Kena's Bananoats: Improvisatory oatmeal bars for next to nothing

I want to share the ONE oatmeal bar/breakfast cookie I make, which is fantastic for giving a new life to any odds and bits in your fridge and pantry.

The basic recipe is:
- one mashed banana (can be fresh or unfrozen)
- one cup of oatmeal (the slow-cooking kind gives a better bite, but non-flavored instant works too)

Mix and fashion into rough bars or cookies on a baking sheet. You can also use tiny muffin molds if you're feeling fancy.

Bake at 375oF (+- 25 degrees) for about 15-20 minutes.

Keep at room temperature for a day or two at most, otherwise keep in fridge or freeze for longer (they freeze beautifully)

Hence our name for it: "Banavoine" in French which translates as Bananoats. This is basically the only bars my kids get in their lunches. They're healthy and since I buy my oatmeal in bulk, it's super super cost effective. A 10 year old can make that recipe easily, and there's no measuring once you know what the texture is supposed to be like.

The beauty of this is that you can substitute the mashed banana with almost any thick puree you can think of.

That includes:
- yogurt or kefir leftovers
- any fruit puree like apple sauce, pumpkin puree, date puree
- eggs
- jams and jellies that did not quite set right
- small amounts of extra cake frosting if you're feeling fancy

Then you can mix in any add-in you have in your pantry as suits your whimsy:

- small amounts of seeds, nuts, dried fruits, chocolat chips (I'll go through my pantry for any little leftover).
- small bits of fruits or shredded veggies (zuchini, carrot...).
- cocoa (always a favorite with my kids)

Add some sweetener if needed (I find that date or banana puree is sweet enough on its own, but unsweetened applesauce sometimes needs a little boost).

For instance, here are this week's version:

"Valentine Day's" bananoats
- one mashed banana
- some leftover greek yogurt (Smelled and tasted right, but needed to be used quickly)
- a few tablespoons of cranberry sauce forgotten at the back of the fridge
- a few tablespoons of applesauce that was about to go bad
- a bit of chia seeds for extra nutrition
- pink sugar clumps that my kids made to decorate cupcakes and forgot about months ago
- enough oatmeal to get to the right texture

Voilà! Cute pink bars with crunchy sugar bits that make my daughter feel very special this week, while saving a bunch of food from the compost bin. These are a bit sweeter than usual, but still full of good nutriments and with enough protein to keep them full of energy all afternoon long.

My husband recently asked me to make oat bars, and I haven't done it, yet. I love recipes that say "use some of this or this or this" instead of exact ingredients, so thank you for sharing!

Commercial Oat bars are too sweet for me to eat, and the packaging drives me bonkers! The recipe I use calls for peanut butter and an egg and I love it with either some sunflower or pumpkin seeds. I grew hull less pumpkin seeds this year, but it seems I use them as fast as I cook the pumpkin! They are quite calorie dense, but there are plenty of times when I need that. I get lots of offers to help eat them.

With kids this would be a great savings as well as a healthy nutritional choice, and making bars is pretty quick compared to things like cookies or muffins.

Ooh, these sound great! How is the texture, soft and chewy or more crunchy? I was thinking about making these for (and with, how fun!) a two year old, crunchier might not be a hit with her..

Oh well, I think we are going to try to make them anyway. Maybe with different ways to find a good recipe for us!

Thank you for posting this!

We made these! How easy and versatile. I had these pear and plum smoothie pouches so I emptied one into a bowl, added one egg, mixed well and added oats until it felt right. Shaped them and baked at 350F. Oh and I put a sprinkle of cocoa powder on half and crowberry powder on half.

Toddler tried them a couple of times, wasn’t a huge hit but it’s rare she is super into anything the first time she tries it. Unless it’s cake.

We will be making more of these, definitely!


Edit for typos as always!

Saana Jalimauchi wrote:Toddler tried them a couple of times, wasn’t a huge hit but it’s rare she is super into anything the first time she tries it.

