These healthy quinoa breakfast bars are the perfect way to start your day. They're flourless, packed full of fiber + protein and sweetened with a banana.
If you’ve ever woken up in the morning, realized it’s an hour past the time you were supposed to be up and you dash out the door with wrinkled clothes, unwashed hair, and barely any makeup on, then these quinoa breakfast bars are for you. (oh no, I’m definitely not speaking from experience or anything)
They make the ultimate on-the-go meal. They’re packed with pretty much everything you need to start your day: carbs for energy, fiber to keep you full, protein to fuel your body and a very small amount of sugar so that mid-morning crash doesn’t hit with force.
Yeah, they’re the real deal.
I’ve been wanting to create a baked breakfast bar recipe for you, but all the ones I've come across haven't been as healthy as I wanted them to be. They were either full of flour, had way too much sugar or relied on eggs to the structure. Knowing that many of you suffer from multiple food sensitivities, my goal was to make these bars super healthy AND without many of the top allergens.
These babies? We’ve checked off all the boxes. They're free from:
gluten // dairy // eggs // soy // corn // and can easily be made nut-free
And the best part? They taste amazing! #WIN
They remind me of banana bread but without all the fat and sugar. With the warming flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, the sweetness from the bananas, the caramel undertones from the coconut sugar and the heartiness of the quinoa + oat blend, I wish every day started with these quinoa breakfast bars.
But aside from how awesome they taste, I love, love, LOVE how portable they are!
Unlike the no-bake treats I've shared before, or many granola bar recipes you find online, these bars won't fall apart on you and don't need to be refrigerated. I just packed mine up in a plastic container, left them on the counter and they lasted me for 5 days!
So whip up a batch this weekend and store them for the week ahead. You can choose to cut them into brownie-like squares like did here (and yes, I ate at least two in each sitting), or slice them like granola bars. You can even top them with some extra nut/seed butter if you want!
Hope you enjoy them as much as I have been. They're so good!
Alyssa
More Healthy Breakfast Bar Recipes to try:
- Vegan Carrot Cake Quinoa Breakfast Bars
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Breakfast Bars with Quinoa
- Morning Glory Quinoa Breakfast Bars
- Apple Pie Quinoa Breakfast Bars
- Lemon Raspberry Quinoa Breakfast Bars
Flourless Banana-Quinoa Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats gluten-free optional
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 flax eggs 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 6 tablespoons warm water
- 1 cup mashed bananas 2 medium bananas
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup nut or seed butter of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8"x8" baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the sides with cooking spray.
- Start by whisking together the flax and water. Let this stand while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oats, quinoa, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt.
- In a separate bowl, mix the banana, vanilla and nut butter together. Stir in flax eggs and pour this mixture over the dry ingredients, mixing everything together until fully incorporated. The batter should be moist, but not runny.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
- Bake on the center rack for 15 - 20 minutes until the bars are golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool completely in the pan, then remove and slice into squares (or rectangles). Store in an airtight container for 4 - 5 days.
Nutrition
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Is this filled with protein if there’s only 2g per piece?
Hi I made this recipe and made 12 muffin instead. (I used egg instead of flax)
Lovely flavors, not too sweet and the oats and quinoa give a nice semi-crunchy texture.
Great for a portable breakfast or snack. Thank you!
Such a great idea!!
Great recipe! Used 2 real eggs and had to add about 10 min to baking time.
Good to know!!
Is the serving 16? or 6? I made them but they seem a little small – thanks!
I cut them into 16 squares and eat 2 – 3 squares, but you could totally do larger squares if you wanted 🙂
Wonderful for ready to go breakfast. Tastesgood
So glad you enjoyed it! If you wouldn’t mind leaving a star rating, I’d so appreciate it 🙂
I have made these twice now. Here’ the outcome for both:
1sr time:
* used 1/8th cup of honey because I didnt have the cocnut sugar. All else was the same. Very moist w good banana and peanut butter flavor.
2nd time:
* used the coconut sugar as described. I also used bananas that were frozen. The sweetness was the same but I think because the bananas were frozen I could hardly taste them. They mostly had the peanut butter flavor and the moisture level was the same.
