These soft and chewy banana bread granola bars are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, nut-free, and can easily be made vegan! And the best part? They taste just like a slice of banana bread!
One week into 2015 and I have yet to actually figure out what my New Year’s resolutions are going to be. I have a general idea of things I want to accomplish this year, but I haven’t quite gotten around to laying them out in a nice and neat “I will do this; I won’t do that” format… and truth be told, I’m not sure it’s going to happen.
I’ve never been huge on resolutions, and despite feeling a slightly stronger-than-normal inkling to set some this year, that enthusiasm seems to have whittled away as the excitement of the New Year faded.
Instead, I’m going the One Word route… which is basically where you pick one word to motivate you and be your driving force for the next 365 days. Sounds pretty doable, eh? I think so. And in case you’re wondering, my one word is — drumroll pleaseeeeee —
DO.
Do what? Anything. Do this, do that, do it… just do. See, I have this nasty habit of spending way too much time stuck in my head — thinking, analyzing, calculating — and not enough time translating those thoughts into actions. I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that I have a tendency to get overwhelmed extremely easily, and the more ideas or to-dos I have floating around in my head, the harder it is for me to do anything because I don’t even know where to begin. I just end up feeling paralyzed and not really getting anything done.
And if you’re wondering what on earth this all has to do with granola bars, sit tight… I’m getting there.
So it’s been about 2.5 weeks since I’ve shared a recipe here on Spoons, which is basically forever as far as blog time goes. Part of that was because I was taking a mini vacation from the kitchen over the holidays, but a bigger part of it was the fact that I was starting to feel pretty burnt out by the end of the year and honestly couldn’t find the motivation to get back to recipe testing.
The reason? Spending too much time in my head! I have a pretty long list of recipe ideas that I want to try, and therein lies the problem — there are too many of them and I never know which one I should start with. I know, right? But I spend so much time trying to figure out which recipe would be the best to post, on which day of the week, at which time of the year, etc, etc… that I end up taking all the enjoyment out of the process and not wanting to post anything. Hmph.
Heck, I wasn’t even going to post these bars today — they weren’t on the list! They were nothing more than the result of a spur-of-the-moment desire for a convenient snack to take with me to the mountains tomorrow. A spontaneous decision to toss all of my favourite ingredients into a bowl and see what happened.
And what happened was magic.
No planning. No pressure. Just a batch of delicious gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and nut-free granola bars that taste just like banana bread. They’re soft, chewy, naturally sweet, and oh-so-satisfying. I may just have to try this doing thing more often…
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Banana Bread Granola Bars
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 10–12 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats*
- 2 Tbsp. ground flax
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup very ripe mashed bananas
- ¼ cup honey**
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped dates, or add-ins of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare an 8×8 baking pan by lining it with a sheet of aluminum foil, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. Grease the foil with cooking spray or oil and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flax, cinnamon, and salt. Add mashed bananas, honey, and vanilla, mixing until fully combined. Fold in dates.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Using a greased spatula or your hands, spread the mixture evenly in the pan, pressing down firmly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until top sets and edges begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes before cutting into bars with a sharp knife.
Notes
* Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats if you need these to be gluten-free.
** Feel free to sub with brown rice syrup if vegan.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
Looking for more healthy granola bar recipes? Try one of these!
Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Granola Bars
Soft and Chewy Protein Granola Bars
No-Bake Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter Granola Bars
Fantastic recipe!! I added chopped walnuts and cacao nibs with the dates. They are delicious- I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks!!
Thanks for the simple recipe! Made these with a couple of substitutions – hemp powder for ground flaxseed and maple syrup for honey. Came out really nice and chewy. Seems ideal for taking out with me as a treat when cycling.
These are great gluten free snacks. I couldn’t ask for a better recipe, Amanda!
Hey Amanda, Ilove so many bar recipe of yours, they don’t contain wacky ingredients and ‘vegan’ spread which is amazing. My favourite is the banana and strawberry bars and grain free banana bread bars. They taste amazing.
