These Pear Oatmeal Bars are vegan, gluten-free, and 100% fruit sweetened, with no added sugar. 
Let me make one thing clear. Creating 100% fruit-sweetened bars that don’t taste like cardboard is no easy task. This recipe may win the award for most recipe trials in one week. I finally got it right, however, and if you’re looking for a bar with no added sugar whatsoever, this is the recipe for you. 
I was going to call these Pear Blondies, but then I realized that blondies sounds way too much like dessert and people may assume they are going to get a super-sweet-dessert-like bar. For most people, these are probably more like a breakfast or snack bar. So Pear Oatmeal Bars seemed like a more fitting name.
These are naturally sweet, meaning they have a subtle sweetness that doesn’t overtake the bars. They pair perfectly with my morning coffee and the kids have been loving them for a snack as well. Well, Luke said, “I like the cake part. But you eat the pears” and picked out all of the pear chunks. That’s a 4-year-old for you, I guess. 
If you are doing the Cut the Sugar Challenge and are craving something sweet, these will work well for dessert. They happen to be vegan and gluten-free, as well. The texture is not dry at all (you know the word I’m going for here, right?) and the spices compliment the pears well. 
I hope these Pear Oatmeal Bars will help you stick to your goals in the Cut the Sugar Challenge. They have definitely helped me, even though five batches later I may have eaten one too many. 😉
PrintFruit-Sweetened Pear Oatmeal Bars
These Pear Oatmeal Bars are vegan, gluten-free, and have no added sugar!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Breakfast
Ingredients
- 4 medium pears, divided
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1/2 cup almond butter, cashew butter, or peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8X8 inch pan with parchment paper with overhang or aluminum foil and lightly oil the foil.
- Make a pear puree by blending 2 pears. I did not peel the pears, but if your blender isn’t powerful you may want to peel them first. You should have 1 cup pear puree.
- In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup pear puree, the apple sauce, nut butter, and vanilla.
- Stir in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, flour, oats, and baking powder. Mix until combined.
- Peel and dice the two remaining pears. Stir in the diced pears.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 112
- Sugar: 5.2g
- Sodium: 20mg
- Fat: 5.1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Fiber: 3.1g
- Protein: 3.1g
Healthy Living Playbook!
Dietitian Jess says
January 18, 2016 at 8:33 amLOL at Luke- so cute! I’ve been trying to use less added sugar and actually made some chai spiced cookies yesterday- I used a lot of the same spices as you and find that strong spiced flavor really makes up for the sweetness!
Maryea says
January 18, 2016 at 10:13 pmYes–the spices definitely help!
Tracy says
January 19, 2016 at 4:57 amHow would you store these? They look great. Thank you!
Maryea says
January 19, 2016 at 6:34 amI store them in the refrigerator. Thanks, Tracy!
Heidi Kokborg says
January 20, 2016 at 4:34 pmThese bars look heavenly! I wish I was eating one right now with my cup of tea. It would be perfect!
Maryea says
January 23, 2016 at 3:41 pmThat sounds lovely! I need to make another batch of these. 🙂
Kylie says
January 23, 2016 at 2:30 amThese look delicious and as soon as I buy some pears I will be making some! Can’t say the word moist huh? Hehehe I dislike the word too.
Maryea says
January 23, 2016 at 3:31 pmJust one of those words. 😉
Edun Ronke says
January 23, 2016 at 9:31 amThis looks nice. I’ll sure try it out. Thanks
Maryea says
January 23, 2016 at 3:28 pmThanks, Edun!
Gina says
January 25, 2016 at 5:06 pmI tried these this morning so they’re fully cooled and they’re not as cakey as yours look. Mine are very very dense. The flavor is nice and the pears are cooked. I ended up adding the applesauce to the pears in my blender because it’s old and not very powerful. I’m not sure if that is why they’re so dense. I cooked them for 30 minutes and a toothpick came out dry so they seemed to be cooked. I’ll give them one more try.
★★★
Maryea says
January 25, 2016 at 9:32 pmIt sounds like they may have been overcooked. Maybe your oven runs a little hot? I wouldn’t think the apple sauce would make them more dense; if anything that would make them more cakey. Another reason they could have been more dense would be if you accidentally added too much flour. Did you spoon it out when you measured it and even it out with a knife? Those are my two thoughts. Sorry they didn’t turn out the same as mine!
