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Easy, healthy 5-Ingredient Almond Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are made with simple pantry staples and are just so addictive! These healthy oatmeal cookie bars come together quickly and don’t require any fancy equipment or chill time.
Inspired by my 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, I’m back with the almond butter version – in the form of cookie bars!
The original cookie recipe was so well-received that I figured I would provide another option for those who love almond butter and dessert bars.
If you love oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, or almond butter, you’re going to find great joy in these chewy bars.
The reality is, any sticky well-stirred nut or seed butter will work in this recipe, so feel free to pick your favorite. If you have a sensitivity to nuts, sunflower seed butter is a great option (as long as you like the flavor).
This basic cookie bar recipe couldn’t be any easier to make.
All you need is one bowl and a small square baking dish. No stand mixer, fancy equipment, or chilling the dough necessary!
Because the cookie bars come together so quickly with wholesome ingredients, I find them ideal for the everyday healthier sweet treat.
Let’s chat about the healthy ingredients in these delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars.
The Ingredients:
Natural Almond Butter: Unsweetened almond butter is the main ingredient here because it takes the place of butter and all-purpose flour. Creamy almond butter yields the best results in this cookie bar recipe, but crunchy almond butter works too.
Eggs: A couple eggs bring rise to the bars and help them hold together. Take them out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before starting the recipe to bring them to room temperature if possible.
Oats: Old fashioned rolled oats add hearty texture and oaty flavor to the oatmeal cookie bars, making them taste delicious! I like using sprouted gluten free oats. Quick oats or instant oats will work, but for the best result, rolled oats have the best texture.
Pure Maple Syrup: Used to sweeten the almond butter oatmeal cookie bars, we use pure maple syrup. The liquid sweetener also makes up some of the liquid portion of the recipe so it’s important to not make any substitutes.
Sea Salt & Cinnamon: Salt enhances the flavors of the bars, making them taste nice and bold, and cinnamon brings a very subtle warmth. Skip the cinnamon if you don’t like it, or increase the amount for more fun!
Chocolate Chips: Adding little pockets of rich chocolatey goo, the chocolate chips are optional here, but they do in fact make the bars just so irresistible!
I use dark chocolate chips but semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and peanut butter chips all work.
Recipe Customizations:
- You can taste the almond butter, so if you prefer the flavor of peanut butter or another nut butter or seed butter like sunflower seed butter, or cashew butter, feel free to make the 1:1 swap.
- For a vegan option, replace the eggs with ½ cup of mashed ripe banana or 2 flax eggs or 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. One flax egg is one tablespoon of ground flax seed and three tablespoons of water mixed together.
- Because the bars aren’t very sweet, you can add 1 to 4 tablespoons of brown sugar or coconut sugar for sweeter cookie bars.
- For bars with less sweetener, omit the eggs, and use 3 large ripe bananas instead of the pure maple syrup.
Optional Additions:
- Add up to ½ cup of chopped raw walnuts or pecans for nutty cookie bars.
- Swap the chocolate chips for raisins if you love dried fruit in your cookies.
- If you have vanilla extract on hand, add 1.5 teaspoons.
- Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil for gooey bars.
Now that we’re familiar with the simple ingredients for these almond butter cookie bars, let’s make these delicious cookie bars!
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars:
Preheat 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 8” x 8” square pan with parchment paper.
Mix the almond butter, pure maple syrup, and eggs together in a large mixing bowl until the wet ingredients are well combined and creamy.
You can use a hand mixer if you’d like – I just use a fork. Note: if your almond butter is cold or seems too firm to stir, microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds.
Add the remaining dry ingredients (oats, ground cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips) to the wet ingredients. Stir everything together until a thick, sticky dough forms.
Spread the cookie dough into an even layer in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top of the cookie bars if you’d like. Flaky sea salt is lovely too!
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
Allow the bars to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freeze in a large zip lock or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
These yummy chocolate chip cookie bars are wholesome enough to be considered better for you, yet delicious enough to be a treat you’ll look forward to.
Make these chocolate chip almond butter bars on repeat for all those times you’re itching for a simple tasty treat!
The next time you’re craving a similar treat, also try my Healthy 6-Ingredient Apple Oatmeal Cookies, 4-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Bars, or my Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Almond butter plus oats plus chocolate chips is the path to bliss!
Almond Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened almond butter
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ cups oats
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, optional
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 8” x 8” square pan with parchment paper.
- Mix the almond butter, pure maple syrup, and eggs together in a large mixing bowl until everything is well combined and creamy (wet ingredients). Note: if your almond butter is cold or seems too firm to stir, microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds (by itself), or until it is easy to stir with the other ingredients.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients (oats, ground cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips) to the wet ingredients and stir everything together until a thick, sticky dough forms.
- Spread the cookie dough into an even layer in the prepared baking dish. If desired, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top of the cookie bars. Flaky sea salt is lovely too!
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown and the bars appear set up. Allow the bars to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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If I wanted to add some protein powder, how would the recipe change?
Hi Barbara! Depending on how much you add, you may not need to change anything in the recipe. Up to 4 tablespoons of protein powder, the recipe will be the same. Past that, I would add some more moisture like more mashed banana, pure maple syrup or a small amount of oil. Enjoy!
I made some adjustments: I used tahini, subbed honey for the maple syrup, and added a couple tablespoons of powdered monk fruit. I love how tahini and honey taste together, and I think this amount of sweetener is perfect for me.
I’ll definitely make these again, but I’ll add a full cup of chocolate chips! They were good, but I wanted more chocolate. I used Lily’s brand (dark chocolate) for zero sugar.
I refrigerated the bars for storage and I liked the texture it gave them.
So happy you enjoyed them, Jessica! I support adding more chocolate chips – they’re so great with the gooey chocolate. Love that you used tahini!
@Julia, how much tahini would you suggest? I only have honey on hand rather than maple syrup. Do I need Tahini for the substitute? Thanks!