These Healthy Apple Oatmeal Bars are a wholesome and filling breakfast or snack. Packed with warm fall flavors, fiber and naturally sweetened, these bars are perfect for taking your oatmeal on the go!
Healthy banana oatmeal bars or healthy strawberry oatmeal bars are two more of my favorite flavors you’ll love!
Table of contents
When we start talking about apples and oats it’s pretty much a sign of cooler weather lurking around the corner. This may or may not be a good thing, depending on where you fall in the summer vs winter debate.
But either way, you can’t deny the appeal of warm and cozy baked oat recipes like this one or healthy apple crisp!
You’ll also want to give healthy apple bread and healthy apple muffins a try too!
We make these healthy apple oatmeal bars with a soft and thick whole wheat crust infused with cinnamon and naturally sweetened with honey.
Then top with a layer of crisp apples and a crunchy nutty topping drizzled with even more honey!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I do love that these are a delicious grab-and-go option that can be enjoyed warm or cold, no matter what it’s like outside!
- Healthy ingredients: Naturally occurring sugars in the fresh apples and applesauce along with unrefined added sugar that is honey. The fiber in whole wheat and rolled oats, and coconut oil for a healthy fat alternative to butter.
- Versatile: Enjoy them as power packed breakfast on the go, a healthy and wholesome after-school treat, or a portable snack. Heck, serve it with a scoop of ice cream and you’ve got dessert too!
- Easy to make: With just 20 minutes of prep time and the rest of baking time, these bars can be ready in just over an hour.
- Freezer-friendly: Any uneaten bars can be kept in the freezer for months.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s a list of all of the healthy and wholesome ingredients that go into these tasty squares.
- Oats: Use quick or old fashioned rolled oats. They both work with old fashioned oats being more coarse and giving a bit more texture.
- Whole wheat flour: Used as the structure of the crust.
- Baking powder: This is what makes these apple cinnamon oatmeal bars thick.
- Cinnamon: Apples and cinnamon go hand in hand. Then again so do oats and cinnamon. Honey and cinnamon too! You get the idea. Cinnamon is a welcome addition to this recipe for sure!
- Salt: Enhances the flavors and brings out the best taste in every bite.
- Large egg: Needed for binding the bars so that they don’t fall apart.
- Honey: A natural, unrefined sweetener that also offers nutritional benefits.
- Coconut oil: Used in place of butter, this dairy free alternative needs to be left at room temperature and not melted. This will help keep the bars soft and moist.
- Applesauce: Unsweetened applesauce adds a ton of moisture to baked goods. I have a great Instant Pot applesauce recipe I use.
- Medium apples: Granny Smith apples are nice and tart, and hold their shape well when baked. Fuji or Honeycrisp are great too.
- Cooking spray: For a nonstick surface. I like to use Misto.
For the topping, we’re combining chopped pecans, oats, cinnamon, vanilla, and a bit of salt for a crunchy, nutty, sweet topping.
How to Make Healthy Apple Oatmeal Bars
Just a bit of prep time and the oven does the rest. It’s like easy apple pie! You’ll be taking a bite out of one in no time!
Prepare the crust. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and stir well.
Pour in the honey, add a whisked egg, along with the oil and applesauce and give it a good mix until a wet dough forms.
Slice the apples into thin uniform slices. The easiest way to do this is to use a mandoline. If not, a sharp knife works too.
I like to slice these just before adding them to the dish so they aren’t given a chance to turn brown.
Assemble the layers. Add dough to the prepared baking dish. Pack it down and level with a spatula.
Add a single layer of apple slices, overlapping as you go. Last, combine the topping ingredients in a bowl to mix, then sprinkle it overtop the apples.
Bake for 45 minutes. Allow the dish to cool completely and drizzle the remaining honey overtop before slicing.
Substitutions
- Use maple syrup instead of honey. They both are unrefined and both deliver a sweet flavor that pairs well with the fall vibes.
