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Breakfast can be a struggle in my house, which is why I created this homemade breakfast bars recipe. Not everyone wants the same thing in the morning, and it often turns into a grab-and-go meal. I’ve always been a light breakfast person myself, with a green smoothie and strong coffee to start my day.
My kids, on the other hand, prefer something baked, chewy, and sweet—just like those old-school cereal bars we grew up eating. That’s where these homemade breakfast bars with oats come in.
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Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Making these breakfast bars from scratch is a reminder that healthy food can taste like childhood comfort. You can make these once a week and know breakfast is covered, whether it’s eaten at the table or in the car on the way to school.
- Made with whole grains, fiber, and real fruit
- Perfect for kids, hikers, and anyone short on time
- Customizable with seasonal fillings
- Freezer-friendly for meal prep
Store-Bought vs Homemade
Let’s be honest: most store-bought breakfast bars are packed with corn syrup, dyes, and chemicals. When I started testing healthy homemade breakfast bars, I wanted something that still felt like a treat but used real ingredients—no refined sugar, no corn syrup, and no mystery additives. The oatmeal bars of my childhood listed sugar after sugar in different forms—dextrose, fructose, invert sugar, carrageenan, “natural flavor”—basically, sugar and chemicals. No thanks.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what makes my version of homemade breakfast bars healthy:
- Rolled oats: high in fiber and Vitamin B1, great for digestion
- Whole wheat flour: rich in antioxidants and nutrients
- Ground flaxseed: packed with omega-3 fatty acids
- Coconut oil: a healthy fat your body can quickly turn into energy
- Maple syrup: a natural sweetener with a lower glycemic index
- Real fruit filling: no processed sugars, syrups, or artificial sweeteners— we’re using a quick-cook strawberry jam boosted with chia seeds for protein, fiber and omega 3’s.
Each bar has about 6 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, and over half your daily Vitamin C—proof that healthy homemade breakfast bars can still taste amazing.
How to Make Homemade Breakfast Bars
These homemade breakfast bars with oats are easier to make than you’d think—and you can switch up the fruit filling with what’s in season. Blueberries in summer, apples in fall, or a strawberry chia jam anytime you’re craving something sweet and tangy.
Pro tip: Don’t skip chilling the dough. That rest time helps it roll out smoothly and keeps the bars from falling apart in the oven.
- Prep the filling: Cook strawberries with maple syrup and lemon juice until thickened. Let it cool.
- Make the dough: Pulse oats in a food processor, then add flour, flax, baking powder, and salt. Blend in coconut oil, maple syrup, and egg until a soft dough forms.
- Chill: Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Assemble: Roll out the dough, fill with fruit, fold over like a letter, and slice into bars.
- Bake: 15–20 minutes at 350°F, until golden brown.
That’s it—you’ve got homemade breakfast bars for kids and adults alike.
Make-Ahead Tips
These bars freeze beautifully—wrap individually and stash in the freezer for up to 3 months. Pull one out on busy mornings or pack a few for a road trip. They’re soft, fruity, and satisfying without being overly sweet. If you’ve been wondering how to make homemade breakfast bars that your family actually eats, this is it.
Suggested Filling Add-Ins
One of the best parts about making homemade breakfast bars is how easy it is to switch up the flavor. You can keep things classic with berries or get creative with seasonal ingredients. These simple add-ins bring big flavor and just the right amount of sweetness—no artificial syrups or fillers needed.
- Blueberry: Blueberries, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon
- Strawberry: Strawberries, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla
- Apple: Apples, maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon
- Pumpkin: Pumpkin puree, brown sugar, chopped nuts, cranberries
- Chocolate: Peanut butter, mini semi-sweet chocolate chips or a nutella swirl
Adjust the sweetness but mixing in less maple syrup and honey into the bowl with the wet ingredients, aka: the filling. You can also swap brown sugar for coconut sugar to reduce the sweetness.
Homemade Breakfast Bars (Healthy + Fruit-Filled)
Ingredients
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup ground flaxseed ground
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt, unrefined
- ½ cup coconut oil, unrefined
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 2-4 tbsp dairy-free milk almond, cashew, oat, etc
- 1 cup strawberry fruit filling
Strawberry Fruit Filling
- 4 cup strawberries fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp chia seeds optional
Instructions
- Place strawberries into a saucepan with maple syrup and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until thickened, up to 30 minutes depending on the type of fruit. Mash the fruit, if desired. Let cool completely before mixing in chia seeds and using in breakfast bars.
