In December, my mom and I snagged tickets to Disneyland. On the day of our reservation, we arrived bright and early, shortly after the gates opened, and armed with our phones and small Mickey Mouse backpacks, we immediately set off down Main Street towards the back left corner of the theme park.
Well… After momentarily pausing for a few quick pictures in front of the towering Christmas tree next to City Hall and the Emporium. It was absolutely stunning — and many of the glittery ornaments were bigger than my head!
We followed the familiar paths until we crossed underneath a rock archway and entered the Star Wars section. As our first time in that area, we marveled at the sheer size and detail of the rugged buildings, rocky landscape, and themed shops, then joined the queue to hop on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
For the next twelve hours, we wove all around the park. Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Matterhorn… The Mad Tea Party’s tea cups, Storybrook Land Canal Boats, Casey Jr Circus Train, the regular train all around Disneyland’s perimeter… It’s A Small World and the nighttime reveal of its twinkling holiday lights, the Haunted Mansion dressed up as “The Nightmare Before Christmas…” Along with window shopping, souvenir shopping, and performances by the Disneyland marching band and Christmas-themed Dickens band. We squeezed in all of our favorites — plus more!
We also paused for a number of snack and meal breaks. We walked almost nine miles by the time the day ended, so we definitely needed some fuel to keep us going…
And if I had planned farther ahead, these healthy almond butter oatmeal bars would’ve been the perfect thing to slip into our backpacks. They’re great for quick on-the-go breakfasts and snacks — for both kids and adults!
Maybe we’ll just have to go back and confirm whether my theory is correct… Anything for another excuse to visit Disneyland! 😉
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY ALMOND BUTTER OATMEAL BARS
Let’s talk about what you’ll need to make these healthy almond butter oatmeal bars! I have a feeling that your pantry already houses common staples like baking powder and salt, so we’ll stick to the more interesting and important ingredients right now.
Oats. No surprises here — at least not with a recipe title like “almond butter oatmeal bars!” To make these, you’ll need instant oats. They’re also called “quick cooking” and “one minute” oats. They’re not the ones that come in single-serving packets with flavors like maple brown sugar and apple cinnamon!
Just like traditional old-fashioned rolled oats, instant oats only contain one ingredient: oats. However, they differ in one key way. Instant oats are smaller and thinner than old-fashioned rolled oats. This size difference means they soften faster, which gives your almond butter oatmeal bars the best soft and chewy texture!
Tip: If you’d like to make these healthy almond butter oatmeal bars gluten-free, then substitute certified gluten-free instant oats. They work perfectly!
Flour. To make these bars healthier, I opted for whole wheat flour. It has more fiber and micronutrients compared to all-purpose flour, and I found it also yielded a cozier taste that beautifully complemented the comforting oats. I call that a win-win!
Tip: I’ve included my top gluten-free recommendations in the Notes section of the recipe, if you’d like to make your batch of these healthy almond butter oatmeal bars gluten-free instead!
Cinnamon. Cinnamon and oats go together like peanut butter and jelly… Or cereal and milk… Or frosting and cake. Truly — it feels weird to make an oatmeal baked treat without any spices!
My current favorite is Saigon cinnamon. It has a slightly sweeter, richer, and stronger flavor compared to regular cinnamon. I love how that makes baked goods taste even more comforting and cozy! Many stores have started stocking it, but I typically buy mine online here. (It’s almost the only kind of cinnamon I now use in my baking!)
Creamy almond butter. I used my super easy homemade almond butter. It actually replaces the butter or oil typically found in cookies or bars! The almond butter gives your healthy oatmeal bars a beautifully moist and chewy texture. Therefore, for the best consistency…
You must use creamy almond butter. Not crunchy.
I know. This requirement might sound a little high maintenance, but there’s a scientific reason behind it!
Those crunchy almond bits take up space that the creamy almond butter could be occupying in your measuring cup. This means you end up adding less of the creamy part to the batter… And since the creamy almond butter contributes to the total “liquid” volume, you end up throwing off the ratio of wet and dry ingredients — which then ends up making your bars cakey, bready, or dry.
So for the best soft and moist texture, stick with creamy almond butter!
