These Apple Peanut Butter Snack bars are an easy, one-bowl recipe and they make a healthy and delicious after-school snack!
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Heads up! These Apple Peanut Butter Snack Bars were first published in November 2012. Photos were updated August 2018. Original text remains. Enjoy!
When I asked you what you wanted to see more of on Happy Healthy Mama, two of the most popular answers were “snacks” and “lunch box ideas”. These healthy apple peanut butter snack bars fit the bill for both of those.
They are made with no flour, no oil, and no refined sugar, so you can feel good about feeding them to your children. And if you decide you want to snack on one, you can feel good about that, too.
Like most things coming out of my kitchen these days, these healthy snack bars are quick and easy. You only have to dirty up one bowl when you make them. If you’re a busy mom like me, you know how important that is!
The most important thing, though, is that Meghan loved them. She called them “bery, bery delicious!” She’s getting so big that I can’t help but love her words that still sound baby-ish. Here’s a picture of her trying on my wedding veil recently. Seriously?! How did she get so big?
Sorry for the off-topic moment. I don’t talk about Meghan around here as much as I used to. On to the recipe for these simple and delicious Apple Peanut Butter Snack Bars!
How to Make Apple Peanut Butter Snack Bars
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Apple peanut butter snack bars
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 9 - 16 bars 1x
Description
These gluten-free snack bars are made with wholesome ingredients and are great for after-school snacking or can be a healthy lunch box treat. To make them nut-free, simply use sunflower seed butter in place of the peanut butter.
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded/grated apple (one large apple)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 baking dish and set aside.
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and use the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula to press it down evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the edges are just barely browned. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Snacks
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 16 bars
- Calories: 103
- Sugar: 10.3g
- Sodium: 22.3mg
- Fat: 3g
- Carbohydrates: 17.9g
- Protein: 2.5g
This is the first time I’ve included peanut butter in a recipe in quite a while. In case you are wondering, I have been re-introducing foods into my diet to see if Luke’s outgrown his intolerances. He’s done well with nuts and peanuts! I’ll tell you more about it when I finally get around to finishing his 10 month (and now 11 month!) post.
If you’d like a peanut-free snack bar, however, this could easily be made so by swapping out the peanut butter for sunflower seed butter. Coconut oil would work, as well. (Check out my Goodness Bars that are similar to these and made with coconut oil.) You can find even more healthy snack recipes here. As always, enjoy!
If you try this Apple Peanut Butter Snack Bar recipe, would you mind rating the recipe with stars when you leave a comment? It’s VERY helpful for me and other readers if the recipes have ratings and reviews. I appreciate you!
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I made these yesterday and they turned out fantastic! I used my food processor to shred the apple (unpeeled) and also threw in a small handful of shredded carrots since I was shredding them for another recipe. I used 1/2 the amount of honey and also added 1/2 of a very ripe banana. The texture of these bars is wonderful, and I really love the sweetness that the apple adds! I’d never made granola bars, and this will definitely be my go-to recipe 🙂 thanks!
You’re welcome! I love the idea of using some mashed banana to sweeten it and less honey. Unfortunately my husband gets an upset stomach from bananas, so I purposely didn’t use them for this recipe. Love that you added carrots, too–never hurts to squeeze in some veggies! 🙂
Thanks so much for a healthy, kid friendly recipe! I made these today with almond butter, a little bit of flax seed meal, and raisins. I also only did about 1/4 cup honey and a touch of agave. They turned out great, and smelled so good baking! My 4 year old loves them. thanks!
You’re welcome! I’m sure they were great with almond butter. 🙂
Wonderful recipe, thank you so much for sharing! I’m wondering if I could sneak in some shredded zucchini or possibly carrots because of their high water content! I think I’ll give it a whirl later today, thanks again!!
Most definitely! I think either would be great additions. 🙂
Tried my first recipe today, these apple peanut butter ( or in our case almond butter) bars. We loved them! My daughter can be quite picky with oatmeal anything, but she ate this up! Thanks again. 🙂
You’re very welcome. 🙂
Quick, easy, delicious! Thanks for sharing:)
M.
You’re welcome!
Oh wow these sound delish! Apple + Oat + Peanut Butter mmmmmm…. 🙂
Is there something I could substitute eggs for in the recipe? My daughter is highly allergic to eggs but I’m looking for an easy home made bar an these look delicious! Maybe flax? Thanks!
