These flourless (gluten free) blueberry oatmeal bars are soft and chewy. They’re loaded with oats, sweet dried blueberries, and topped with a sweet vanilla glaze. These bars are made with better-for-you, wholesome ingredients.
A great wholesome snack!
These blueberry oatmeal bars are soft, chewy, and bursting with sweet-tart dried blueberries. They’re essentially a mash up of soft granola bars and a bowl of oatmeal — you’ll get thick and chewy, wholesome-tasting, oat-filled bars with this recipe.
These bars are quite healthy and can be made even healthier without the glaze if you’re watching sugar consumption.
How to make Blueberry Oatmeal Bars
Descriptions below correlate with numbered photos.
- Combine all the oatmeal bar ingredients (except the blueberries) in a large bowl
- Mix ingredients until well combined
- Add in dried blueberries
- Fold with a spatula to mix in the berries
- Transfer batter to a lined 8×8 pan
- Bake until lightly browned at the edges and firm in the center
Blueberry Oatmeal Bars ingredients
- Old fashioned oats: the oats make up the base of these bars and are what give them that delicious oatmeal granola bar chewiness. Make sure to use old fashioned oats — quick oats are too processed and will make the bars overly dry; steel cut oats won’t soften enough.
- Oat flour: no need to buy specialty flour, oat flour can be made with quick or old fashioned oats; read more on this below.
- Cinnamon: this spice adds a really nice complementary flavor to the blueberries and bars; feel free to reduce, omit, or increase the amount depending on personal preference.
- Salt: this ingredient helps balance all the flavors in these blueberry oatmeal bars
- Peanut butter: this ingredient provides structure and stability as well as protein to these bars. The peanut butter really makes these bars quite filling! I haven’t personally tested, but I do think a creamy almond butter would work nicely in these bars.
- Coconut oil: this oil has become popular the last few years as a healthier alternative to butter and gives these bars a nice flavor.
- Honey: these bars are mainly naturally sweetened with honey. Honey is rich in antioxidants and contains some nutrients.
- Light brown sugar: I wanted these bars to be fully naturally sweetened, but they did need a bit more sweetness and were too wet with all honey, so we do use a little brown sugar in these bars — only 1/3 cup!
- Vanilla extract: this ingredient contributes to a nice subtle flavor
- Egg + egg yolk: the egg provides stability to the batter and adds flavor and protein to these bars. The egg yolk adds additional structure and flavor. Use the leftover egg whites in this egg wrap!
- Dried blueberries: make sure to use dried blueberries, not fresh or frozen, in these bars. Dried blueberries are typically found with any other dried fruits and/or raisins/dried cranberries in the grocery store.
How to make oat “flour”
If you have quick oats or old fashioned oats, you can have oat flour ready for these blueberry oatmeal bars in an instant!
- Place the oats (you can use old fashioned or quick oats) into the bowl of your food processor or small blender jar.
- Pulse the oats until ground into a powder-like consistency that resembles flour.
- Stir the oats around if needed to be sure all the oats are finely ground and there aren’t any full oats left.
- Make sure to measure your oat flour after it’s been turned to flour and not in the original whole oat form.
Blueberry Oatmeal Bars tips
- Line the pan with parchment paper and leave an overhang for easy bar removal. These bars will stick to the pan and be near impossible to pull out without the parchment
- Let the bars cool: while it’s so tempting to eat one straight out of the oven (and hey — you do you) these bars are crumbly and a bit gooey while hot. They thicken up a lot as they cool. The glaze also will get overly melty and messy if drizzled on warm bars.
- Don’t over-bake: remove the bars when they are slightly browned on the edges; the middle and top of the bars may look a bit wet or gooey, but as long as the bars don’t “jiggle” when slightly shaken in the pan, they’re done. If the bars are over-baked they won’t be very soft or chewy.
Storage
Store these blueberry oatmeal bars in an airtight bag or container at room temperature. These bars are best enjoyed within 2-3 days of making. Leftovers can be frozen and later thawed at room temperature.
To freeze: wrap individual bars tightly in plastic wrap and then place individually wrapped bars in an airtight freezer-safe container.
More healthy snacks:
- Chocolate Energy Bites with chocolate protein powder
- No Bake Granola Bars with dark chocolate drizzle
- Healthy No Bake Cookies with peanut butter
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins with Greek yogurt
- Oatmeal Bars peanut butter flavored
Blueberry Oatmeal Bars
These flourless (gluten free—see note 1) blueberry oatmeal bars are soft, chewy, and packed with oats and dried blueberries. Made with wholesome ingredients, they’re finished with a sweet vanilla glaze!
Equipment
- Baking pan 8 x 8-inch
- Parchment paper
- Blender
Ingredients
Blueberry Oatmeal Bars
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup blended oats oat flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk save the whites for another recipe or discard them
- 3/4 cup dried blueberries
Glaze (Optional)
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/16 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 to 3/4 tablespoon milk any milk works; I used whole milk
Instructions
For the bars:
- Preheat oven to 325℉. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper with an overhang. (These will be near impossible to get out without it.)
- To make oat flour, just place old fashioned or quick oats in a blender and pulse until they resemble flour. Measure after blending to make sure you have the right amount.
- Combine all oatmeal bar ingredients except dried blueberries in a large bowl and stir until smooth and well combined. Add in dried blueberries and stir. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
- Bake 23–26 minutes or until set at the edges (it does look slightly wet in the center, but as long as it doesn’t jiggle, it’s done). The bars will firm up as they cool; be careful not to overbake.
For the vanilla drizzle:
- Combine all glaze ingredients in a medium bowl, starting with only 1/2 tablespoon milk. Whisk briskly until a very thick glaze forms. Add up to 3/4 tablespoon milk if needed.
- Transfer glaze to a plastic resealable bag and cut off the very tip. Once bars have cooled, drizzle glaze over the bars.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: These bars are naturally gluten free, but ensure all products you use are indeed gluten free and aren’t processed in an environment with other gluten products.
Storage: Store these blueberry oatmeal bars in an airtight bag or container at room temperature. These bars are best enjoyed within 2–3 days. Leftovers can be frozen and later thawed at room temperature. To freeze, wrap individual bars tightly in plastic wrap, then place individually wrapped bars in an airtight freezer-safe container.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 28.6g | Protein: 3.8g | Fat: 9.1g | Cholesterol: 23.3mg | Sodium: 41.8mg | Fiber: 1.9g | Sugar: 19.3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you have to use the peanut butter in them? Also can you sub butter for the coconut oil? I would ne making these for my husband and he doesn’t like peanut butter. He loved tastefully simple blueberry oat bars but they were discontinued so I’m hoping he would like these.
You’ll definitely need some kind of nut butter for this recipe; I’d try a good roasted almond butter instead. I haven’t ever personally tried butter in these, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.
Could you omit the extra egg yolk or use egg whites?this is to lower the cholesterol
Do you measure the oats before you grind them into oat flour? Or is the oat flour 1/3 cup?
So great every time me make them. A favorite in our household without a doubt. Thank you for sharing.
I am thrilled to hear this! Thanks Ashley! 🙂
Do you think that fresh fruit would work in these? Thanks!
Hello,
Do dried blueberries fair better than fresh in at his recipe?
Yes fresh makes the bars too moist!
These were super tasty. I did find them a bit sweet. Everyone else in my household loved them so I’m accepting that it was just me. If I eliminated the brown sugar would that change the consistency or texture of the bars?
I wish I could be of more help, but I haven’t tested these bars without the brown sugar. I would recommend just reducing it at first instead of entirely eliminating.