I just got back from a trip to Miami and North Carolina where I ate copious amounts of food and baked way too many cookies for Tony.
I’ll admit that I’m eager to get back into my workout and normal eating routine. Do you ever crave consistency after being away from home for a while? I know I do. My friend (and fellow blogger) Maegan and I ate nearly every sweet treat we could find in Miami; from coconut cake shakes (OMG) and coconut pecan chocolate chip cookies to crunchy brownie brittle and 2AM insomnia cookies. Hey, you only live once and you better do it right if you’re in Miami!
Every time I attend a food conference or travel in general, I know I’m going to be eating way too much so I pack my workout DVDs. This time I decided to bring my dumbbells. FYI: TSA doesn’t like when you bring dumbbells onto planes because they are considered ‘club like’. Oops. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do though, right?
I’m never embarrassed to whip out my weights and take a workout break when everyone else is out and about. I know what’s important to me and my well-being. I also pack bento lunch boxes for the plane when I’m traveling; this helps me to make sure I’m eating healthy since it can be difficult to find decent airport food.
Speaking of food and traveling, my next adventure will be to New Mexico over Memorial Day weekend. I’ll be visiting my adorable Grandparents who probably love food more than me. Gloria (my grandma) makes about four homemade scratch recipes per day. Seriously have you made her buttermilk waffles yet? Incredible.
I’m actually a little terrified as I have a feeling she’s going to to be 10x more eager to bake with me. We’re kind of two peas in a pod in that way though; always trying to come up with new ideas. I suppose it’s a good thing that I’ve already packed several Jillian Michael’s DVDs and of course, there’s ZUMBA. She’s kind of obsessed with it.
Since my Grandpa loves banana bread so much, I’m hoping to bake him a batch of these healthy bars. I absolutely can’t get enough of them. Remember my banana bread oat bars that I made a few months ago? These are very similar, except with extra chocolate love.
I made around five batches to ensure that they’re perfect. I do want to note that these a little bit on the verge of a brownie and a chocolate cake bar. They’re super chewy and have a wonderful texture, but aren’t necessarily fudgy and rich. I’m not kidding, there were a few nights where I ate around four for dinner paired with a big glass of Blue Diamond chocolate almond milk (my fav).
You’ll find that nearly anyone will be able to enjoy these bars, even my grandpa who loves his sweets. They’re vegan, gluten free, low calorie, but still nutritional dense and full of good for you carbs. And can you believe that one bar is only around 93 calories? Pack them for a 3pm sweet snack or give them to your kids to munch on. Or just eat them all yourself (recommended).
I like using maple syrup in this recipe, but honey will leave you with a bit of a sweeter bar. To make them your own try folding in coconut, walnuts or pecans, a swirl of peanut butter, or a special artisan chocolate. I’ve seen you get creative with my recipes before, and I expect nothing less with these.
Tag your creations #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram! xo
More healthy bars to try:
Paleo Zucchini Banana Bread Bars
No Bake Superfood Brownie Energy Bars + video
Toasted Quinoa, Dried Fig & Dark Chocolate Nut Free Granola Bars
Salted Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Protein Candy Bars
Peanut Butter Cup Protein Bars + video!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Double Chocolate Banana Bread Oat Bars {vegan and gluten free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free oats
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 medium to large ripe bananas
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (gluten free, if desired)
- 1/4 cup honey (agave nectar or maple syrup if vegan)
- 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips
- For chocolate drizzle:
- 2 tablespoons chocolate chips (vegan, if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9×9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To make oat flour: Place oats into blender or food processor and blend for 1-2 minutes until oatmeal resembles flour. You may need to stop blender and stir oats a couple of times to ensure that all oats have been blended.
- Transfer oat flour medium bowl; whisk in cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
- Place bananas, vanilla, and honey into blender; blend 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add to oat flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Gently fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with rubber spatula. Bake for 15 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Cool 10-15 minutes on wire rack.