- Swap butter for coconut oil. If you love the buttery flavors, by all means, use it instead. It really makes these healthy baked apples taste so good!
- Oat flour could be used in place of whole wheat flour for a gluten free alternative. Try it and let me know!
- Use any type of apple you have on hand. Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, or ambrosia are just a few options.
- Other nuts to use in place of the pecans could be walnuts or almonds if preferred.
Top Tips
These healthy apple oatmeal bars are pretty straightforward, but here are some things to keep in mind.
- Cool completely before slicing. To keep the clean lines and the shape of the squares, you want the bars to cool and set so they don’t fall apart.
- Drizzle with honey before serving. It adds a sweet finishing touch that adds a little something extra.
- Pick your oats. Rolled oats will lead to more coarse and chewy bars. Quick oats are smaller and softer, to begin with, and absorb more moisture, they will result in softer bars.
- To make these school lunchbox friendly, or to accommodate nut allergies, replace the pecan topping with a traditional crumb topping.
Storage Instructions
To store: Keep leftover bars in an airtight container to maintain moisture. They don’t need to be kept in the fridge unless you still have some after 3 days. In which case, transfer them to the fridge for a few extra days.
To freeze: Keep them in a freezable container or Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or on the counter and enjoy these delicious healthy apple oat bars with your family all season long!
FAQs
These healthy apple oatmeal bars will keep fresh at room temperature for up 3 days.
Yes! They can be kept frozen for months. So make a double batch and freeze some for later.
For breakfast bars, I’m all about keeping it plain jane with a cup of coffee or tall glass of milk. Sometimes I will add a drizzle of peanut butter for a bit of extra protein as a snack.
For dessert, I will add a dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt or ice cream.
More Healthy Snack Bars
- Carrot cake baked oatmeal bars
- Blueberry oatmeal crumble bars
- Healthy carrot cake bars
- No bake peanut butter oatmeal bars
Healthy Apple Oatmeal Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Bars
- 2 cups quick or rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg large
- 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp honey divided
- 1/2 cup coconut oil room temperature & not melted
- 1/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 3 medium apples I used Granny Smith
- Cooking spray I use Misto
For the Topping
- 1 cup pecans finely chopped
- 1/2 cup quick or rolled oats
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, line 8" x 11" baking dish with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Cut apples in half, core and slice thinly, using a mandoline or sharp knife.
- In a large mixing bowl, add oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; mix well with spatula. Add 1/2 cup honey, egg (quickly whisked in a small bowl), coconut oil and applesauce. Mix with spatula until wet dough forms.
- To make the topping, in a medium bowl add pecans, oats, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and stir well.
- Place dough in prepared baking dish and level with spatula. On top lay apple slices overlapping and sprinkle with topping. Bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Drizzle with remaining honey before slicing into 18 squares.
Notes
- Store: Store in a cool dry place for up to 3 days, refrigerate in a glass airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: In airtight container up to 3 months.
- Use maple syrup instead of honey. They both are unrefined and both deliver a sweet flavor that pairs well with the fall vibes.
- Swap butter for coconut oil. If you love the buttery flavors, by all means, use it instead.
- Oat flour could be used in place of whole wheat flour for a gluten free alternative. Try it and let me know!
- Use any type of apple you have on hand. Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, or ambrosia are just a few options.
- Other nuts to use in place of the pecans could be walnuts or almonds if preferred.
I enjoyed the taste of it all, but I found the crust to be a bit too thick and the topping to be much too crumbly. In the photos, your topping seems to stick together better than mine did! Not sure what the difference was… Overall we enjoyed it 🙂
I apparently didn’t read the directions close enough and put the 3 T of honey in the topping ingredients…lol! Oh well, just took them out of the oven. Can’t wait to try one!
That is totally fine! It is all there and ends up squished in your belly anyways.:) Let me know how you like them. Please let them cool before slicing.:)