Oatmeal Bars (No Eggs)
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Sep 29, 2025 
These Breakfast Oatmeal Bars Without Eggs are gluten-free, vegan, and make fabulous after-school snacks! Made with wholesome and filling ingredients like oats, dates, and nuts, healthy oatmeal bars are exactly what you need for a quick breakfast or afternoon pick me up.
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Back-to-school breakfasts can be a little tricky. We want our babies to have full bellies and ready-for-learning brains before they head out for the day, yet it’s not always possible to make a full-scale breakfast, with early bus schedules (ugh), carpools, and crazy mornings. That’s why we are BIG fans of these easy and healthy oatmeal breakfast bars!
Of course, you can buy oat breakfast bars in the cereal aisle at your local grocery store, but… shouting it from the roof tops… they taste SO much better homemade! Not only that, you have the ability to adjust the ingredients to suit your family’s likes and dietary needs. Our daughter Ava struggled with health issues, and although she is much better now, a side effect of her illness is that she now has strong reactions (intolerances) to dairy, gluten, and rice.
Why You’ll Love Egg-Free Oatmeal Bars
- Easy to make – Minimal prep, simple and wholesome ingredients, and no eggs required!
- Kid-approved – Soft, chewy, and easily customizable with your family’s favorite mix-ins, kids go nuts over these.
- Make-ahead friendly – Prep a big batch on the weekend for easy on-the-go breakfasts and snacks all week long!
Our Breakfast Oat Bar Recipe makes a perfectly tasty quickie breakfast or snack because each bar offers nearly a full serving of oats, along with nuts and dates! I also find they are great to take to parties and events, when you don’t know the dietary needs of who you’re serving.
Ingredients and Tips
- Gluten-free quick oats, or rolled oats – I used Bob’s Red Mill but feel free to use your favorite.
- Egg substitute – We used “flax eggs” in place of eggs, which consist of ground flax seeds (or chia seeds) and water. The mixture thickens into a gel substance that makes a wonderful egg substitute for baking.
- Vegan butter – You can use sticks or spread, we used the Earth Balance brand.
- Flavor boosters – We used pantry classics like vanilla extract and ground cinnamon, as well as chopped dates and nuts (walnuts, pecans, and almonds), and a little salt to balance the flavors.
Recipe Variations and Swaps
- Make them fruity – Add some fruity favorites like dried cranberries, raisins, dried cherries or dried bananas to your oatmeal bars.
- Nut butter – You can use almond butter, cashew butter, or peanut butter instead of vegan butter for an extra nutty twist!
- With eggs – These oatmeal bars have no eggs, but if no one in your family is vegan or intolerant to eggs, you could certainly remove the flax seeds and water, and add 2 large eggs to this Breakfast Oat Bar Recipe.
- Other mix-ins – Toss in some cashews, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips – whichever tickles your fancy! Make these vegan breakfast bars your own!
How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
Tips for success – It’s important to note, that because this oat breakfast bar recipe is vegan, it’s also egg-free. This makes them great for anyone with food allergies or intolerances to Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Rice… and the Nuts could be easily omitted as well if needed!
Find the full Oat Breakfast Bars recipe with detailed instructions, storage tips, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Storage Notes
- Storing leftovers – Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temp, or keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Note, keeping them in the refrigerator helps them stay firmer if you like a denser bar.
- Freezing – Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap or parchment paper and freeze in a ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm briefly in the microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to skip the oil you can try substituting with mashed banana or applesauce. Texture will be slightly different but still tasty!
Make sure they are 100% completely cooled, then use a sharp knife with a gentle sawing motion for clean edges.
Breakfast Oat Bar Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups gluten-free quick oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
- 1 1/4 cups vegan butter, sticks or spread (Earth Balance)
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds or flax seeds, ground
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup chopped dates
- 2/3 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8×8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the flax or chia seeds in a food processor, spice grinder, or coffee grinder. Grind the seeds into powder and place it in a small bowl. Add the water and stir. Allow the mixture to sit and thicken for 15 minutes to create “flax eggs” or “vegan egg substitute.”
- Meanwhile, pour 2 1/2 cups of oats into the food processor and grind into fine oat flour.
- Place the brown sugar and vegan butter into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on high to cream the “butter” and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
- Roughly chop the nuts. Then remove the pits from the dates and chop into small pieces.
- Scrape the mixing bowl with a spatula and add the vanilla, cinnamon, salt, oat flour and remaining oats. Beat on low. Add in the flag “eggs” and continue to beat until smooth.
- Finally, turn the mixer on low and mix in the dates and nuts. Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread the batter out evenly, then sprinkle the top with extra oats if desired.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the center is puffed and doesn’t jiggle when you shake the pan. Cool the bars completely. Then cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Notes
- Storing leftovers – Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temp, or keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. Note, keeping them in the refrigerator helps them stay firmer if you like a denser bar.
- Freezing – Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap or parchment paper and freeze in a ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature or warm briefly in the microwave.
I made these and they were delicious 😋 I added unsweetened shredded coconut on the top 😌 soooo good
Thanks for the recipe! Looking forward to trying this. I am going to do it with BRM Organic Creamy Buckwheat Cereal and, in place of butter, Nutiva Butter Flavored Organic Coconut Oil. That stuff is awesome BTW, for you sunflower- and soy-free vegans. It tastes like sweet butter. I’ve never tried it for baking. Per the Nutiva website, for best results, use ¾ of the recipe’s indicated amount of butter, and replace the remaining ¼ with water. I will see.
Just made it! Can’t wait to try it 😊
Can I use olive oil instead of butter? (I have reactions to coconut)
Hi Tayyibah,
Butter would be the best substitution. The bars will taste amazing!
These are sooooo delicious! I cut the sugar to one cup and they are still sweet enough. Thanks for sharing!
I haven’t made these yet, but they look amazing! Wondering though if I can substitute coconut oil for the vegan butter? Thx!
Hi Pamela,
Absolutely! Happy Baking!! :)
Your style of cooking is right up my alley and speaks to my heart! Thank you for all the lovely recipes !
I made these breakfast bars a couple days ago and they are so good! I sometimes have a difficult time making vegan baked goods for my daughter and grandson but these bars are amazing and do not taste like many so-called “healthy” bars. They’re filling and a perfect on the go breakfast. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I give it 5+ stars!
Hi Tamra,
Yay! I’m so glad they were a success for you. :)
Will gladly pack for office ….. :-)
Can you reduce the amount of sugar ? The recipe sounds wonderful but 24 grams of sugar is more than I’d like to consume.
Hi Cynthia!
Yes, you can reduce the sugar a little, but it does change the texture a little bit.