueberries in the freezer case, and look for the word “wild” on the package

Nutrition Information

  • Serving Size: Per bar (1/9th of recipe)
  • Calories: 206
  • Fat: 9 g
  • (Sat Fat: 3 g)
  • Sodium: 210 mg
  • Carbohydrate: 26 g
  • (Fiber: 3 g
  • Sugar: 7 g)
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Cholesterol: 41 mg

Dietary

© The Real Food Dietitians

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Batch of oatmeal breakfast bars with wild blueberries cut into squares on parchment paper

The photos in this blog post were taken by Rachel Cook of Half Acre House.

This is a sponsored post. Although we received compensation for this post, the opinions expressed here are – as always – 100% our own. Thank you for supporting the great companies we work with thereby allowing us to continue creating high-quality recipes and content for you.

For ultimate success, we highly recommend reading the tips in the full blog post above. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish a recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words. Link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!

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