These Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bars are easy, kid-friendly and full of protein and fiber. They make a healthy breakfast or snack and can be eaten on-the-go!
Thanks to ADA Mideast for sponsoring this post
*Note, this post was originally published in September 2013. The recipe and photos were updated in September 2016*
Hi Friends!
I’ve got a delicious recipe to share with you guys today. As school starts up again, I’m teaming up with the American Dairy Association Mideast to share a healthy breakfast recipe.
I wanted to create something that was grab-and-go. As a kid, I never had trouble getting up to eat breakfast, but my sister was constantly oversleeping/running late/skipping breakfast on her way to school. This is a great option that can be made ahead of time and eaten on the run.
These bars are full of flavor and super moist! It’s almost like eating cake for breakfast 🙂 Plus, it’s a great way to use up some of those apples you picked at the orchard.
PrintApple Cinnamon Breakfast Bars
These Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bars are easy, kid-friendly and full of protein and fiber. They make a healthy breakfast or snack and can be eaten on-the-go!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 22 min
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: makes 8-12 squares 1x
Ingredients
- 4 T butter, melted
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1.5 cups oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1.5 cup chopped apples
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients and mix well.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Spoon into a greased 9×9 pan and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
Be sure to chop your apples small.
If you’re worried your bars will be too crumbly, you can reduce the apples to 1 cup and add an extra egg.
Note – A couple people have said that this bar is too crumbly for them. Be sure to cut your apple chunks small and let cool completely before cutting.
I did retest the recipe after their comments and found that decreasing the apples to 1 cup instead of 1.5 cups and adding an extra egg makes them a bit less crumbly.
If you’re making these to eat on the run, let them cool completely, cut into bars, and place in individual ziploc bags. Store them in the fridge and you can grab one on their way out the door. If you have a little more time in the morning, stick one on a plate, microwave to warm it up, and top with a little peanut butter. Or try crumbling one into a bowl of yogurt!
[clickToTweet tweet=”Try these Easy Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bars on a busy weekday morning!” quote=”Try these Easy Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bars on a busy weekday morning!”]
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
Looks so good!
These should be sold in school cafeterias!
Can i just place an order for the ones that you made? I want to eat them with my morning coffee.
PINNED!
Love that these have no added sugar other than a small amount of honey! I definitely have my kids eat breakfast every morning and we will be giving these a try!
These look great! Though I love both, I think it’s a little sad how apple has taken a back seat to pumpkin in fall foods. I’m happy to see it getting a little attention. 😉
I’ve really been into breakfast bars lately or balls (“bites”)….I would make these but I need a replacement for the applesauce. Hmm, I’ll think about that (maybe yogurt or butternut squash puree!!!).
These look great! apple & cinnamon is always a winner 🙂
These look so good! They combine two of my favorite things- apple and cinnamon! 🙂
perfect school snack!!!!
i’m so glad you are doing this. People shun dairy way to much and breakfast! we need to revisit the reasons WHY we NEED to FUEL our kids properly! Good stuff woman!
these look FANTASTIC!! and i feel like everyone loves the apple cinnamon flavor!!
I don’t have kids but I could totally get down with these bars for breakfast! I’m always looking for something quick, easy and healthy to grab on the go and these look like they’d do the trick!
These breakfast bars sound fantastic! Perfect for a quick grab and go snack!
My kids would love these and they’re great for those mornings when we have no time to eat a sit down breakfast. These are great Linds.
do you happen to know the nutritional information for them?
Awesome recipe! I recipes like this that are easy to eat on the go are the perfect way to convert non-breakfast eaters into believers – and even husbands who eat running out the door in the morning.
These look fab! Pinned them for when I start school in January. They will be perfect for me AND the kiddos.
Yum! I love anything with apples and cinnamon (extra points for the peanut butter!) and I love how convenient these are. Thanks for sharing another awesome recipe, Lindsay!
YUM – just pinned and thank you for sharing your recipes!
