Ever since I made these oatmeal bars back in January, they have been a part of my weekly meal prep for Adam.  It’s just much simpler to make a batch of these bars once a week than to sit there and make a bowl of oatmeal each morning.  This way, Adam can get his breakfast together fast and get out the door even faster.

Now, while I’ve made oatmeal bars every week, I haven’t made them the exact same way each time.  Because I like to experiment and because sometimes I’m not so good at checking what ingredients I have BEFORE making something and have to improvise.

This recipe is an improvised version of the original. 

I had a bunch of almost gross bananas that needed to be used, no coconut milk, and obviously, cranberries aren’t quite in season right now.  So I took stock of what I did have and just went all in.  I came up with a pretty delicious alternative, especially the tahini/banana cream part.  I could have eaten that all on its own but I showed some restraint and only ate like half of it before putting it in the bars. 😉 

If you don’t have tahini or aren’t a fan, you can use any nut or seed butter.  But I would HIGHLY recommend using tahini.  The flavor just works really well with the sweetness of the bananas and makes a super delicious breakfast.

If you’re in need of a new breakfast item or just looking to cut down on breakfast prep in the morning, make a batch of these bars and enjoy!

Tahini & Banana Cream Breakfast Bars- makes 8 bars 

• 3 cups rolled oats (gluten-free if needed)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp cacao powder OR unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 medium overripe bananas
• 1 cup water + more as needed
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1 tbsp maple syrup, optional
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips, optional (I didn’t use these but I wish I had because YUM!)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and oil an 8 x 8 dish.
2. Put all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.  Set aside.
3. Place two bananas and the water into a blender.  You could also use a tall glass and an immersion blender.  Blend this until you have a smooth banana “milk”.  Add the eggs and vanilla extract and blend again.
4. Pour the banana and egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine everything.
5. Add the remaining bananas and tahini to the blender.  Blend until smooth, adding water one tablespoon at a time as needed to get things moving.  You don’t want this mix to be too watery.  It should be the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
6. Add the maple syrup if using.  Stir half the cream into the oatmeal mixture, along with chocolate chips if using, and pour this into the oiled 8 x 8 dish.  Scoop the rest of the tahini and banana cream on top of the oatmeal and swirl it in.  Stir
7. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the oven.  Let the bars cool completely before slicing and storing in an airtight container in the fridge.