Meatless Friday: Simple Oat Bites

Monica Portogallo's easy recipe makes a great breakfast, lunch, or snack. Print out a free recipe card!

As a nutritionist, I am often asked for easy, healthy recipe ideas. Below is one of my favorites. It has so many potential advantages: it only really needs 2 ingredients (oats and mashed banana), is sweet without added sugar, it can be made without common allergens, it requires no animal products, it’s quick and easy to prepare, it’s quite versatile, and it's very forgiving in terms of measurements.

To standardize the recipe, I am including exact measurements, but as long as you have about equal parts of wet and dry ingredients, it turns out fine!

Simple Oat Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed, ripe banana
2 tbsp natural peanut butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2-3 tbsp of mix-ins, such as raisins, chopped nuts, or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.

In a medium bowl, mix mashed banana with nut butter and/or vanilla, if using. Stir in oats and mix-ins, if using.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the mixture on the prepared baking sheet, and, if desired, use the back of the spoon to shape the mounds into other shapes (such as circles or rectangles).

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown.