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Banana bread bars with streusel: cozy, moist and comforting banana bars topped with a sweet, crunchy oat streusel. Made with oat flour, almond meal and maple syrup, these bars are the perfect start to your morning.
This morning was a bit… prickly? Abrasive? Um, cranky? Erik and I clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Maybe we woke up on a bed covered in pokey springs and other annoying things.
Whatever the reason, we were both irritable, to put it nicely. Sometimes you get up in the morning, expecting some kind of Folgers coffee-type wake-up montage. You know what I mean: golden sunlight streaming into the windows, everyone walking around cutely in their pajamas, smiling for no good reason and coffee brewing up the aroma of a good day.
But then, you actually wake up and there’s no golden sunlight. There’s just gray skies and mopey clouds hanging in the air. Geez. And there are no cute pajamas. No sir. It’s just bedraggled clothes and morning breath.
Sheesh. And… ew.
Yep, it was one of those mornings.
So what choice did I really have but to bake banana bread bars with streusel. You know it was that kind of day. I had to call in the streusel troops. What can I say?
So I began baking. As I started to mash up the bananas (good for aggression, I hear), pour in almond milk and whisk in maple syrup (the nectar of happy morning gods), I just felt better. And so did Erik.
The thing about these banana bread bars with streusel is that they make everything better. Who cares if you missed a deadline? Who cares if your neighbor’s giving you attitude over your robe-encased body as you sneakily go get the paper? Who cares that your cat picked this morning to breathe her uncomely morning breath on your face?
Banana bread bars with streusel don’t care. And neither should you.
The scent of warm cinnamon, the comforting sweetness of baked bananas, the energizing and bolstering sight of almond meal and rolled oats… that’s the Saves the Day aroma. That’s the My Morning Sucked But I’m Turning It Around aroma. You know?
When you take a bite of these bars, you’ll know that there is something better than the Saves the Day aroma (I’m shocked, too), and it’s the taste. My goodness. These bars are soft—so soft, with banana wholesomeness just bursting out of every molecule, plus a crumbly, crispy streusel right on top.
Just take a bite, and everything bad will fade away.
You’ll instantly feel warmer, happier and more pleased with life. And if you’re looking for a delicious banana treat infused with something a bit sweeter, try Healthy Seasonal Recipes’ banana bread with dates and walnuts. .
The best part? These banana bread bars with streusel are very straightforward to make. No special equipment needed, just the baking basics. Why not save your day by making these warm goodies?
The rest of your day, nay, the rest of your week, will thank you.
Banana Bread Bars with Streusel Topping (Vegan)
Ingredients
STREUSEL INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons oat flour
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- ½ cup pecan pieces or chopped pecans
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons solid coconut oil
BANANA BREAD INGREDIENTS
Wet Ingredients
- 3 medium, very ripe bananas
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 flax egg, 1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water whisked together, left to set for 5 mins
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup oat flour
- ½ cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 ¼ cups almond meal
- 1 ¼ cups rolled oats
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 8x8 baking pans with parchment or greased foil.
- Make the streusel: In a medium bowl, mix all streusel ingredients until well incorporated. Set aside for later.
- Make the banana bread bars: Add peeled bananas to a large mixing bowl. Using a sturdy whisk or fork, mash bananas until smooth. Add the applesauce, vanilla, flax egg, coconut oil, maple syrup, brown sugar and almond milk. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add oat flour, wheat flour, almond meal, rolled oats, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk together until no white patches of flour remain. Do not overmix.
- Pour half of the batter into each of the baking pans. Use a rubber spatula to smooth batter into an even layer. Sprinkle generously with streusel.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the pans on a cooling rack for 1 hour. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- These bars also freeze well for 4-6 weeks. Allow to defrost in the fridge overnight, or set out on the counter for a few hours.
- If you don’t care about making this vegan, you may replace the flax egg with a chicken egg, the applesauce with yogurt, the coconut oil with butter and the nut milk with any milk.
- You can also make this recipe in one 9x9 pan. The bake time will be 35-45 mins.
