Soft, textured, and oh so flavorful Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars filled with a thick banana layer that brings this classic flavor combination together.
Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
8x8 inch square pan
Parchment paper
Materials
1 ¾cupsall-purpose flour(210 g)
1cuprolled oatsdivided (100 g)
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonkosher salt
1cupcreamy peanut butter(240 g)
½cup+ 2 T unsalted butterroom temperature (142 g)
½cuplight brown sugarpacked (100 g)
1large egg
1teaspoonvanilla paste or extract
4bananas2 mashed (very ripe) & two sliced (ripe)
1.5Tall-purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease and parchment line (with overhangs so it's easy to remove) an 8x8 inch square baking pan.
In a food processor, pulse ¾ cups of the rolled oats until they become smaller. Sand texture is too fine, but you definitely want to break them down a bit.
Combine the 1 ¾ cups flour, ground oats, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer), beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugar until combined. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until incorporated, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Add ⅔ of the mixture to the prepared pan and press down evenly into all corners and sides.
In a separate bowl, combine the leftover ⅓ of the flour and oat mixture, add in the remaining ¼ of whole rolled oats and bring together with a fork. You will have to break up the mixture a bit with the fork, but you want to keep the pieces crumbly (think a streusel topping).
Next, prepare your bananas. Slice two bananas into ¼ inch thick rounds and mash the other two bananas with a fork. Add the 1.5 T of flour to the mashed bananas and mix to combine.
Spread the mashed bananas evenly over the base of the bars, then layer the banana slices on top. Sprinkle the remaining oat crumbles evenly over top of the bars.
Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until the edges are slightly browned.
Let cool completely in the pan, then remove and cut into 9 or 16 pieces.
Notes
Store the bars covered at room temperature for 2 days.