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These delicious gluten free banana bars are the perfect make-ahead snack or dessert to have on hand!

With creamy peanut butter, ripe banana, sweet honey, chocolate chips, and a blend of oats and chia seeds, you can make this a deliciously healthy alternative to cake or cookies.

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The best part is you can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. So if you make these on a Sunday night, you can enjoy them throughout the week!

Kid-Friendly Banana Bars

First, let’s chat about the title of this recipe.

This recipe is for banana bars. However, there are a lot of delicious ingredients included which could alter what you call it. It simply depends on what emphasis you want to imply!

• Gluten Free Banana Bars (My humble title)
• Peanut Butter Banana Bars (For those who want to highlight the creamy peanut butter)
• Banana Oatmeal Bars (For those who like that oatmeal texture)
• Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Bars (For those who like a tongue twister)

Anyway you call it, it tastes the same and is all the same recipe.

These healthy banana oatmeal bars are a win with my kiddos. They feel like this is more like a dessert with the sweet honey and chocolate chips these bars offer! 

However, I know the real truth. They are equally healthy and delicious.

You can even make these gluten free banana bars with your kids! It is such an easy recipe that they will enjoy helping prepare. They will be excited to snag one from the refrigerator for a perfect after-school snack! 

What Can I Make with Over Ripe Bananas?

There are so many ways to use up those over ripe bananas sitting on your counter. Before throwing them away, here are three ideas for you to consider:

Banana Bread: An obvious choice for generations upon generations! Just about everyone has a banana bread recipe in their family. If you don’t, ask your relatives and I’m sure they will have one to share! Or, try out my famous Moist Banana Bread recipe.

Smoothies: Over ripe bananas are perfect for making a healthy banana smoothie. This is a staple in my family. Add an over ripe banana, yogurt, large handful of baby spinach, frozen berries, and a splash of milk/oat milk to a blender and whip up a tasty banana smoothie. 

My daughter has been making her own smoothies since she was 7 with this personal blender. I love that the blade never touches her hands, even for cleaning, and the entire cup pops off for a grab and go snack!

Banana Pancakes: Lightly smash the over ripe bananas and mix into your pancake batter! Add a dash of cinnamon or vanilla extract for a more yummy flavor! 

Or, you could give these super delicious gluten free banana bars a try! With no added granulated sugar, you can even feel a little better about eating more than one serving.

How to Make Gluten Free Banana Bars

To start, preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a bread loaf pan or line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, smash three ripe bananas and puree them with an immersion blender. I’m not a huge fan of chunky banana bits in my baked goods, so whether I’m making banana bread or these gluten free banana bars, I like to fully puree them. 

Stir in the peanut butter until well blended, then slowly work in the honey and fold in the chia seeds. In a separate bowl, you’ll want to mix together the oats, gluten free flour, and gluten free baking soda using a fork.

Pour your dry ingredients into the banana mixture and stir together until well combined. 

Gluten Free Banana Bars With Chocolate Chips

Finally fold in those milk chocolate chip morsels. If you don’t like chocolate chips, then I am not sure we could be friends. I’m just kidding, of course!

If for any reason, you don’t want to add the chocolate chips, feel free to skip them. Some good replacements could be pecans, walnuts, or even pumpkin seeds.

Feel free to make it your own, or simply leave the batter plain! 

Once it’s all mixed and ready to go, pour the mixture into your loaf pan. Use a spoon or spatula (I love this set) to smooth out the top and ensure the batter is evenly distributed. 

Simply bake for 30 minutes, or until your knife test comes out clean.

Let the pan cool off a bit on a cooling rack, and then use a knife to go around the edges to loosen from the pan. Flip the pan and place the loaf into your hand and then flip back onto the cooling rack.

Let it continue to cool completely and then slice into 8 squares. You can store these gluten free banana bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Allergy Related Substitutions

Allergic to peanut butter?

Feel free to substitute for almond butter or sun butter! 

Recipe Variations

This basic banana bar recipe is a fantastic start to build on. You have a lot of leeway with the additional ingredients if you want to change it up.

Of course, if you do not need gluten free banana bars, you can also make these with regular all purpose flour.

If you don’t feel like chocolate chips, feel free to skip them. Or, if you feel like adding more integrated ingredients there are many that will compliment the banana flavor.

Try adding:

• chopped walnuts
• pumpkin seeds
• pecans
• a dash of cinnamon and cloves
• sweetened shredded coconut
• raisins
• peanut butter morsels in place of chocolate chips

Want to really lean into these as a dessert? You could even add some delicious cream cheese frosting!

I feel the perfect pairing would be to make this gluten free banana bars with chopped walnuts baked inside, and then frost with whipped cream cheese frosting. Just make sure to let the peanut butter banana bars fully cool to avoid melting the frosting. 

Gluten Free Banana Bars Recipe

Gluten Free Banana Bars Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mash 3 ripe bananas and blend using an immersion blender until smooth. 
3. Mix in ½ cup of peanut butter until fully blended and then add in the honey, mixing until well combined. Then fold in the chia seeds. 
4. In a separate bowl, use a pastry fork to mix together the oats, GF flour, and GF baking soda.  
5. Add your dry ingredients into your banana mixture and slowly combine. Then fold in your chocolate chips and mix until well combined. 
6. Pour mixture into greased loaf pan, using a spatula to smooth out on top.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Let cool and cut into 8 pieces.
9. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

You’ll Also Enjoy…

I really hope you enjoy this peanut butter banana bars recipe! What is your favorite way to use over ripe bananas?

I’d love to know if you gave these gluten free banana bars a try and if you used any different ingredients.

And if you’re looking for more gluten free or baked good recipes, make sure to check these out next.

• The Best Gluten Free Apple Tart
• Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes with Anise Extract
• Easy, Mouth Watering Blueberry Bars

You can also visit my recipe archives here.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! Make sure to subscribe to get my Grace Notes directly to your inbox and to access all my insider perks. Follow along daily on Instagram and weekly on YouTube!

-Sarah