The Best Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Bars
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Oatmeal Raisin Protein Bars are a healthy protein bars recipe that is easy to make! Chewy and delicious – these taste like a cookie!
If you’re looking for a healthier alternative to store bought protein bars – look no further than these Oatmeal Raisin Healthy Protein Bars!
The average protein bar costs between $2.49-$2.99. This recipe costs less than $1 per bar. It’s more than 50% cheaper to make your own protein bars than buy them.
Most protein bars have funky ingredients, loads of refined sugar, and a laundry list of add ins/preservatives. These bars are sweetened with maple syrup and raisins and made with only simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
These protein bars taste like a cookie while having 11 grams of protein per serving! With only 9 ingredients and a few steps, these are super easy to make. Simply mix together, press into a pan, chill & enjoy.
Gluten free, no bake, delicious, chewy texture, and easy to make – these healthy protein bars are a must try!
If you like this recipe, try our Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe or Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you need more recipes, check out these 30+ Healthy Oatmeal Recipes.
liz’s top tips for oatmeal raisin protein bars
- Layer your loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
- We wouldn’t recommend eating a protein bar for a breakfast meal. Eating a balanced meal with vegetables and protein is the best option for breakfast to fuel you for your day. I like to enjoy them if I’m on the go and don’t have access to a high protein meal, or if I need something quickly.
Ingredients
SUBSTITUTIONS
Oats: Make sure to use quick cooking oats and not whole oats or old fashioned rolled oats. Gluten free oats are fine if needed. Do not replace oats with other flours.
Vanilla Protein Powder: This recipe was tested with Vanilla Whey Protein and Vanilla Beef Protein. I haven’t tested it with vegan protein powder but I think it would work.
Raisins: You can substitute raisins with other dried fruit.
Almond Butter: You can substitute with cashew butter or sun butter for almond butter. Peanut butter will be too strong. Make sure you thoroughly stir the nut butter so it’s not too oily.
Maple Syrup: You can substitute maple syrup with honey
Almond Milk: Almond milk can be substituted with regular dairy milk or other nondairy milks
Chocolate Chips: We recommend these Chocolate Chip Healthy Granola Bars.
How to Make oatmeal raisin protein bars
- In a bowl combine everything except for icing.
- It will form a cookie dough-like texture.
- Line an 8×4 loaf pan with parchment. Press the mixture into the pan with your hands. You may need to put a little water on your hands so it doesn’t stick.
- Mix icing and into a small zip lock bag. Push it to the corner and snip just the tip off – this is your icing bag. Drizzle it over top and serve.
Are Protein Bars Healthy?
Healthy is a relative term. Protein bars can be a healthy snack, but they shouldn’t be something that you eat every day.
The best option when you’re hungry is a meal that’s filled with lean protein, fruits and veggies, healthy carbs and healthy fats. In a pinch, a protein bar is usually a better choice than other ‘snack’ foods
Best types of Protein to Use:
You can use any type of protein powder in this recipe.
This recipe works best with vanilla whey protein or beef protein. I haven’t tried egg white protein powder or vegan protein powder, but I think they would work great!
Storage
Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting and serving.
Refrigerator: Store leftovers wrapped up in the fridge. These can be kept up to one week.
Freezing: I haven’t tried freezing these protein bars, but I think it might work. If you try it, let us know!
How long do these chewy oatmeal raisin bars keep? These will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. We don’t recommend storing at room temperature.
Other healthy protein recipes:
If you love protein packed snacks, check out these 30+ High Protein Desserts or these other recipes:
Oatmeal Raisin Healthy Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups quick cook oats
- ¼ cup vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup almond butter
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Icing (optional)
- 1 tablespoon nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl combine everything except for icing. It will form a cookie dough-like texture.
- Line an 8×4 loaf pan with parchment. Press the mixture into the pan with your hands. You may need to put a little water on your hands so it doesn’t stick.
- Mix together icing and into a small zip lock bag. Push it to the corner and snip just the tip off – this is your icing bag.
- Drizzle it over top and serve .
- Refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting and serving. Store leftovers wrapped up in the fridge. These can be kept up to one week.
These are delicious and what I was searching for. Oatmeal raison or one of my most favorite flavors and these do not disappoint. I made as stated except I did not use the drizzle to cut down on the sugar amount. Healthy bars should have 12g or less of sugar with the preferred range 4-6g. Removing the powdered sugar removes close to 7.3g of sugar overall, so that is about 1.22g a serving. I will pay with the maple syrup amount next to get closer or under 12g of sugar.
My daughter has a nut allergy – can I sub something in for almond butter?
I always include my substitution recommendations in the green box of the blog post 🙂 You could substitute sun butter for the almond butter.
These are a hit! I doubled the recipe because I’ve got teenagers. I did not put the drizzle on them. My daughter said they taste like oatmeal cookie dough! So yummy! Very easy to make. Minimal cleanup.
Can I use old fashioned rolled oats?
All of our blog posts have a green substitutions box where we list every ingredient. Here’s what it says for oats: Make sure to use quick cooking oats and not whole oats or old fashioned oats. Gluten free oats are fine if needed. Do not replace oats with other flours.
YUM!
What can I use instead of Oats. My pancreas looks upon oats as something to be stored for a “rainy day” it does the reverse for me increases my cholesterol and triglyerites and makes me soooo fat.
I’m sorry Tricia but there is no substitute for oats in this recipe. Oats are the main ingredient here. You could maybe try one of our other recipes: , , but I’m not sure if any of those would be a fit for your diet.
I have been waiting for this since Liz teased them, and they did not disappoint! They were super easy to make (I’m pretty sure I threw them all together in about 10 minutes) and cleanup was minimal. I used a glove to mix the bars together and transfer them to the pan so they didn’t get stuck to my skin. I subbed Swerve confectioner sugar for the powdered sugar, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly and they are amazing. They taste just like the iced oatmeal cookies I grew up eating. My drizzle skills leave a lot be desired, so I just used a spoon to spread the icing over the top. Popped in the fridge overnight and had one as a post-workout snack. I will definitely be keeping these on hand for the times when I want a sweet treat while staying on plan. Thanks, Liz!
Thank you so much, Jennifer! I’m so glad you liked it!