Keep doing what you do because I will always love it! 😄
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a sweet comment, Maeve! I so appreciate it 🙂
How long do these last? I have made some granola with dates in the past and it did not turn out well. On the first day, the Granola was delicious! But after that the dates fermented and it was terrible!
I’ve kept them at room temperature for up to 5 days without noticing any change in flavours, Patricia. You can also store them in the fridge to make them last longer.
I used walnuts instead of dates so these were seriously lacking enough sweetness for my taste. I’ll try making these again but with more honey
I forgot to ask, what variety of dates do you use?
I normally use Medjool dates, Carly, but any type of date should work just fine.
My son won’t eat anything that has peanut butter in it so these sound right up his alley. I was hoping to make these for an after school snack and wanted to know how I can add some whey protein powder (about 2-3 large scoops) to make them stave off the hunger a little longer. What additional ingredients would I have to add to keep the right consistency? Any suggestions would be much appreciated as these sound so yummy! Love your site!
Looks so tasty!!! Will try it
Can I use chia seeds to substitute ground flax? Or any other ground flax substitute you can suggest may work? They sound yummy!
These are really good. I love them in the mid afternoon. I’ve started cruising the old fruit shelf at the market looking for really ripe bananas so I don’t have to wait for them to ripen. Is there nutrition information about each recipe on the page somewhere that I’m missing?
Hi Joel! I don’t calculate the nutritional info for my recipes — I just try to focus on using whole ingredients. These bars were featured on another site, though, and they calculated them to come out to: 130 calories, 2g fat, 27g carbs, and 3g protein.
about how many bananas did it take to get one cup? Thanks much.
About 2 large bananas.
YUM! I think the hug tub of cashews we got at Costco last weekend will be the perfect mix-in 🙂
DIY granola bars are the best, and I love your creative, comforting flavors. I’m definitely going to try these, and all your others (especially pumpkin), soon!
I eat a granola bar almost every day and I am always looking for new healthy at home recipes. This one looks really good, I am going to have to try it!
Amanda I can SO relate to this! I’ve always had a major overthinking problem. I think I’ve gotten better about it in recent years, but a few years ago it was almost paralyzing. Like I would analyze a decision so much that I would just give up and not make a decision at all. So I would miss out on social outings and travel opportunities just because I couldn’t make a decision. Ugh, it was so frustrating for me! I don’t know what changed, but now I’m getting better at just forcing myself to make a decision.
Anyways, these look amazing and I’m so glad you decided to post them. Sometimes being spur of the moment is a good thing! 🙂
I’ll be making these – stat!
These look incredible and I love how easy they are to throw together. Bananas and honey are such a perfect combination with oats!
I DEFINITELY need to get out of my own head more. I think I also need to make my word for 2015 DO and not just THINK 🙂
These look sooo good! Definitely pinning them for my next baking experiment 🙂
I can really identify with you on the doing thing. I have the same problem. I have so many ideas that I can’t seem to settle on one and figure out how to do everything, so I often end up doing nothing. So glad to hear I’m not the only one! Though I realize I haven’t actually acknowledged it, my resolution is also to just focus, and do.
Have a great weekend, Amanda!
Great recipe as per! I’m so bad for getting overwhelmed as well. What really helps me is making to do lists on paper – when they’re on a page rather than swirling around my head they seem so much more manageable! (And I get an odd little sense of accomplishment whenever I tick one off. I’m a child.)
Oh, girl — to-do lists are the loves of my LIFE. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to function without them.
Um…awkward but there’s no AB in this. WHO ARE YOU?
Wow, YES to all of this. “Do” is actually exactly what I need for this year too. I was thinking about it the other day too. I feel like I’ve fallen into that “dreaming but not doing” hole recently, but I’ve decided that I just need to spend less time thinking and more time making things happen.
Of course, prudence is still essential, but that’s different from mulling over little details for EVER.
Can I steal your word for 2015? 😉
And the granola bars look absolutely delicious!!!
You can most certainly share my word 🙂 Here’s to an action-filled 2015!