Chunky Monkey Protein Baked Oat Bars (Printable)

Wholesome banana-chocolate oat bars with protein powder, walnuts, and peanut butter. Perfect breakfast or snack.

# What You Need:

→ Wet Ingredients

01 - 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
02 - 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
03 - 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
04 - 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
05 - 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
06 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ Dry Ingredients

07 - 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
08 - 1/2 cup vanilla or chocolate protein powder
09 - 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
10 - 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
11 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
12 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
13 - 1 teaspoon baking powder

# Step-by-Step:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
02 - In a large bowl, mash bananas until smooth. Stir in applesauce, honey or maple syrup, almond milk, peanut butter, and vanilla extract until well combined.
03 - In a separate bowl, combine oats, protein powder, walnuts, chocolate chips, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.
04 - Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until just combined; avoid overmixing.
05 - Spread mixture evenly in the prepared baking pan.
06 - Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until bars are set and golden around the edges.
07 - Allow to cool completely in the pan before slicing into 12 bars.

# Expert Suggestions:

01 -
  • They're genuinely satisfying—no weird protein powder aftertaste or that chalky texture that makes you regret baking.
  • You can inhale one at 6 AM without guilt because there's actual oats and banana doing the heavy lifting.
  • They stay chewy in the middle and slightly crispy at the edges, which is basically the textural sweet spot.
02 -
  • Overmixing is the enemy—I made that mistake once and spent twenty minutes chewing through bars that felt like protein brick.
  • The bars will seem a little soft when warm but firm up completely as they cool, so don't panic and rebake them thinking they're underdone.
03 -
  • Measure your oats by weight if you can—scooping and packing changes everything, and I learned this after three batches of wildly different results.
  • Room temperature peanut butter spreads so much more easily into the wet mixture than cold peanut butter, so pull it out five minutes before you start.
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