Healthy Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars are an easy, wholesome way to satisfy your morning sweet tooth! Made with cereal, honey, peanut butter, and oatmeal, these little energy bars will keep you full all morning long.
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Somewhere along the way, we all decided that dessert in the morning was cool, and we would call it breakfast. Sure some of us eat eggs for breakfast, but what about those of us who prefer muffins (cake), pancakes (cake), or waffles (caaaaake).
I definitely lean sweet when it comes to breakfast, but my body just can't handle all the sugar and flour without a major crash before lunch. Enter, my healthy peanut butter breakfast bars.
I've been eating one of these every morning for breakfast. I love how one little bar can be both emotionally and physically satisfying until lunch.
Honestly these could be classified as a breakfast bar, snack bar, energy bar, granola bar or cereal bar. When it comes down to it, it's just a healthy peanut butter snack that's perfect for any time of day.
Healthy breakfast bars are a lot like my chewy peanut butter bites (my kids call it "sticky snack") but with so much more protein. We're talking peanuts, almonds, cashews, AND pepitas!
Ingredients
- Raw honey
- Natural creamy peanut butter
- Pure vanilla extract
- Old fashioned oatmeal
- Corn chex cereal
- Any combination of chopped pepitas, peanuts, almonds, and cashews
- Semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
How to make breakfast bars
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together honey, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Using a wooden spoon or rubber scraper, carefully fold in the oatmeal, cereal, and nuts.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and smooth out into an even layer. Bake 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator or freezer until solid. Then use a large knife to cut into 12 bars.
- Place chocolate in a small bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until almost completely melted. Stir until the chocolate is smooth, then use a spoon to drizzle chocolate over the bars.
- Return to the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate is set, then transfer to a freezer safe zip top bag before storing in the freezer until ready to eat. Allow to rest at room temperature at least 5 minutes before eating.
Top tips
Natural peanut butter vs regular
I use natural peanut butter (I like the Smucker's brand) for most of my recipes. If you also choose this, you'll want to make sure you stir it well to avoid any oil separation.
Regular peanut butter (JIF (affiliate link), Skippy, etc.) is ok to use, but will yield a very different taste and texture to the final product. If using regular peanut butter, you may want to experiment with using less honey.
How to store healthy breakfast bars
These bars will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw, let them sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes or microwave individual bars for 12-14 seconds.
Tips for customizing healthy breakfast bars:
- Use whatever nut and seed combo you have on hand
- Substitute almond or cashew butter for the peanut butter
- Swap crispy rice cereal for the corn chex
- Use maple syrup in place of the honey
- Add a sprinkling of flax seed meal and/or chia seeds to the mixture before baking
FAQ
Yes! You can substitute maple syrup for the honey to make these breakfast bars vegan.
It's easy to make these homemade breakfast bars gluten-free. Simply use certified gluten-free oats (<-- affiliate link) and make sure the cereal you're using doesn't contain wheat. I like Corn Chex because it's so crunchy.
More healthy breakfast recipes
- Peaches and Cream Breakfast Quinoa
- Five Minute Breakfast Burrito
- Pillowy Maple Nut Breakfast Cookies
- Peach Parfaits
- Soft Scrambled Eggs
- Scrambled Egg Sandwich
- Scrambled Tofu
- Southwest Veggie Breakfast Skillet
- Bran Granola
- Instant Pot Breakfast Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Vanilla Almond Vegan Baked Oatmeal
- Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats
- Low Carb Breakfast Casserole
- Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Healthy Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw honey
- ½ cup natural creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 cup corn chex cereal
- ½ cup any combination of chopped pepitas, peanuts, almonds, and cashews
- 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together honey, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. Using a wooden spoon or rubber scraper, carefully fold in the oatmeal, cereal, and nuts.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and smooth out into an even layer. Bake 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator or freezer until solid. Use the parchment to remove the bars from the pan, then use a large knife to cut into 12 bars.
- Place chocolate in a small bowl and microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until almost completely melted. Stir until the chocolate is smooth, then use a spoon to drizzle chocolate over the bars.
- Return to the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate is set, then transfer to a freezer safe zip top bag before storing in the freezer until ready to eat. Allow to rest at room temperature at least 5 minutes before eating.
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