Because almond butter has a really mild flavor, you can’t actually taste it. Trust me… I tried using various quantities, but I could barely detect even the subtlest almond aftertaste in the bars with the highest amount! So if you’d like to taste the nuttiness of almonds in these oatmeal bars, I’ve included an optional modification for you. (More on that momentarily!)
Egg white. This helps bind together the rest of the ingredients. The egg white also gives your healthy almond butter oatmeal bars a protein boost!
Sweetener. I used pure maple syrup to sweeten these bars. Remember, that’s the kind that comes directly from maple trees! It only includes one ingredient (maple syrup), and it’s generally sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this).
Tip: I don’t recommend substituting pancake syrup or sugar-free maple syrup. These contain other ingredients, which affect the way they behave in baking recipes. This is particularly true of sugar-free maple syrup! It’s generally water-based, and that makes your baked treats more bready and dry.
Because these healthy almond butter oatmeal bars are meant to be eaten for breakfasts and snacks, they’re only lightly sweetened. Their sweetness level is closer to that of muffins or breakfast scones, rather than true “dessert” cookies or bars. (You can easily make them sweeter if you’d prefer though — just check the Notes section for how to do that!)
Milk. Just about any type will work, so feel free to reach for what’s already in your fridge! I typically use nonfat milk, unsweetened almond milk, and unsweetened cashew milk the most.
Tip: If you use dairy-free milk, then your healthy almond butter oatmeal bars will also be dairy-free!
Almonds (optional). Here’s that little modification I hinted at above! Because almond butter has such a mild and subtle flavor, you can easily stir chopped or sliced almonds into the batter to give your oatmeal bars a noticeably nutty flavor.
Although I love snacking on nuts and tossing them into salads, I’m not the biggest fan of adding them into baked goods… Other than pecan pie! Even now as an adult, I still do the exact same thing I did as a little kid and meticulously pick them out of just about every cookie, brownie, bar, muffin, scone, or cake, almost like a doctor performing surgery or a dog digging up bones in the backyard, and eat them separately.
I know, I know… I’m a little nutty (and 100% okay with that!), so you probably won’t find any extra chopped almonds in my batches — but I know many of my nut-loving taste testers really enjoyed the extra flavor and crunch they provided!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY ALMOND BUTTER OATMEAL BARS
Have you gathered your ingredients? Then let’s go over how to make the best healthy almond butter oatmeal bars! This recipe is pretty simple and straightforward, but I also have some tips to share with you.
Decide how nutty you feel. As I mentioned mere moments ago, you can’t taste the almond butter in these oatmeal bars. It has a really subtle flavor, so it’s included to yield a beautifully soft and chewy texture. If you’d like to actually taste almonds (not just cozy oats and cinnamon!), then you’ll need to add chopped or sliced ones to your batch for a nutty flavor boost.
Use the correct pan. This recipe calls for an 8”-square pan. Before you begin, double check your pan fits that description!
The dimensions of square pans are measured according to their top edge, not the bottom. Many square pans have sloped sides, so their bottom edge is shorter than the top rim. If the top of your square pan is 9”, but the bottom is less than that, it’s still a 9”-square pan and too big for this recipe. You need a square pan that’s 8” across the top!
Measure correctly. I could probably say (or type!) this next bit in my sleep… I’ve repeated it that many times — and yes, I’m going to do it again.
It’s extremely important to measure the ingredients correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) This is particularly important for the flour and oats! Too much of either one will make your batter dry, and it’ll yield a cakey, bready, or crumbly texture in your fully baked bars. This is especially true of the oats! They act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the batter.
However, for liquid ingredients, stick with measuring cups! Because many liquids have different densities, the same volume will weigh a different amount depending on the exact ingredient. (I used to be a chemist before I became a baking blogger, so I love nerdy kitchen topics like this!) So unless you’d like to convert each one’s volume to weight… Measuring cups will be much more accurate for liquid ingredients — and easier too!
Be patient with the batter. It’s really easy to whip up. I promise! Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, then stir them together. However, that second bowl of wet ingredients requires some patience!
It takes a little time and effort to fully dissolve the almond butter (well, technically dissociate, but that sounds more like something Amy the OChem TA would say!) to create a really smooth mixture once you’ve added the sweetener and milk. It’s going to look a little funky at first, like you’ve thrown pebbles into a lake or made almond blob soup, but with enough stirring, it should eventually even out into one fluid mixture.