Definitely just pinned that! My husband would eat these for sure, I’ve been trying to get him to eat breakfast for years!
I love this not just for B, but the husband and I too!! PINNED 🙂
These look great! I’m going apple picking soon and I need all the apple recipes I can get!
Awesome! I’ve been wanting to try one of your breakfast recipes. It is rare when my boyfriend eats breakfast, but I feel if I made these, maybe he would!
Do you think there’s any way to make them gluten free?
These look delicious! I’m pinning this! Thanks!
I bet these would be really good warmed up with a little bit of ice cream and cinnamon apples over top as dessert! It’s all about balance 😉
I don’t have kids but I’m going to have to try this recipe for my husband. He’s really bad about not eating breakfast and a super picky breakfast food eater, to boot. He refuses to eat yogurt or oatmeal and only seems to want egg+ meat style breakfasts but is too lazy to make them for himself. I’ve tried breakfast burritos but maybe this will be a good way to mix it up for him.
This looks delicious! I would have to replace the skim milk with a non-dairy milk but nonetheless I know these will easily be my new favorite go-to for breakfast.
These sound amazing and perfect! I just picked 4 grocery sack fulls of apples from the tree! I am going to make homemade applesauce and these bars are also going to be made for sure. Thanks!
Also, as an RD I would love you input on dairy. I hear/read so many conflicting things about dairy being good for vs. bad for you. Low fat vs. full fat. Organic vs. nonorganic – how processed is cow milk you get in the store. Cow milk vs. goat/soy/almond/etc.??
Yummm! Thanks for the education too!! I am always a breakfast advocate 🙂
As I go through your old posts to update the recipes (and my boyfriend will back me up), I am always wondering how you come up with them! I would never in a million years be able to think of some of those things, like these little gems.
I guess that’s why I follow your blog though (haha). This recipe looks right up me alley. Can’t wait to try it! 😀
These sounds so tasty and perfect for breakfast on the go.
Since having a baby, I’m definitely a fan of make ahead breakfast options. Definitely adding this one to my list! Looks great!
These sound delicious!! I hope to try making a vegan version. Now that apples are getting to be SO good, these will be perfect!
These are gorgeous !:) I was always a kid who never wanted breakfast, and Nutrigrains were a regular thing for me. Ah, leh sigh! These would be so great for kids instead of processed stuff, and they could easily be customized with different nut butter, flours and dairy alternatives for kids with allergies, which is great!:) Apples and cinnamon always remind me of fall!:)
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!! Perfect for breakfast or a snack or an add-on to a greek yogurt mini meal – they look amazing!!!!
These look so good and I bet smell delicious when they are being baked!
Yum those look delicious!! I always need some variations in my breakfast and this looks like a great one to try 🙂
I was wondering if you had the nutritional information for these bars?
if you cut into 8 bars it’s around 240 cal, 10g fat (1.5g sat), 4 g fiber, 8 g protein
I can not wait to make these! !
★★★★★
Those look amazing! Right up my alley.
I am going to have to try these soon! I have lots of apples, and am always look for quick and healthy breakfasts!
These sound delightful. I’m always look for great bar recipes for breakfast on the go.
I just tried these, followed the recipe exactly, and was unfortunately disappointed. As my younger sister said, they’re “good” but not “amazing.” They aren’t very flavorful despite all of the components, and they’re also cakier than I anticipated. Just not exactly what I expected.
These are delicious. I grated in a carrot too and added some wheat germ, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. They’re not really a “bar” as much as a “snack cake,” but they are wonderful with a cup of tea and my kids love them.
★★★★
glad you enjoyed them!
These look great! Just wondering if I could substitute almond milk for the skim milk?
Yep!
Making these now! 🙂 I am doing the advocare 24 day challenge and these are going to be perfect! I did use almond milk in place of regular and then used Almond Meal in place of the whole wheat flour (to make gluten free) So excited! 😀 Oh and used gluten free oats! 😀
These look really good and would love to try them. I wanted to know what would be a good substitute for the peanut butter? My son doesn’t like the taste of peanut butter?
you could try some butter or oil
I was very excited to try these. The consistency is like zucchini bread which I prefer over the typical bar. Unfortunately, it turned out fairly bland. You barely taste the apple at all. It did work for an easy breakfast for a few days but I will not be making again.
