These nutritious peanut butter banana bars are made with overripe bananas, peanut butter, and honey — no butter, oil, or white flour needed. These fudge-like, chewy bars can be made in one bowl and don’t require any stops to a special health foods grocery store.
Try some of our other better-for-you baked goods like this peanut butter granola, these healthy zucchini muffins, or this banana bread with Greek yogurt.
Peanut Butter Banana Bars
If you’ve got some overripe bananas laying around, grab ’em and some peanut butter and let’s get started! These delicious bars are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up, on-the-go breakfast, or healthier treat.
While overripe bananas don’t always look the most appetizing, the fruit is still good. In fact, the more overripe, the sweeter the fruit and the better it sweetens these bars. Thanks to utilizing the natural sweetness of bananas, these bars don’t need to much additional sweetness, just a little bit of honey and brown sugar go a long way!
The peanut butter adds a great fudge-like, thick texture to these bars and also ensures they’re a good satiating snack. My kiddos will eat these after school and be full until dinnertime which feels like a huge win!
Peanut Butter Banana Bars Tips
- Thoroughly mash the bananas to avoid unpleasant chunks. If you don’t want to take the time to mash with a fork, use an electric hand mixer to mash them quickly.
- Use overripe bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter the bars (and overall the more flavorful they are). We like to use bananas that are speckled all over.
- Adjust the sugar. If you’re used to lower-sugar treats, the amount of sugar in this recipe will likely be perfect. If you’re new to lower-sugar treats, feel free to increase the brown sugar by 2-3 tablespoons. I would avoid increasing the honey amount for sake of the texture on these Peanut Butter Banana Bars.
- Line the pan with parchment paper (I don’t recommend foil) before adding in the batter. If the pan is unlined, it will be nearly impossible to get these bars out nicely.
- Powdered oats (or oat flour). What is it? Basically just regular oats that have been blended up (see “quick tip” box below). It adds a great texture, a different flavor, and a healthier aspect to this recipe.
Quick Tip
How to make oat flour in 30 seconds or less: All you do is blend up regular old fashioned or quick oats in a blender until the resemble regular flour. I’ve used $20 blenders and my high powered Blendtec and both will do the trick just fine. No need to go buy oat flour; oats blend up in seconds. I don’t recommend using a different flour in these peanut butter banana bars as it may not yield the right texture. Oat flour absorbs much more liquid than regular flour.
Peanut Butter Chips
We love adding these Reese’s peanut butter baking chips to the bars. You’ll find these chips with the other baking chips in the grocery store. If you’d prefer to use a more nutritious option, try sugar free chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips instead!
Quick Tip
Use leftover peanut butter baking chips in this popular Reese’s Fudge recipe.
How To Know When These Bars Are Done Baking
There is a lot of variances in baking such as altitude, humidity, actual oven temperature, pan used, etc. Here are a few cues to look for and tips to keep in mind:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. It’s easy to go on autopilot and assume these bars are baked at 350 degrees F, but they don’t bake properly at that temperature.
- Preventing under-baked peanut butter banana bars: Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated; wait for the oven to fully preheat before adding the bars to the oven and position the pan in the center of the oven.
- Visual cues for doneness: Bars will slightly pull away from the edges of the pan, edges will slightly darken, and the top will look set (not glossy).
More ways to use overripe bananas
- Cinnamon Banana Bread with a quick streusel topping
- Chocolate Banana Bread with Greek yogurt
- Flourless Banana Muffins with miniature chocolate chips
- Banana Pancakes with maple syrup
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie with honey
Peanut Butter Banana Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (118g) very ripe banana (~1 medium banana)
- 1/2 cup (111g) creamy peanut butter (we use Skippy)
- 2 tablespoons (40g) honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar lightly packed Note 1
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (92g) oat flour (just oats that have been blended up) Note 2
- 1/2 cup (85g) peanut butter chips (or chocolate chips)
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper. Allow the parchment paper to hang over the sides to create a way to pull out the bars from the pan with the parchment paper. These bars are near impossible to remove from an unlined pan. I wouldn't recommend lining the pan with foil.
- BANANA: Remove the banana peel and mash well using a fork. Measure the banana after it has been well mashed to ensure it is a level 1/2 cup.
- WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, using electric hand mixers, cream together the mashed up banana, peanut butter (do not warm it up), honey, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Beat until completely combined. Beat in the egg until incorporated.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: Beat in the salt, baking soda, baking powder, and oat flour (Note 2). Add in the peanut butter chips and fold in with a spatula.
- BAKE: Using a spatula, transfer the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the mixture to ensure it is in one even layer. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown and bars have slightly pulled away from the edges. Be careful to not over-bake or they end up dry and less flavorful.
- ENJOY: Remove and allow the blondies to cool before using the parchment paper overhang to pull the bars from the pan. Cut into bars and enjoy! Bars are best enjoyed within 1-2 days of making. (They do have a tendency to get moist as they're stored)
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have a bag of oat fiber… can I use that instead of oat flour?
I haven’t personally tested it, so I really don’t know, but I don’t think so since the two are going to have different volumes/texture
I make these bars at least twice a month. Not only is it way cheaper, but I know what’s in them and they taste better than boxed! These are my go-to for a quick & light breakfast that keeps me going for a couple of hours! Thank u!
Love hearing that!! Thank you for the comment!
Do you have the nutritional value of this recipe? I have made this in double, then quadruple batches & we love them. Just ate one with crunchy peanut butter and Heath bar crunch. We have another gallon bag of the bars in the freezer now. Been through at least 2 so maybe I don’t want to know the calorie count! Lol. I count 94 on Noom for a 2 oz. square. Please tell me that’s close I love my treat! You can post this with the recipe, too, if you like. Nutritional values on your recipes would be awesome because they all look so good & healthy! Thanks, Macy
Do you have the nutritional info for these? Calories per serving?
Delicious
Thanks so much Bernie! 🙂
These were amazing! I used stevia for the brown sugar and added a half tablespoon of cocoa powder, an extra teaspoon of vanilla and used Lily’s stevia sweetened dark chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips. Had to bake a lot longer. Maybe closer to 30 min. So good!!! What’s the best way to store them?
So happy to hear you enjoyed these! 🙂 I’d store in an airtight container at room temperature 🙂
Cut in squares and freeze on cookie sheet then bag up the squares and leave them in the freezer for a delicious dessert/snack!
What great tip! Thanks so much! 🙂
Love these bars and wonder if you have the nutritional values for this recipe?
Does anyone know the nutritional info like calories for these delicious bars? I’d really like to incorporate it into my daily calorie allotment
I skipped the brown sugar and added a little extra honey when I made these, like Judy’s they came out really fluffy and absolutely delicious! They have been in my fridge a few days now and still super moist and yummy. Love that they are flour free and bean free. Super easy to make. Will definitely be trying this again!
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed these so much! Thank you so much for your comment and for trying these Emily! 🙂
Made these with Bob’s Red Mill oat flour and wow, it was amazing. They didn’t look like your blondies. They were super fluffy instead! Didn’t have any chips on hand and so I used all 4 tbsp of brown sugar. It was perfect! I’ve made so many healthy banana type breads and most are disappointing. Your recipe is finally the healthy recipe I’ve been looking for! Thank you for sharing.
That is so great to hear! Thank you so much Judy! 🙂 I appreciate your kind comment!
Made these last night and they were DELICIOUS! Used Salted Caramel Jif Whips and they were amazing. Thank you!
Yeah!! So great to hear!! Thanks for the comment Amy 🙂