I do think flax would work here. Try 1 tablespoon flax+3 tablespoons water mixed together for each egg. Let me know if you try it! 🙂
Just finished making these. So yummy. I made them in mini muffin pans because my DIY granola bars always seem to fall apart when cutting. Decreased the baking time to about 13 minutes and they made perfect little granola bites. Thanks!
I love the idea of making these in mini muffin tins. I’m going to have to try it! 🙂
I made these and subbed “Better N’ Peanut Butter” and egg beaters to lower the calories and cholesterol. They’re great! Thanks! My boys love apple cereal bars and I hope they’ll love the homemade ones!
Great! Thanks for sharing your substitutions.
Has anyone tried freezing these? I’m expecting my second little munchkin in a couple months and want to make some easy, healthy snacks ahead of time for when the babe comes.
I haven’t tried it, but if I do I’ll definitely report back. 🙂
I just made these today. They came out beautifully and smell delicious! The flavor is great, not too sweet. Perfect for my children in the mornings! One thing I didn’t care too much for is the gummy texture that the bars get from the oatmeal. Do you think there is a way around that? Maybe if I ground the oats into a flour first? Thanks for the recipe and let me know if you have any suggestions 🙂
I do think grinding the oats into flour would change the texture and it sounds like it might be a better texture for you. Let me know if you give that a try!
You could also try toasting the oats for with a little butter in a pan, that would help get rid of the texture issue and add a little nutty essence as well
Great idea! 🙂
These are the best replacement for expensive meal bars I usually buy at the store! Because I’m trying to avoid added sugar, I used 1 TBSP honey + 1 TBSP black-strap molasses and they ended up with the perfect sweetness. Also added some whey protein and flax seeds, and peeled the apple. Thanks for sharing this.
I love the addition of blackstrap molasses. I love its flavor and also that it adds a nice amount of iron!
Is there any substitutions I can make in order to achieve a more crunchy texture? the taste is AMAZING, but I’m a chew/crunch nut 🙂
I think adding some chopped walnuts would be a great addition and give it a nice crunch.
My husband is diabetic. I’m wondering if it would be possible to replace part of the honey with Splenda to help reduce the sugar content? Any other ideas on reducing sugar? These sound terrific!
What about using mashed banana in place of the honey? The flavor would change a bit, but it would add sweetness and keep the wet/dry ratio similar. You could definitely try to reduce the honey a bit and maybe add some stevia? I recommend stevia instead of Splenda as I don’t really care for artificial sweeteners. Good luck and let me know if some substitutions work for you!
I added banana and left out the honey, also the nut butter and they turned out fine. Didn’t even taste the banana, which was good because I don’t like banana.
This may be a silly question, but do you peel your apple before shredding or just core it and then shred?
I do peel first, but I’m not sure it’d make a huge difference if you skip that step.
I have made them 3 times now and have not peeled the apple. To me, peeling an apple is a waste of good food!
I agree! 🙂
Have you thought of lining the pan with parchment paper? Then you could take the whole sheet out with the parchment paper – no sticking!
Great idea!
Ran out of half the oats I needed! Ahh! But I substituted them for Rice Krispies and even though they weren’t as healthy, they turned out great! Since I was already taking a chance, I decided to throw in unsweetened, shredded coconut and sesame seeds and they’re great! Thanks!
You’re welcome! I’m glad these worked out for you even with the substitutions.
Maybe this is a silly question: Do you store these in the refrigerator or at room temperature? I am trying to find something like this that I can keep tightly sealed in the pantry.
These will keep fine at room temperature in an air-tight container. They will keep longer in the fridge, but they don’t last that long around here anyway! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! They turned out great and i love having healthy, easy, go-to snack ideas for my kids that are homemade and not prepackaged. I added some flax seed meal for a little extra goodness. I passed this page onto some friends – looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
You’re welcome. Thanks for letting me know and thanks also for passing my blog onto friends! 🙂
hi! I just found you on Pinterest and I can’t wait to make these tomorrow! About how many does this recipe make? It looks so good I’m already wondering if I should double it! 🙂
This recipe makes one 9×9 pan that you can cut into whatever size bars you prefer. I usually cut them into 9 bars. So, yes, I’d double it. 🙂