Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Bake Recipe

This versatile recipe can be used as oatmeal drop cookies or an oatmeal snack bar, not just as a breakfast bake.  To skip to the recipe, click here.

A reader requested I get back to the original focus of the blog—healthy “junk” food.  Whether you consider this recipe healthy junk food or not, is up to you. Some of you might think it’s not healthy because it has fat from peanut butter and oil, while others may think it has too many carbs.

Personally, I think this is a healthy recipe. You’ll get fiber from the oats and banana, while getting protein from the peanut butter. And, there's no added sugar.

It will also depend on the ingredients you use.  For example, I used organic vanilla extract, not artificial vanillin. 

I also opted for natural peanut butter, made from just peanuts, oil, and sugar. To me, that's healthier than peanut butters made with a lot of additives. One major name brand peanut butter has this long list of ingredients: Peanuts, Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar, Soy Protein Concentrate, Salt, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Mono- and Diglycerides, Magnesium Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Ferric Orthophosphate, Copper Sulfate, Niacinamide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, and Folic Acid.

How “healthy” it is will also depend on how much you eat and what you pair it with. If you cut this into 16-2” x 2” squares and only eat one, it’s going to be lower in fat, calories, and protein. 

This morning, I didn’t want just one little oatmeal square, I wanted a substantial breakfast bake; so I ate half the recipe with a glass of unsweetened soymilk and a bowl of blackberries. I consider that a healthy breakfast. In fact, I got 5 of the six food groups: dairy, fruit, grains, protein, and fat. The only food group I didn’t have was the vegetable group.

There are much worse things I could have eaten. 

Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Bake

(Or Drop Cookies or Snack Bar – You Decide!)

Gluten Free, Vegan, Egg Free, Dairy Free, No Added Sugar

2 small bananas

1 ¼ cup oats

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

3 Tablespoons peanut butter (Eyeballing it is fine!)

1 Tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Grease a pan. I recommend a loaf pan for a thicker breakfast bake, but use an 8” x 8” square pan for a thinner product or use baking sheet to make drop cookies. 

3. Using a fork, mash the bananas. (Honestly, I do this right in the pan, so I have 1 less thing to clean.)

4. Stir in oatmeal, cinnamon, nut butter, oil, and vanilla.

5. Flatten in pan. To make cookies,  drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet by spoonfuls or roll into balls and place on baking sheet.

6. Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. (I have made thick breakfast bakes, thinner oatmeal squares, dropped oatmeal cookies, and rolled oatmeal cookies. They all bake about 15 minutes for me. But, as always, keep an eye on the product to see what works for you.)

  

Looking for the nutrition information? Sorry. It will really depend on the ingredients you use and how many servings you decide to divide it into. 

I'm sure this recipe could be used as the base for many more things. If you come up with a variation, please let me know!