- Pulse oats in a blender or food processor to break them up. It doesn't need to be a flour, just finely chopped. Add the whole wheat flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, and sea salt to food processor. Pulse to combine.
- In a glass measuring cup, whisk together melted coconut oil, maple syrup and egg. With food processor running, pour the liquid through the feed hole. Continue processing until the dough comes together. It should be the texture of a sticky cookie dough. If the dough is having a hard time coming together, add a splash of non-dairy milk 1 tbsp at a time until the dough reaches the right consistency. Scrape the sides and bottom of food processor. Pulse again a few times, if needed, to make sure all the ingredients are well-combined.
- Turn the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper. Press dough together into a flattened disk. Wrap well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to several days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To assemble, cut chilled dough in half. Work with one half at a time, keeping the other half wrapped.
- Roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper into a long rectangle that measures 6 by 12 inches. Trim the edges, press the dough together, and roll again, as needed.
- Spoon 1/2 cup of the fruit filling horizontally down the center third of the dough. Like folding a letter, carefully and gently fold 1/3 of the dough up over the filling, followed by the other third. If the dough cracks, gently but firmly press it together again so the filling doesn't escape. Cut into 4 equal bars. Transfer to the lined baking sheet. Repeat the process with remaining half of dough.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and baked through. Let cool completely on baking sheet. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to one week. Will keep longer refrigerated or wrapped well and frozen for several months.
Helpful Tools
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review for a chance to win signed copies of my cookbooks!COMMON QUESTIONS
Yes! Swap the whole wheat flour for a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend or oat flour. The texture will be slightly softer, but your oatmeal breakfast bars will still hold together perfectly and taste amazing.
They can be! Just replace the egg with a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 3 tablespoons water) and use a dairy-free milk like almond or oat. These swaps make your homemade breakfast bars completely plant-based without sacrificing texture or flavor.
A food processor helps break down the oats and brings the dough together quickly, but you can also make the dough by hand. Just chop the oats finely and mix well to get that soft, chewy texture you want in healthy oatmeal bars.
Absolutely! This recipe works with almost any fruit—think peaches, cherries, raspberries, or even pumpkin puree in the fall. Keep the same ratios of fruit, maple syrup, and lemon juice for perfectly balanced homemade breakfast bar fillings.
Most likely, the dough wasn’t chilled long enough or the fruit filling was too runny. Be sure to refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes and let the fruit filling cool and thicken before assembling your oatmeal bars.
They’ll stay fresh in an airtight container for up to a week, or in the fridge for two weeks. You can also freeze these oatmeal breakfast bars for up to 3 months—just wrap individually and thaw overnight.
This dough recipe is perfect for our healthier ‘single ingredient eating.’ The dough came together perfectly in the food processor. The dough was a little hard coming out of the refrigerator but easily workable with my hands. It rolled out beautifully. I make my own unsweetened ( but naturally sweet ) applesauce so I used that with cinnamon as my filling. They baked up beautifully and my husband loves them.
Woo hoo! Love to hear this worked for you, Tracy!
I’m sorry about giving this recipe a one as I followed the directions exactly as written added almond milk and still
This dough just crumbles no matter what it’s sad because everything I had had from my Rawkstar menus and cleanses is delicious and I was hoping these would be a great snack for a road trip.
I’m definitely going to make these!!! I feel these would be great on our anniversary road trip to Colorado too see the National Parks. I wonder if they freeze well???
The part that got me in the recipe preparation was the word “egg”.
Which is not listed in the ingredient list, nor is the flax meal being regarded as the egg substitute here in brackets next to its as an ingredient.
There is no prep for the flax meal to refer to it as an egg replacement.
So what do I do? Two ways follow the recipe and assume she forgot to add the needed liquid to the flax meal so that I can make it into the egg replacement and hope it’s the right consistency for the flours etc, or just toss the flax in and hope the liquid portion she stated in recipe is enough liquid that a dough forms? Or lastly actually toss an egg in as the directions clearly state to add an egg.
