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    Home / Recipes / Brownies & Bars

    Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

    Feb 3, 2022 · Updated: Mar 9, 2023 by Dee Dine · Affliate links disclosure.

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    Jump to Recipe
    a spoonful taken out of a bar with white ribbon

    Healthy chocolate oatmeal bars are a blend of chewy oatmeal and fudgy brownie. Made with an easy oatmeal crumble and a brownie filling, they are high in fiber and protein, gluten-free, and dairy-free.

    a spoonful taken out of a bar with white ribbon

    Chocolate oatmeal bars are so easy to make. There is just one recipe for both the crust and crumble top, and another for the chocolate fudge brownie filling. They are similar yet different from my peanut butter oatmeal bars and my three layered caramel bars.

    Yes, they are baked, but they could also be no bake since no eggs are used (aquafaba instead), just pop the pan in the freezer. I more often like to bake this recipe however because the middle filling turns out like a fudgy brownie.

    Jump to:
    • Why You'll Love This Recipe
    • Ingredients
    • Steps To Make Crust & Crumble
    • Steps to Make the Filling
    • Recipe Tips
    • Substitutions
    • FAQS
    • More Healthy Chocolate Bars
    • 📖 Recipe

    Why You'll Love This Recipe

    Deep chocolate brownie flavor. The center layer is truly one of the fudgiest brownies I've ever had.

    Easy to Make. Since the crust and top crumble are the same recipe, it's a three layer dessert that's as easy as a two layer dessert.

    Nourishing. It's a dessert with sugar, yes, but the oat flour help up the fiber and protein to 2-3 grams each, and the sugar levels are relatively low.

    Pantry Ingredients. Hopefully you won't need to go shopping to make this unless oat flour isn't a staple in yours. You can make it though by blending or food processing rolled oats.

    chocolate crumble bar

    Ingredients

    For the crust and crumble top

    Oat Flour & Rolled Oats - Both are needed for structure, although all purpose flour can be used instead of oat flour. See substitutions for amounts.

    Sugar - Coconut palm sugar or brown sugar.

    Butter - To keep it vegan, I used Earth balance vegan sticks, but regular butter works too.

    Baking soda & baking powder - to provide lift to both the crust and filling.

    Salt

    For the brownie filling

    Chocolate chips - Use at least 60% cacao or semi-sweet.

    Aquafaba - The liquid from an unsalted can of chickpeas provides plant-based stability, instead of eggs. Regular eggs can also be used or unsweetened apple sauce

    Butter - To keep it vegan, I used Earthbalance vegan sticks, but regular butter works too.

    Nut butter - I used cashew butter for the mild flavor but any nut butter works.

    chocolate oatmeal bars crust and topping ingredients
    chocolate oatmeal bars brownie ingredients

    Steps To Make Crust & Crumble

    Step 1: Make the crust and crumb recipe. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

    Step 2: Stir them together with a spoon.

    Step 3: Line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper and press ¾ of the mixture, flattening the surface with a spatula or spoon.

    Step 4. Bake the crust for 30 minutes and let it cool. Set aside the remaining ¼ for the crumble on top and go make the brownie filling.

    Prep of Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

    Steps to Make the Filling

    Step 1: Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. Measure out the aquafaba and be sure it is room temperature.

    Step 2: Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir with a spoon or hand-mixer.

    Step 3: Pour the mixture onto the cooled crust. The center layer is thick so the filling will seem considerable.

    Step 4: Sprinkle the remaining crumble that you held back.

    Step 5: Bake the bars until the top is golden.

    Recipe Tips

    Making Recipe No Bake. Would you prefer to not bake these crumb bars? Then chill the crust instead of baking, and chill the assembled bar recipe, instead of baking. The texture won't be crunchy and will be more moist.

    How to Get Clean Slices. The center brownie filling will come out of the oven soft so if you want the clean slices you see here, let the bars cool out of the oven around 30 minutes, cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.

    chocolate oatmeal bars ingredients

    chocolate crumble bar

    Substitutions

    Flour. You can use all purpose flour instead of oat flour, but use less, 1 ¼ cup instead of 1 ½ cup.

    Butter. In the crust, you can reduce butter by half if you want to, and add in ¼ cup of apple sauce instead. In the filling, you can use ¼ cup of nut butter INSTEAD of 3 tablespoons of butter + 1 tablespoon of nut butter.

    Sugar. I use coconut palm sugar for the micronutrients, but brown sugar works as well.

    Aquafaba. To keep it vegan I use aquafaba, the liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas, but 2 eggs can be used instead of the 6 tablespoons of aquafaba.

    FAQS

    Are These Bars Good For You?

    Oatmeal bars are healthy to eat as a breakfast or snack because they are full of healthy fiber that fills you up and protects your heart as well as boosts your digestion. These bars have about 3 grams protein and 2 grams fiber per bar and are low in sugar compared to commercial oat bars.

    How Long Do These Oat Bars Last?

    These oat bars last a long time refrigerated, at least two weeks, and months if frozen. That makes them a very convenient snack to have on hand.