- Prepare drizzle by adding 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30 seconds intervals until chocolate is melted; stir well to combine then drizzle over the top of bars. Cut bars into 16 squares and enjoy!
Soooooo delicious!! Finally something else to make with ripe bananas, thank you so much!
You’re so welcome!
Great alternative to a brownie!
Fudgy and gooey! I love that there are no added oils or even eggs.
Chocolate chips are not even needed. I think this recipe is sweet enough (honey as my sweetener). Shredded coconut flakes on top was a real treat! It came out so good! This will be my mid-day pick me up with a cup of organic coffee to get me through the day! Thank you for this easy and quick recipe!
So glad you enjoyed! Perfect midday treat 🙂
Absolutely perfect! For my family, these are like a brownie. Just right with sweetness and fudginess (is that a word?) ☺️ Thank you so much!
So happy to hear that!
Very bitter and off-putting taste at first bite. Then you get used to it and the banana flavor comes through more. Maybe it’s my cocoa powder – though I used Hersheys regular cocoa mixed with Great Value. I’ll finish what I made, but won’t make it again
this must be as testy as it look, correct?
How ripe should the bananas be?
Pretty ripe, spotted is perfectly fine.
Monique,
I must have discovered this recipe soon after you first posted the recipe and have been in-love ever since. One of my first thoughts was that it could be used for a birthday cake–layered! I did not think it was dry, but still experimented and tried adding 100g plain Greek yogurt and baked for 35-40 minutes and somehow the original then seemed dry in a side-by-side comparison–just going to show it’s all relative.
Over the years this has been my go-to birthday (or other occasion) cake. My favorite was layering and frosting with a sweetened condensed milk caramel icing/frosting. It’s been a few years because I did have a caramel booger cake fiasco–it was hot, I tried coloring it green, the icing oozed and the cake was still frozen–I freeze, layer and thaw and skipped a day due to being rushed! It still tasted amazing though!
Last year I tried a pink goldendoodle cake shape–my first attempt at making something shaped. After that success I tried a dinosaur cake–it was shaped and sculpted–3D! It’s now birthday season (4 of my 5 kids have birthdays from late April to early June) again and I made a Pikachu cake (easy due to just being a layered round) and a purple golden doodle. My oldest daughter is this coming week and she wants some sort of art cake–maybe a white frosting and then marbling over it.
Having it frosted does take away from it being so healthy, but it’s fun, easy and I still serve it as brownies through out the year–plus the shaped cakes have a lot of cut-off pieces that I don’t frost.
It’s also fabulous for allergies–at the last birthday party one of the guest was allergic to eggs!
I have pictures of the shaped cakes if you’d like to see them.
Kenda-Ruth
Love the idea of adding frosting and all of those fun shapes! Glad it has been a hit for so many years!
Wow! These were so yummy! I made them exactly as directed but added 1 scoop vital proteins for a little added protein. They came out perfect! Not dry at all! Unfortunately I made them last night and there’s only 3 left… guess I will have to make another batch! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Sounds amazing, love the addition of protein!
My family loved these, unbeknownst to them how healthy they were. I made with GF oats. Will make them again–so nice to have a recipe with no eggs and minimal sugar that tastes so good!
Awesome, so glad to hear that you guys loved them!
SO YUMMY. I added walnuts super tasty!!!
Holy crap these are amazing!!!!
Used a hand mixer instead of a blender and was just fine. 🙂
Woohoo, so happy you loved them!! Glad to hear a hand mixer worked well 🙂
They look awesome! And given all the comments that say it LOOKS awesome, may did not really make it and were paid bots. But that was it. It looked awesome but it is dry, bitter and weird. And I used extra ripe bananas. Even added extra based on OP’s constant “use extra ripe banana” comments. But noooo. There’s probably something off with the recipe and OP doesn’t know how to fix it hence the extra ripe banana default comment.
These brownies are dry and have the texture of wood chips.
