One thing I learned as a mom is that Oats are an acquired taste.

Oats, granola, oatmeal, oatmeal cookies, all those Chewy things are not things that have been easy for my little spawn to warm up to… and otherwise she’s a total foodie (like mom).

Somehow though, she goes for these. She has not refused a copy-cat nature valley breakfast with some milk once.

So I’m game. I’ve been baking these in small-batches for baking-therapy purposes but feel free to use the slider in the recipe to double it up for an 8×8 pan. Baking time will be the same.

It’s the easiest recipe ever. Chocolate drizzle optional.

Let me know if you give these a try!

Print Recipe

4.59 from 65 votes

Small-batch Nature Valley Bars

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Course: Breakfast, Snack

Keyword: easy recipes, gluten-free, granola, granola bars, low sugar, nature valley, oatmeal, plant-based, small-batch, vegan

Servings: bars

Calories: 177kcal

Equipment

Standard loaf pan or similar

Ingredients

2 tbsp (plant) butter (28 g) sub coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup (42 g)
2 tbsp sugar (24 g) brown/coconut works best
pinch of salt
1 cup oats (80 g) rolled or quick, I used quick

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a loaf pan with parchment.
Use microwave or stove to melt together butter, maple, sugar and salt. Stir in the oats until all are moistened.
Pack the mixture down into the loaf pan evenly (use a spatula). In the instruction images here I doubled the recipe for an 8×8 pan.
Bake 18-20 minutes until nicely golden. Let it cool down and firm up before slicing.
Enjoy!

Notes

I really like this with the simple flavor from maple and a pinch of salt but feel free to add a drop of vanilla or a pinch of cinnamon as well. It would be really good.