    More Healthy Chocolate Bars

    • Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
    • Chocolate Oat Caramel Cups
    • Chocolate Caramel Candy Bars
    • No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
    • Homemade Fudge Bars
    • How to Make Homemade Protein Bars

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    📖 Recipe

    a spoonful taken out of a bar with white ribbon

    Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

    Created by Dee Dine
    Healthy chocolate oatmeal bars are a blend of chewy oatmeal and fudgy brownie. Made with an easy oatmeal crumble and a brownie filling, they are high in fiber and protein, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe SaveSaved! Rate Recipe
    Prep Time 5 mins
    Cook Time 43 mins
    Total Time 48 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 16
    Calories 280 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    Bottom Crust & Top Crumb

    • 1 ½ cup oat flour (Or one cup all purpose flour)
    • 1 cup rolled oats
    • 1 cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • pinch of salt
    • ½ cup butter melted in microwave for 15 seconds; I use Earthbalance vegan butter

    Chocolate Filling

    • 1 cup oat flour or ⅔ cup all purpose flour
    • 1 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar or cane sugar
    • 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
    • 6 tablespoon aquafaba room temperature, use straight out of the can, no whipping necessary. OR use unsweetened apple sauce.
    • pinch of salt
    • 3 tablespoon butter chunks are fine, I use Earthbalance vegan butter
    • 1 tablespoon nut or seed butter
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    Instructions
     

    Prep

    • Preheat the oven to 325 F. Gather ingredients.
    • Line a 8-inch by 8-inch pan with parchment paper.
    • Be sure aquafaba is at room temperature
    • Melt crust butter in microwave in 15-second increments.

    Make Crust & Crumb

    • Combine crust dry ingredients, then stir in melted butter or use a hand-mixer but only just combine. You want it to be sticky and crumbly.
      1 ½ cup oat flour, 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup coconut palm sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, pinch of salt, ½ cup butter
    • Remove ¾ cup of the mixture and set aside to use for the top crumb.
    • Press the rest into the parchment-lined pan.
    • Bake the crust for 8 minutes at 325 F.
    • Remove from oven, keep the crust in the pan and allow it to cool, about 30 minutes.

    Make Chocolate Filling

    • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Gather ingredients.
      1 cup oat flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 ½ cups chocolate chips, 6 tablespoon aquafaba, pinch of salt, 3 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon nut or seed butter
    • Put the butter and chocolate, broken chunks or chocolate chips, into a 2-cup pyrex glass measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute. Stir until creamy. Spoon in the aquafaba, stir again. Add in the nut or seed butter, stir again.
    • Into a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
    • Add the chocolate mixture to the dry mixture and stir into a batter. It will be a bit like a brownie batter.
    • Spoon it onto the baked crust, and smooth the surface.

    Add Crumb Top

    • Sprinkle the reserved crumb top onto the brownie batter.
    • Bake at 350 F for 30 to 35 minutes or until the crumb is golden brown.
    • Remove pan from oven and let the bars cool in the pan for 30 minutes.
    • For clean slices, refrigerate the pan for 3 hours. If you don't mind slightly rough slices, cut after cooling only 30 minutes.

    Storage

    • Store the oatmeal bars in the refrigerator for 1 week in sealed container. Or freeze for 3 months.

    Video

    Notes

    Making Recipe No Bake. Would you prefer to not bake these crumb bars? Then chill the crust instead of baking, and chill the assembled bar recipe, instead of baking. The texture won't be crunchy and will be more moist.
    How to Get Clean Slices. The center brownie filling will come out of the oven soft so if you want the clean slices you see here, let the bars cool out of the oven around 30 minutes, cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.
    Flour. You can use all purpose flour instead of oat flour, but use less, 1 ¼ cup instead of 1 ½ cup.
    Butter. In the crust, you can reduce butter by half if you want to, and add in ¼ cup of apple sauce instead. In the filling, you can use ¼ cup of nut butter INSTEAD of 3 tablespoons of butter + 1 tablespoon of nut butter.
    Sugar. I use coconut palm sugar for the micronutrients, but brown sugar works as well.
    Aquafaba. To keep it vegan I use aquafaba, the liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas, but 2 eggs can be used instead of the 6 tablespoons of aquafaba.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 280kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 3gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 135mgPotassium: 153mgFiber: 2gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 251IUCalcium: 28mgIron: 2mg
    Keyword chocolate oat bars, chocolate oatmeal bars, crumble bars, oat bars, oatmeal bars
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    About Green Smoothie Gourmet

    Welcome to Green Smoothie Gourmet where my recipes are predominantly healthy, using wholesome and nutrient-dense ingredients such as avocado and beans instead of heavy cream and butter, and apple sauce or pumpkin puree in lieu of eggs and oil, resulting in mostly guilt-free desserts, drinks and snacks free from unhealthy components.

    About Dee

    Chocolate and ginger enthusiast. Animal lover, especially dogs, cats and my pet cockatiel. I'm probably chopping chocolate in my Washington DC kitchen right now and making more plant-based desserts and snacks. Read about Dee → »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marisa

      January 21, 2023 at 6:39 pm

      When I made this I found that there was too much chocolate compared to oatmeal when I put it in the pan. I scooped some out because it seemed excessive. Also when I took it out of oven and lifted the parchment paper to let it cool it was extremely gooey so it spread out a bit. It it was definitely tasty.

      Reply
      • Dee Dine

        January 21, 2023 at 8:01 pm

        Glad you liked it Marisa! It will definitely need cooling to stop it from oozing out the sides straight out of the oven. I chilled it for several hours to get clean slicing. And the brownie layer is thick!

        Reply
    2. Emily

      October 16, 2021 at 9:29 pm

      Do you whipped up the aquafaba or use it just as is out of the can? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Dee Dine

        October 17, 2021 at 12:01 pm

        Straight out of the can Emily!

        Reply
    3. Joelle

      July 09, 2021 at 12:00 pm

      If I want to use real eggs, would it be two eggs?

      Reply
      • Dee Dine

        July 09, 2021 at 3:11 pm

        I think 1 large egg or 2 small eggs would work well to replace the 6 tbsp of aquafaba.

        Reply

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    Dee Dine of Green Smoothie Gourmet

    I'm Dee! Welcome! I create easy, delicious healthy desserts that everyone will love - no eggs, no dairy, vegan, and gluten free. And I use my biochem background to balance the nutrition and create recipes that work. No matter their diet, your friends and family will love them.  About Dee →

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