Simple and quick recipe though!
★★
So sorry to hear you didn’t like them!
What do you think about turning these into cookies, would that work or is the batter to watery?
Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve made these so i’m not sure. From what I recall, you could probably make them as cookies..or if that doesn’t work, put them in muffin tins and just not fill all the way to help contain the batter!
These look delicious and would love to make them! However, my son is allergic to peanut butter. Is there a substitute I could use in place of the peanut butter?
can he have another kind of nut butter? or sunflower seed butter or soynut butter?
Unfortunately he is allergic to all tree nuts. I will look into the sunflower seed butter. Have you used it previously? Would it equate to the same amount as what you used for the peanut butter?
Yep, the ratio is the same. It sometimes causes a green tint in baked goods but that’s totally normal and nothing to worry about!
These look great! I made them for home but I am also a cooking teacher and would love to make them with my students. Only issue is I have to avoid peanut butter due to allergies. Any alternative recipes or suggestions for that?
Thanks!
could you use sunflowerseed butter or soynut butter?
Mmm I’m glad you remade these and reshared them! I am excited to make them and see how they are!
What’s the drizzle? These sound delish!
we are all about a fun breakfast and these sound delicious and perfect for apple season
Wow, these look so great! Perfect way to start the day!
These look so delicious Lindsay! I can’t wait to try them out – my kids will be thrilled 🙂
I’ve been looking for a new breakfast bar, and these look perfect!
A nice advantage of a recipe like this is that you could bring it in the car on a plate for those late mornings. Can’t say that for cereal! For me I’d make it with almond butter, I’m sure it would turn out just fine with that.
Yum! These look easy and delicious which is my kind of recipe!
These look soo good but I don’t know if I should make them – I don’t think I’d be able to eat just one bar!
These look SO good- definitely a winning combo!
Made these today, they are so good. Much better than what I buy in the stores.
so glad you liked them!
Hi, any substitute for butter ?
You could try vegetable oil or melted coconut oil.
Thanks for the reply! Can I freeze the bars and thaw them when decided to eat ? Thoughts?
definitely worth trying!!
What is drizzled over top? I would like to try a little drizzle of some kind.
it’s just peanut butter!
Do these need to be refrigerated once baked?
they would be fine on the counter for a couple days but i usually keep mine in the fridge
These turned out really good! I just made them exactly according to recipe with 1.5 cups apples and 1 egg. I thought the texture was perfect, moist but not crumbly. My 1 year old loves it.
yay! so glad to hear it!
Made these last night as needed to use up old apples. Grated 1 cup of apples instead and just used 1 egg. Moist, tasty and quite filling. Felt healthy but also a nice snack and not too sweet. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
yay! glad you liked them!
When you make these do you use the 1/2 cup brown sugar or do you have a healthier substitute (dates, etc)? On Instagram you mention cutting the sugar quite a bit, so I’m curious!
i typically just reduce the sugar but they would be great with dates i think! I’m slowly trying that sub with all these type of recipes.
Would it be a 1:1 ratio? Or just maybe a 1/4 cup of dates?
I would start with like 1/2 cup of dates. Maybe 5-6 of them?
Don’t get me wrong: I like these. I’m always looking for ways to have breakfast on the go that I can make myself (and therefore can control the portions and ingredients). Having said that, I cannot taste the apple and cinnamon; all I taste is peanut butter.
Fortunately, I like peanut butter. So, I’ll make these again, but I’m renaming them “Peanut Butter Oat Bars” and adding mix-in options besides apple: unsweetened shredded coconut, dried cherries, finely chopped peanuts, extra small candied ginger bits, chocolate chips…(I’ll try to think of some healthier ones while I’m at it.)
★★★★