Our chickens won't eat much of any new food the first time around either.  The second or third time, stand back and toss it before you're mobbed! I think that's a healthy approach to new foods - try it and see if your body likes it!  Hopefully Toddler will figure it out!

Jay Angler wrote:Our chickens won't eat much of any new food the first time around either.  The second or third time, stand back and toss it before you're mobbed! I think that's a healthy approach to new foods - try it and see if your body likes it!  Hopefully Toddler will figure it out!

Haha, the image I now have in my head about chickens coming at it..

You’re right, it’s a healthy approach that she has. I do have a hunch that bananoats will be something that she’ll be asking us to make.

Saana, those sound good!

I made some today, too. I didn't measure everything, so these are rough amounts.
1/3 cup muscadine puree (juice and pulp of muscadines, pureed and simmered until thick)
2 cups thick-cut oats
2 eggs
1/2 Tbsp psyllium husk
1 Tbsp ground chia seeds
Zest of an orange
2 Tbsp sugar, since the puree was fairly tart
1 Tbsp lucuma powder
A handful of chopped pumpkin seeds

I smooshed the mixture into an 8x8" pan and baked at 350F for ~ 23 minutes.
I wanted bars that were thick enough and held together well enough to put in the toaster since my husband and toddler like fresh, hot foods. The eggs, psyllium, and chia made a great binder.

My toddler liked it okay fresh from the oven. Once it cooled off, she spit it out. I think the texture of the thick-cut oats was what she didn't like, but my husband likes the heartiness and chewiness of those oats. I'll use quick oats if/when I make another batch just for her.

I really like the additional texture of the chopped pumpkin seeds. I love the flavor, but deseeding muscadines was a task that I don't want to do often. I thought about just juicing them, but I wanted the pulp this time, as well.

Miam! I will clearly try it in my solar oven ! Maybee with some fresh ripe fruit from the garden mixed in it. Oh and some insects for a boost in protein ? I must find some more litterature about edible insects we can find in ours forests and homested. Somebody have reference ?

Round two! The same smoothie pouch, one egg, crushed linen seed, cocoa powder and honey. Oh and oats of course.
I just poured the cocoa powder from the jar and had a whoopsie, but it wasn’t too much after all!

This time I just spread it to a baking sheet and cut it to bites after baking.

Tasty and toddler approved!

I’m wondering if I could put some sourdough starter in them, I’m reviving a back up dried starter as I killed the original after christmas when I ran out of spoons. We are finally bubbling up to double the size, yay!

I'm delighted to see many people try it out! Kids who are used to super sweet commercial bars might not love them at first (my kids will choose a cupcake over the bars if they have the option ) but they are generally not-offensive enough that even picky kids will eat them if that's on offer.

Saana Jalimauchi wrote:Ooh, these sound great! How is the texture, soft and chewy or more crunchy?

Definitively chewy. With a two year old, I probably wouldn't use crunchy bits that might increase the risk of choking.

And yes, I'd totally use some sourdough starter as part of the liquid. Maybe not too much at first, to test for sourness. And I wonder if adding a bit of baking soda as well might make them lighter... The best thing is to try it out!

This week's variant, inspired by a deep fridge cleaning :

- leftover chocolate buttercream (a few tablespoons' worth, always good as a sweetener)
- a ridiculously small amount of blueberry and strawberry jams (not enough for a proper toast)
- some defrozen berries leftover from my youngest's lunch, mashed roughly
- one mashed banana
- a few tablespoons of chia seeds left in the "seeds and dried fruits" drawer
- oats to make the correct thickness

Very much appreciated, and I got a few empty containers back!

Those bars are also perfect for using up egg whites or egg yolks which otherwise are left to fester in the fridge. Not in this week's version, but with a preteen who loves baking, I tend to gather up egg bits and frosting leftovers in the fridge.

Raphaël Blais wrote:Miam! I will clearly try it in my solar oven !

A bit off topic, but I'd be interested to chat about your experiences with a solar oven in Quebec! I've always assumed that we didn't have enough sun and warmth to make that worthwhile - that it was a "California thing"

Let us know if you manage to make banavoines in it!