Conclusion: I’ll just use ripe unfrozen bananas next time and experiment with fun additions and increased sweetness. This is agreat go-to recipe. Hubby loves it as a snack while golfing. Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing!! I’m really interested about the frozen bananas and love hearing that honey works!
I’m a dedicated carnivore but found this recipe intriguing. I had everything but the coconut sugar so I substituted an 1\8th of cup of organic maple syrup. The bars came out very moist and not too sweet. I like that they do not crumble but yet provide chewiness and good texture. Thanks for developing this recipe. I’ll make a double batch next time.
I added a bit of cocoa powder to the recipe and also put a liberal sprinkling of chocolate chips on top. I was very happy that these squares stay together and freeze well. I put into individual containers and am enjoying them for a treat with lunch.
I made the vegan meat loaf this past weekend it was outstanding! I am excited to try a couple side dishes and dinner main courses Thank for all you do it really has helped me with meal planning
So happy you enjoyed it!! Definitely one of my favorites as well 🙂 xo
I like to try them but i don’t know what flaxssed meal is is that grounded flaxseed or something else andcwhere can i get coconutsugar?
Yes, it’s ground flax seeds 🙂 And you can get coconut sugar at most healthy food stores or online!
Can I replace the coconut sugar with honey?
You couldn’t 1:1 since liquid sweeteners require different measurements. I would try do half the amount of coconut sugar and then add 1 teaspoon at a time until it’s the right consistency. Let me know how it works! xo
I’m really happy with these. Love the light sweetness and that they aren’t crumbly in my 3 yr olds hand. I added 2 Tbsp of chia seeds. I want to play with mix-ins.
So glad you enjoyed them! Definitely come back and let me know what mix ins you end up adding 🙂
This may be a stupid question. But this is the first time I have heard of flax eggs. In your description you say 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal and 6 tablespoons warm water. Does that describe 1 flax egg or two?
Thanks!
It’s 2 – I should clarify that in the description 🙂 For future reference, 1 flax egg = 1 tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp warm water. xo!
I just made these and added about 3 tbs of hemp hearts, I also used 2 eggs instead of the flax (allergy) and they baked up beautifully. Amazing flavor without being overly sweet and very moist.
Wonderful! I love the idea of adding hemp hearts 🙂
i just made these this evening. while the tast turned out good… it didn’t look anything like the photo on the website. When mixing the ingredients… i ended up using my blender, so the mixture came out more smooth. Next time I make this, I guess I’ll hand stir it… so i can can get the actual texture shown in the photo…
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does the quinoa need to be cooked?
Yep, quinoa needs to be cooked (and cooled!)
I have everything but flax, can I use real egg?
I haven’t tested these with real egg, but I think you could. I would say that the baking time might be slightly adjusted though! Let me know how it works out 🙂
2 questions: what are flax eggs? Can I substitute chia seeds for flax? 🙂
I haven’t tried tried with chia and flax eggs are explained in the recipe 🙂
I have made these twice. The second time I added a small amount of mini chocolate chips. Delicious! Thank you Alyssa!!!
I used my nutri blaster to grind some Irish Style Oatmeal because I didn’t have any quick cooking. Worked just as well. Yum!
Can regular oats be substituted for the quick-cooking oats? I have everything else on hand, but only regular oats…and no way to get to the store until Tuesday. 🙂
I ground mine up in my nutriblaster to make a flour, worked out just as good. 🙂
UM YES! The hubs just went gluten/dairy free and has been all WHAT CAN I EAT QUICKLY FOR BREAKFAST, so he is going to be in LUHVE with these babies! Pinning!
I cant wait to make these for my toddler! I have literally just started researching how to make healthy homemade cereal bars. He loves some organic packaged ones, but I pay out the nose for them and even though they are “healthy” the ingredient list is WAY too long for me! Thank you thank you for posting this at just the right time. These will make a perfect snack to send with him to daycare!
Can I use anything else instead of the coconut sugar?
You could definitely use your preferred granulated sugar!
My perfect allergy-free breakfast bar! These look incredible, really! Top these with some drippy almond butter…or coconut butter and I’m all set!
looks yummy, unfortunately I don’t have all the ingredients here on the coast of Ecuador