Did you use extra ripe bananas? So sorry you had this issue. If the batter seems dry you may just need to add a little coconut oil.
Magic! I am still confused how these ingredients transformed into something so delicious. We have been on a brownie kick and made these to use up some ripe bananas. I thought they would taste like healthy oat bars but definitely more brownie/cake like. Even loved by my banana loathing oldest son. Delicious! Can’t wait to make again and add some coconut or walnuts.
Such a great, healthy treat! Coconut & walnuts sound delicious 🙂
These bars are a delicious and healthy treat. Even the kids love these “banana brownies” as they call them. We make them often!
Love it! Such a great treat 🙂
Oh my gosh, these are terrible!!! I really mean they are terribly delicious!!! I used overly ripe bananas, and added walnuts, only had an 8X8 pan to bake in. Before I realized it, I had consumed six pieces! Hoping to place the balance in the freezer, before my husband misses out on this deliciousness! (I have three days to resist temptation before his return) SO easy, cannot wait to try other recipes!
Haha so glad you loved them!! Great idea to keep them in your freezer 🙂
a great snack topped with peanut butter!!
Just made these. They are fantastic! And healthy!! Another winner with my kid.
So happy to hear that!
Amazing! I was looking for a delicious but healthy way to use up my bananas. I made the recipe as written but added flax seed and unsweetened coconut!
Will definitely make again!
Perfect! Love the idea of adding coconut.
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was so good and right up my alley. The only change I made was to use 2 bananas (that’s all I had) and add an egg. I will definitely make them again.
Glad those swaps worked out for you! Such a great snack/treat 🙂
Wow! I deviated from the recipe after reading the comments and because I wanted a sweet treat but had extra ripe bananas to use up: I added an egg and used 1/2 cup chocolate chips (but no drizzle on top). I also used regular oats. I baked an extra 3 minutes and would recommend 2-3 if using glass pan. I was really impressed with the texture and flavor–aside from tasting like, well, bananas, these are just like “real” brownies–good ones, too!
Glad those adjustments worked out for you! These are a great, healthy sweet treat 🙂
Perhaps a stupid question but dying to make these, if I change up the gluten free oats for normal oats will this dramatically change the calories? These look DELISH tho!
I don’t think so! They’re delicious – hope you get a chance to bake them 🙂
I’ve made this recipe twice without any trouble, and it’s delicious. I think that those who say it’s dry is either because they are using under ripe bananas and/or using 1 cup of oat flour which is not the same as 1 cup of rolled oats ground into flour. I added a flax egg (1 tbsp. flax meal + 3 tbsp. water + 10 minutes) to help with binding it together, and it also adds moisture. Thanks for the tasty and healthy recipe!
Perfect! And you’re correct on all of the above. I’m glad you enjoy these, Sarah!
I made these and love them! I used maple syrup because I didn’t have honey. I also ended up mashing the bananas by hand, which was super easy. They were really quick to throw together! I wondered if they would be sweet enough (my bananas could have used another couple days, but I was excited to try this recipe), but they’re great! Thanks for sharing this!!
Thanks for sharing this. It looks amazing and can’t wait to give it a go!
Just tried these and they are amazing. They came out perfect. One thing I love about AK recipes is that many times I already have the ingredients on hand and can just spontaneously whip something up! That’s what happened this afternoon with these bars and it kind of made my day 🙂
I made these and they are so great, go-to treat for me!
I’ve had them in the freezer for probably over a month and they still taste as good as when they were first made.
I myself do not even understand how they have been in the freezer for so long, I am just surrounded by so many sweets I think I forgot about them! :O
No worries though, they are one of my favorite healthy brownie-like treats, will make again and again.
These look so yummy! I am going to make them. Do you know if they are freezable?
Is 1 cup rolled oats the same as 1 cup of already ground up oat flour? I have the oat flour 🙂
1 cup of oats will yield approximately 3/4 cup oat flour. 🙂