- Banana bread recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker, which is adapted from Takeamegabite.
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If it’s a banana bread bars with streusel day, it’s also gonna be a Chocolate Almond Coconut Granola day. Trust me.
Question of the Day
What’s your favorite cheer-up tactic on a bad morning?
<3, demeter
I just started baking with coconut sugar and I love it. Do you think I could sub in that instead of the dark brown sugar? I have a feeling it is not a 1:1 ratio ..
Hi Chris! Coconut sugar really is the best! I haven’t tried swapping the dark brown sugar for coconut sugar, but I think it should work just fine. Let me know how they turn out. Happy baking! 🙂
Hi! I saw your recipe was great!!
I wan to make a cake or cupcake or muffin for a cancer patient. It goes for NO simple sugar in (no flour, no sugar, no eggs, nom baking powder and etc). Can I use substitute wheat flour to oat flour ( or use all oat flour ). What can I substitute for baking powder? I’m urgent for the reply. Thank you so much!
Hi Stephenie, I’d love to help! I just have a few questions. Send me an email here and we’ll discuss! 🙂 https://beamingbaker.com/contact/
First off I love your recipes!! Thank you so much for sharing them. Q-If I were to make this GF Which flour would you recommend replacing the white whole wheat flour with? Just an all purpose GF Flour?
Hi Donna, thank you so much! 🙂 I haven’t tested this recipe with any substitutions for the white whole wheat flour, so I’m not 100% sure how it would turn out. I’d recommend substituting the 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour with the following: 1/4 cup gluten free oat flour and 1/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour. Try one batch and adjust as needed, or let me know if you need more help! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out. 🙂
These bars look amazing and I would love one with my coffee! My happy tactic is getting out for a walk on a nice day or baking on a not so nice day.
Thanks so much Julie! Very nice happy tactics. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Demeter, these banana bread streusel bars look marvelous!
I love the clean ingredients and how simple the recipe is to make. I cannot WAIT to try them!
I’m glad they made your day much better- hopefully they’ll make my day kick-butt awesome when I make them!
They’re super magic banana bars that brighten the day 😉
Aww, thanks so much Ellie. 🙂 I really try to keep my baked goods healthy… so I can eat LOTS of ’em. Haha. When you try them, let me know how they turn out! I’m looking forward to them kicking your day’s butt. LOL. Thanks for stopping by Ellie!
These bars would surely make any day better! They look delicious 🙂
Right? 😉 Thank you for stopping by, Megan. 🙂
Saves The Day Aroma is my new favorite catch phrase! I definitely know what you mean about *those* mornings (I’ve had a few of them myself lately) and now I have the perfect antidote! Bring on the banana bread bars! 🙂
Use it and go forth confidently into your day. 😉 I’m sorry that you’ve had a few bad mornings lately. Could this be because of a certain dog and a certain husband? 😉 As long as you’re keeping those heart-shaped boxes of candy on a really high shelf and roping off all staircases, the mornings should get better. Haha. Virtually sending you countless pans of banana bread bars! Thanks for stopping by, Kate. 🙂
Just wanted to say that I HAD to go make these when I saw this recipe. It was incredible! Super moist and that streusel. YUM! thank you for this recipe. It was delish!
Yay!!! I’m so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback- super moist and YUM will be on my Important Notes for this recipe. 😉 Hope to see you again soon! 🙂
Healthy and yummy bread ..love the oats topping
Thank you! Extra oat topping for you! 🙂
Hahahaha. You totally had me giggling, girlfriend and I am having a Folgers can shove it with their morning glory crap type of day. So thank you for that! LOVE these banana bread bars WITH STREUSEL! I mean I LOVE ‘naner bread on it’s own, but formed into cute little bars? Yes. Topped with streusel?! HOLD THE PHONE and watch as I shove these on repeat into my pie hole! GIMME! Pinned! Cheers!
Woot woot! But no woot woot for your morning. Your morning can have a swift kick in the face. Or something more peaceful like a good, big pan of this banana bread. 😉 Cheyanne, you’re the best! Your comments always make me smile, bad day or not. 🙂