Gina says
January 25, 2016 at 9:40 pmThanks. For the flour I used my usual scoop and even out with a knife method. I think maybe I’ll mix all the dry ingredients separately and then add them – maybe the baking soda didn’t get incorporated enough. The texture is hard to describe but I don’t think they’re overcooked – wouldn’t they be dried out in that case? They’re just not cake looking. Another question for you though – have you tried these with just apples? I don’t buy pears often and was thinking this would be great with apples if I could get the texture better. I also used peanut butter and think the almond butter would be a better flavor combination with the pears.
Maryea says
January 25, 2016 at 10:00 pmI haven’t tried these with apples but I think they’d be great. I have another recipe for apple bars but it does have added sugar (honey). We love this one, though: https://happyhealthymama.com/2012/11/apple-peanut-butter-snack-bars.html
E says
November 21, 2017 at 3:25 amTry sifting your flours into the mixing bowl.
★★★
Kate says
January 27, 2016 at 6:57 amThese look great but I’m not sure I can find oat flour where I live. Do you think zapping oats to a fine powder in my food processor would wor?
Maryea says
January 29, 2016 at 7:03 amYes, that definitely works! I meant to note it in the recipe.
Bethany @ Athletic Avocado says
January 27, 2016 at 12:37 pmThis recipe is proof that you don’t need to add sugar to make dessert! Fruit is sweet enough! Great Recipe!
Maryea says
January 27, 2016 at 6:08 pmThank you, Bethany!
Lindsay says
February 14, 2016 at 7:01 amIf I don’t have pears, can I just use 1 cup of applesauce?
Maryea says
February 14, 2016 at 3:08 pmYes, that should work.
Erica says
February 24, 2016 at 12:20 pmI tried these and I hate to say, they seemed to be a waste of my pears 🙁 I found them to be quite bland and bitter. Needless to say, I will be tossing them.
Maryea says
February 24, 2016 at 9:31 pmI’m really sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy these, Erica. Are you used to no sugar baked goods? They may seem bland if you are used to having sugar in your baked goods since these are totally fruit sweetened.
Amanda says
June 26, 2016 at 7:39 pmI made this because I thought it would be a nice breakfast option for my kids. Unfortunately it was a big fail. Although the flavors seemed nice, the consistency was crunchy on the outside and mush on the inside after an HOUR of baking. No clue what happened since I followed the recipe exactly, but will not be making this one again.
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Maryea says
June 27, 2016 at 11:04 pmAmanda, I’m really sorry this one didn’t work out for you. I’m not sure what could have happened. 🙁
Ritika Golej says
November 12, 2017 at 2:50 pmSame thing happened to me. It’s still in the oven and it’s been over an hour. Total waste.
★
olivia says
July 31, 2016 at 9:12 amThank you for this recipe, it was very delicious!!! I used 1cup og gluten free oats and psyllium husk instead og the oat floor. I put a scoop of salted caramel protein powder in it too. Here in italy we don’t have apple butter, so i put a one smashed apricot in it.
And now i’ll make an other, we finished it in 5 min.
Thank you
★★★★★
Maryea says
August 1, 2016 at 1:44 pmI’m glad you liked this, Olivia–thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Melissa says
August 16, 2016 at 2:09 pmI’m shocked by the negative comments on this. For a sugar fee option, these bars are delicious!! If I want a treat, I will add a little maple syrup on top. Best of all, my 16 month olds LOVES them! I have made these about 4 times now, thanks 🙂
Maryea says
August 16, 2016 at 10:11 pmI’m so glad to hear that, Melissa! Thanks for letting me know.
Caitlin says
September 2, 2016 at 1:22 pmMaryea! So happy I just came across your blog! I just got a bunch of pears in my farm box and I searched “Pear Breakfast Bars,” seeing if I could find an awesome breakfast use for them, and BAM EFC2016 friend Maryea! Can’t wait to try these this weekend. Thanks for all your trials so I don’t have to invent something myself. 🙂 🙂
Maryea says
September 5, 2016 at 9:48 amCaitlin! 🙂 So glad you found me. I hope you love these!
Theresa says
November 1, 2016 at 8:55 pmLove this recipe, thanks for sharing! I’ve made it twice, now, and the only thing I can’t figure out is why the top cooks well into a cut-able, bar-like product, the bottom is so mushy they fall apart 🙁 They taste amazing, but don’t look as pretty for bringing to a potluck.
I used parchment paper in a glass 8×8 dish. Last time, I let it cool in the baking dish. This time I pulled it out with the parchment paper out and placed it on a cooling rack. I think it might dry out if I was able to transfer it to just the cooling rack, but its definitely too mushy to attempt.
