A Nature Valley copycat recipe: soft-baked Oatmeal Bars! These peanut butter flavored bars are thick, chewy, and dotted with peanut butter baking chips. These naturally gluten-free bars are made with better-for-you ingredients.
Try our other gluten-free treats: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake, Healthy Chocolate Cookies, or Blueberry Oatmeal Bars.
The Best Oatmeal Bars
On a recent road trip, we tried Nature Valley’s® Peanut Butter Oatmeal Squares. The kids and I loved how soft they were, but I didn’t love the ingredients used. So, when we got home, I decided to make my own version of oatmeal bars.
These homemade oatmeal bars are soft and chewy. They taste a lot like peanut butter cookies mixed with oatmeal. I use natural sweetener like honey, plus good ingredients like peanut butter, oats, and oat flour. The peanut butter chips have some sugar, but you can switch them with dark chocolate to make the bars more nutritious.
Oatmeal Bars Ingredients
- Peanut Butter: This provides the main flavor, structure, and is filling due to its protein content.
- Honey: Naturally sweetens the bars and is rich in antioxidants.
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds a bit more sweetness, used minimally (only 1/4 cup).
- Egg: Stabilizes the batter, adds flavor and protein.
- Vanilla Extract: Gives a subtle flavor enhancement.
- Baking Soda: Prevents the bars from being too dense.
- Oats and Oat Flour: These form the base of your oatmeal bars, providing structure and chewiness. You can make oat flour from these same oats.
- Peanut Butter Chips: They add a fun element, but you can replace them with nuts or dark chocolate chips for a healthier option.
Quick Tip
Line the pan with parchment paper and leave an overhang for easy removal. These oatmeal bars stick to the pan and be nearly impossible to pull out without the parchment paper.
How To Make Oatmeal Bars
- Prep: Preheat your oven and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mix: In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, old-fashioned oats, and oat flour. Beat until smooth. Then, fold in the peanut butter chips.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it out. Bake.
- Cut and Serve: Let the oatmeal bars cool in the pan, then cut them into squares.
More Easy Snack Recipes
Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup oat flour (See Note 2)
- 1 cup peanut butter chips
- Optional: 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal, and set aside.
- BARS: Combine all the ingredients except the peanut butter chips in a large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Add in the peanut butter chips and fold with a spatula to combine.
- BAKE: Transfer batter to the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. They may look a bit underdone or gooey in the center, but as long as they don't jiggle at all, they are done. These bars continue to set up and firm as they cool.
- CUT AND SERVE: Remove bars from the oven and let cool completely in the pan. Use the parchment paper overhang to pull out the bars and cut into 12 squares with a sharp knife.
- OPTIONAL: (This is for the peanut butter fanatics!) Once bars are cut into squares, place 1/4 cup of peanut butter in a small resealable bag. Cut off a tiny corner tip of the bag and pipe the peanut butter on the top of the bars.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I really liked the Nature Valley bars, but my body didn’t agree with the chicory root fiber. I will definitely be trying these!
Hope you love this recipe!
Just tried this recipe and it’s so delicious. Just like Natures Valley without all the chemicals.
So glad to hear you enjoyed these bars! Thank you for the comment 🙂
I was looking for a Nature Valley copycat recipe, when i found yours. The only question I have is can you replace the old fashion oats with quick oats? Thanks in advance.
Sorry, no. They don’t work the same in this recipe; quick oats act more like flour and will make the bars dry
Made these last night they are amazing ! Super simple & quick . My teenage son and I think they are better than nature valley ones!! Thanks so much for sharing.
I am thrilled to hear this! Thanks so much Laurie! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe 5 or 6 times this month! So delicious.
So happy you’ve enjoyed these 🙂
Made these yesterday and they are AMAZING. Didn’t add peanut butter or chocolate chips. Next time might skip the brown sugar as I’m not a fan of anything too sweet. Loved how soft and chewy they are. Way better than the packaged store oatmeal bars!
So happy to hear you enjoyed these! 🙂 Thanks Maja!
I mean, didn’t add peanut butter chips! Definitely added actual peanut butter! Haha
Hi Chelsea. Can these bars be made ahead of time and frozen? Would like to make for road trips! Thank you for the wonderful recipe, I can’t wait to have my kids try them out!
Absolutely! I would just freeze them in an airtight bag and leave out to defrost the night before the road trip! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Sounds yummy. Do you think it would be possible to add some protein powder?
Without personally testing, I’m not sure. I think you’d need to add in some additional wet ingredients so it wouldn’t be too dry.
I tried these minus the PB chips simply because I forgot to buy them but the bar was very sweet and filling!! My husband thought it was just okay but I enjoyed it! Also, I’ve decided to keep them in the fridge as they were crumbly and after being in the fridge all night helped a lot with that! If you’re looking for something sweet without feeling super guilty, this is the way to go! I grabbed it on my way out the door this morning and was satisfied till lunch. Thank you for the recipe!!
Ahh i’m soo happy to hear this! These are some of my favorite grab and go breakfasts as well. Thanks for your comment Anna! 🙂
I live abroad… so unfortunately Nature’s Valley isn’t readily available to me. 🙁 So you can imagine that I was soooo excited when I found this recipe after my box went empty! Made them today and they came out great!! These are totally going to be my crack snack haha. Thanks!!
Didn’t have peanut butter cups so I just added 1/2 cup milk chocolate chopped up and 1/2 cup chunky PB. Worked fine!
Oh yea, and you were right. They ARE crumbly.
I’m thrilled that you enjoyed these! 🙂 Thanks for the comment Caryn!