Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

These Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars are healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast and easy to make. They are perfectly chewy, loaded with gooey chocolate and very satisfying for a breakfast or snack on the go.

Oatmeal bars stacked on top of each other.

I’m pretty obsessed with cookies and will find anyway to remanence over them in different dessert forms like this chocolate chip cookie mug cake. And I’m not ashamed to bring you another cookie inspired, chocolate chip loaded dessert in the form of these Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

Why you’ll love these oatmeal bars

  • These bars are perfectly chewy and reminiscent of a soft baked oatmeal cookie.
  • Because of the combo of oats and almond butter, these are filling, which makes them the perfect option for a quick grab and go breakfast or snack.
  • Only uses 9 wholesome ingredients that you might already have on hand in your pantry.
  • These are vegan, gluten-free and can be made nut free with the right substitutions.

Key Ingredients

  • Ground flax seeds: This is our gelling agent that helps to replace an egg in regular recipes
  • Unsweetened Soy Milk: Feel free to swap with your favorite plant based milk
  • Rolled Oats: The star of our show that helps to keep these nice and chewy
  • Almond Butter: I feel this nut butter works the best for the flavor profile here, but peanut butter works just as well as other nut/seed butters you have on hand.
  • Maple Syrup: Our main sweetener
  • Vegan Chocolate Chips: I used some Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips and love that they use fair trade chocolate

Rolled Oats vs Quick Oats

Using either should still result in chewy and delicious bars. I have processed 2 cups of the rolled oats into flour for this recipe, but you can also process the quick oats into flour as well. As a note, if you are using oat flour to start with, it is not an exact 1:1 swap in this recipe. When you process regular rolled oats into flour you will end up with less flour overall. 1 cup of rolled oats will yield about 3/4 cup of flour. This recipe was specifically made with rolled/quick oats in mind, so your end result my look different if using oat flour.

How to make oatmeal chocolate chip bars

Start by preheating your oven to 350F. To a bowl combine your ground flaxseeds and your milk and set aside. Then process 2 cups of rolled oats into a fine flour in a food processor. To the refined oats in the food processor, add in your remaining ingredients and process until nice and smooth.

Add in your remaining cup of oats to the food processer and give it a few pulses just to mix it into the batter. Then do the same for your chocolate chips. In a lined 8-in x 8-in baking dish, scoop your thick batter into the dish and with slightly wet hands, gently press the batter into the dish until nice and smooth and even. Bake in the oven to fully cook, then cool before cutting into squares.

Tips to make these oatmeal bars perfect

  • I’m going to emphasize this a number of times. PLEASE ALLOW THESE BARS TO COMPLETELY COOL BEFORE CUTTING INTO THEM! If it is warm they might crumble around the edges where you cut them. They will still taste good, but no one wants a crumbly bar.
  • Do not interchange the rolled oats in this recipe for oat flour 1:1. Processing oats into flour will yield much less oat flour, so be sure to convert appropriately if deciding to try using this with oat flour.
  • These bars honestly taste the best after cooling and allowing to sit overnight in an airtight container. They become the perfect chewiness, stay nice and soft and the flavors have more time to meld. So if you can, try to have some bars leftover to enjoy.
Chocolate chip bars from the top view with soft melted chocolate chips.

How to store these oatmeal chocolate chip bars

I will emphasize this again, allow to completely cool before cutting or storing these bars. After cutting into individual squares, put them in a Tupperware container(s), making sure to separate each bar with a sheet of parchment paper. Seal the container with a lid and store them in the fridge for up to 4 days or place in the freezer where you can store it for 3 months. When ready to eat, pull what you wish to eat out of the fridge or freezer. You can warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds or allow them to come to room temperature to enjoy. Since these don’t last long in this house, I also will keep them on the counter in an air tight container for up to 2 days. They stay perfectly chewy and the flavor just gets better and better by the day.

Add ins and swaps

The oatmeal base is really interchangeable! I made these with chocolate chips because I am obsessed with them, but you can absolutely change that out for a number of things. Add in walnuts, pepitas, dried fruit like raisins, vegan marshmallows, craisins, etc. You can also swap out the almond butter for another nut or seed butter of your choice. I love using peanut butter for this, cashew butter, tahini or sun butter are my typical go to options. To make gluten free, make sure to use gluten free rolled oats.

More breakfast ideas to try

Holding a thick oatmeal chocolate chip bar in my hands with the rest of the bars in the background.
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Stack of oatmeal bars with extra oat bars in the background.

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

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  • Author: Catherine Perez
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 9 bars 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

These Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars are healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast and easy to make. They are perfectly chewy, loaded with gooey chocolate and very satisfying for a breakfast or snack on the go.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup natural almond butter (creamy is best)
  • 3/4 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips/chunks

Instructions

  1. Set oven to 350F. In a bowl, combine flaxseed and milk and allow to sit.
  2. To a food processor add 2 cups of rolled oats, baking powder, and salt then process into flour.
  3. Add in almond butter, maple syrup, flax milk mixture, and vanilla extract then process this together on high until a really thicker batter forms.
  4. Scrap down the sides and add in remaining oats and your chocolate chips and pulse 4 or 5 times to combine.
  5. Spoon batter into a parchment lined 8in x 8in baking pan then place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before carefully removing from the pan to allow to completely cool. With a sharp knife, cut into bars and enjoy!

Notes

Do NOT sub out the rolled oats in this recipe 1:1 with oat flour. Processing rolled oats does not result in an equal yield in oat flour. 

You can make this recipe with quick oats in which case you would not need a food processor at all. If going this route, make sure to mix your wet ingredients separately then fold into the dry ingredients and mix well.

For allergen swaps: Make this gluten free by using gluten free oats. If wanting to make nut free, swap the almond butter for a different seed butter like tahini or sunflower seed butter. 

Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought in the comments below! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats

★ Catherine

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