A little confusing for me.
That’s a great question Jen. While this recipe does actually call for both an egg & flax seed meal, you could def replace the egg using our flax egg recipe. This wouldn’t replace the ground flaxseed already in the recipe.
My son has an oat allergy. You think this recipe will work without the oats?
While we’ve never tried it, you might replace the oats with either almond flour or a 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour in equal measure. You’d def want to replace the oats with something, rather than just leaving them out altogether. Otherwise the consistency of the dough might not work for this recipe. Please let us know what you try so that we can all learn from your wisdom! 🙂
We are a GF family. Would buckwheat flour work??
Great question Felicia! Ya know, we haven’t personally tried buckwheat flour for our Healthy Breakfast Bars. Yet we say give it a go! Another option might be swapping in a GF flour blend instead, as buckwheat flour can sometimes trend toward being more bitter and earthy, which may not work here. Please let us know what you try and how it worked for you!
I made this recipe but I regretted using the lemon juice in the strawberries. The filling was extremely tart, I had to add sugar to make it edible. I will omit it in my next batch, otherwise this is a good recipe.
Such awesome feedback, Meredythe! It’s so true that a little goes a long way with that lemon juice.
This looks like n awesome alternative to processed breakfast bars. I usually make jam from frozen fruit and chia seeds. I add a drop or two of stevia if it doesn’t taste sweet enough. Does any one know of a reason that this wouldn’t work? I would hate to waste all of those yummy ingredients. And I understand that I would have to keep them in the refrigerator to prevent mold.
Hey Lj – I make chia seed jam the same way! Using that in these bars would be great. And you are right about refrigerating them after. Great idea!
The flaxseed meal is not in the preparation directions. Do you add that with the flour? Also after I took my dough out of the fridge it was like a rock. I only used 1 Tbsp of Almond milk and forgot the flaxseed meal, could that be the problem? It took a lot of work and time to get it soft enough to roll out. A video tutorial on how to make this would be really helpful. Thanks for the healthy snack recipe!!
Hey Sara – Great catch! The flaxseed meal should be added at the same time as the whole wheat flour, baking powder and sea salt. The recipe does call for 2-4 Tbsps of almond milk, so with only using 1 Tbsp, that would def account for the dough not turning out as expected. As you are initlally mixing the dough, be sure to add up to the 4 Tbsps of milk if it needs. Then continue adding additional liquid if it’s not coming together to form the ‘sticky cookie dough’ consistency as described.
These remind me of a store-bought breakfast bar I used to love but healthier. Definitely going to make them soon!
Awesome! Let us know what you think after you make them! 🙂
Our daughters have so many food sensitivities and allergies that it’s hard to find store-bought things they can have. Cereal bars were one of the things they missed the most. Can’t wait to try making these for them! Thank you!
So glad we could help you with an alternative to something they love that they can actually eat!
One of my favorite on-the-go breakfasts! Yum!
So simple and easy and delicious!!
I was nervous to make this recipe the first time, but it was so worth it!
That’s so great to hear! 🙂
Just added the ingredients for this recipe to the shopping list, hoping to make them over the weekend. Wish me luck!
Good luck and come back to let us know how it went!!
How could you make these GF? Just sub all purpose GF flour (like King Authur), or would you use oat flour, or something else?
Hey Beth! I was wondering the same thing. I think using an all-purpose GF flour would be the way to go. And I happen to have some of the King Arthur in my pantry so it’s what I’m going to use when I make these. Check back in and let us know what you used and how it went!
I decided to make these over the weekend and was a little intimidated going into it. Yet they turned out pretty good and I love that I know exactly what’s in them! I used strawberry jam, but I might try one with nutella just to indulge a little 🙂
I can’t decide which flavor jam to use, I bet strawberry tasted really good. I hadn’t thought about using Nutella, that sounds awesome! If you’re interested, we have a homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Spread recipe here: https://simplegreensmoothies.com/gluten-free-crepes
Hi there,
A video of making this would have been so cool. Like a tutorial.
That’s a great idea! Next time I do a video shoot, maybe we can squeeze this in. It would be a cool video. 🙂
Thanks a mil. Would appreciate that