Any thoughts on what I could be doing differently?
Maryea says
November 2, 2016 at 7:13 amHmmm that’s interesting. The only thing I can think of is you need to cook them a bit longer. Maybe our ovens are different. Or you could try a bigger baking dish so the bars are thinner. I’m sorry this is happening for you. If I think of anything else I’ll report back.
Amy says
December 9, 2016 at 5:43 amThese look delicious! Can the nut butter be swapped with something else? I’m looking for kindy lunch / snack ideas and they have to be nut free ?
Theresa says
December 9, 2016 at 4:36 pmI know people that sub sunbutter (sunflower seeds) for peanut butter in PBJ sandwiches. I bet that would work!
Amy says
December 10, 2016 at 4:30 amThanks Theresa! Unfortunately it looks like I can’t get sunbutter in Australia, but hopefully I can figure something out!
Maryea says
December 12, 2016 at 9:53 amIf you can get sunflower seeds you can make your own. Here’s how I do it—>https://happyhealthymama.com/homemade-sunflower-seed-butter-a-cost-comparison-and-recipe.html
Barbara says
February 26, 2017 at 6:27 pmI’d like to make these nut free so my son can take them to school. Ok to forgo the nut butter or substitute with sesame butter?
Maryea says
February 27, 2017 at 8:20 amThe flavor will change, but that should work!
Lauren says
May 15, 2017 at 7:42 amMy son was diagnosed with Mspi at 1 month old and I loved using your recipes while I was nursing. Today he was able to enjoy his first taste of them as well and these are what we made. He LOVED them, we substituted baby oatmeal for the oat flour and they came out perfect. Looking forward to sharing many more of your recipes with him!
★★★★★
Maryea says
May 15, 2017 at 10:01 amAw this makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know. 🙂
Ritika says
November 12, 2017 at 2:30 pmThis is/was a disaster! Followed your recipe exactly and it’s been in the oven for over an hour. It’s a goopy mess and will not set. ? Super sad because I was really excited for these for my little ones. Any suggestions?
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m.l says
November 13, 2017 at 1:36 pmthank you so much for this delicious recipe! i have three little girls and dont use any sugar so i am always looking for fruit sweetened recipes. it got finished right away and even my husband who loves his sugar said it was delicious!
my only question is, is tasted more like a cake then a bar, delicious but i would love to try it as a bar too, any suggestions what i did wrong?
★★★★★
Jan k says
April 8, 2018 at 7:25 pmTrying a no added sugar diet and made these just now on day 1. I’m a serious sweet tooth and these are hitting the spot!! I used 2 different types of pears and peanut butter. Otherwise followed exactly. They were slightly gooey when I took out of oven at 30 mins and are firming up as they cool. I used parchment in a ceramic 8×8 dish. Thanks for the recipe!! 🙂
Megan says
August 23, 2018 at 1:16 amThese were really good! I might add nuts next time. I used regular flour instead of oat flour because I didn’t feel like taking the extra step to grind some, so mine are a little less healthy. But for a no-added-sugar dessert/snack, these are a great option. FYI: Mine only took 25 minutes to bake.
★★★★
rachel says
October 7, 2018 at 2:57 pmamazing recipe, have made it too many times already. my kids love them. we are always on the lookout of fruit sweetned treats. i make it without the pieces of pear and spread it out very thin on a cookie sheet so its more like a bar. thanks you
★★★★★
Rachel says
October 16, 2018 at 7:38 pmDelicious! and filling 🙂 Mine turned out more cake-like than bar-like. I had to use whole wheat flour since that’s all I had. I also had to add a tiny bit of water to help my blender blend the pears. – maybe that’s why it turned out more cake-like. I love how I didn’t use any sugar and it still tasted so tasty and sweet!
★★★★
Maryea says
October 17, 2018 at 11:09 amI’m glad you liked these! 🙂
Elle says
December 17, 2018 at 3:59 pmI made these last week for my 14 month old. He loved them as did I.. Reading these comments I realize i left out the baking powder:/
The texture was very soft, perfect for the little one. I’m wondering if there’s a way to have a bit more firmness to either top or bottom. I used aluminum (lightly oiled) because i didnt have parchment and wonder if that had anything to do with how soft they were on the top and bottom
Emma says
March 1, 2019 at 6:57 amCan these be frozen please? I live alone so it’d be great to take out of the freezer one at a time.
Maryea says
March 4, 2019 at 10:42 amI’ve not tried freezing these, so I’m not sure! Please lmk if you try it!