My Gluten-Free Vegan Baked Oatmeal Breakfast Squares are an easy and healthy recipe made with clean, real food ingredients. They're the perfect plant-based breakfast or dessert that you can make ahead and they're ready to enjoy in about 30 minutes!
Table of Contents
Here's Why This Recipe Works
My top 3 favorite reasons:
- No Flour, Eggs or Refined Sugar - My recipe doesn't contain the typical ingredients found in traditional baked recipes.
- Ready In About 30 Minutes - After mixing all the ingredients together, they only take about 30 minutes to bake!
- Made With Clean, Real Food Ingredients - Nutrient-dense and healthy ingredients such as bananas, oats, almond butter, ground flax seeds, coconut oil, ground cinnamon, baking powder, walnuts, and Himalayan pink salt.
You can feel good about making my healthy plant-based recipe because it's vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, contains no refined sugar, paleo-friendly, and Medical Medium® Compliant.
"Feel good about what you eat..."
- Karielyn Tillman
Ingredients
Here are the healthy, real food ingredients needed to make this recipe. Try to use organic if possible.
- Bananas
- Almond Butter
- Coconut Oil
- Quick Rolled Oats
- Walnuts
- Ground Flax Seeds
- Baking Powder
- Ground Cinnamon
- Vanilla Extract
- Himalayan Pink Salt
That's it!
How To Make This Recipe: Step-by-Step Instructions
Here I'll show you how to make this recipe and how easy it is with step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1 - Prep
Before beginning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare an 8 x 8 baking dish lined with parchment paper, then set aside.
Step 2 - Prepare the Flax Egg
Add all the ingredients for the flax egg to a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined, then set aside.
Step 3 - Mix Ingredients Together
Add all the ingredients to a medium mixing bowl, including the flax egg, and stir until well combined.
Add the chopped walnuts in and gently stir until they are evenly distributed.
Step 4 - Transfer the Mixture + Bake
Transfer the oatmeal mixture to the prepared baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Bananas: You want to use ripe, spotted bananas as they will be the natural sweetener in this recipe.
Almond Butter: Can be substituted with another nut butter such as peanut butter, cashew butter, or even sunflower seed butter.
Coconut Oil: If you don't like the taste or smell of coconut oil, use organic refined coconut oil which has zero coconut taste or smell.
Vanilla Extract: To keep this recipe 100% Medical Medium compliant, use organic vanilla bean powder or alcohol-free vanilla extract.
Quick Rolled Oats: I used organic gluten-free quick rolled oats to make this recipe, but haven't tested it using another type of oats.
Baking Powder: Make sure it's fresh for the best results!
Walnuts: Can be omitted if you prefer or if you need to keep the recipe nut-free.
Himalayan Pink Salt: This is my salt of preference, however, it can always be substituted with sea salt.
Serving Size: This recipe will make (16) small squares. Nutritional information is calculated for (1) square which is (1) serving.
Top Tip
Make sure the breakfast squares are cooled before cutting and removing from the baking dish or they will be crumbly and fall apart.
Frequent Asked Questions:
In my opinion, yes!
Here is the ingredient list of a popular store-bought S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) brand:
Quaker Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal Squares Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Peanut Spread (Peanuts, Sugar, Palm Oil, Salt, Peanut Oil), Whole Wheat Flour, Invert Sugar, Brown Sugar, Oligofructose, Vegetable Shortening (Canola Oil, Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil), Brown Rice Crisp (Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Sugar, Salt), Peanuts, Glycerin, Modified Corn Starch. Contains 2% or Less Of: Salt, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor, Tocopherols (to preserve freshness).
Homemade is always better because you have control of the ingredients that are used and can avoid GMO ingredients, refined salt, refined sugar, and unhealthy oils.
Not all oats are gluten-free, so you'll need to check if you need the recipe to be 100% gluten-free.
I used organic gluten-free quick-rolled oats to make this recipe and would be perfect for a gluten-free diet.
It can be with an ingredient substitution!
Instead of using organic pure vanilla extract, you would need to substitute with one of the following:
1. Vanilla Bean Powder
2. Alcohol-Free Vanilla Extract
Using these substitutions, the recipe would be 100% Medical Medium Compliant.
Yes! You can add different toppings to change things up so it's different every time you make it.
Here are some ideas:
Wild Blueberries
Sliced Strawberries
Sliced Bananas
Chocolate Chips (dairy-free)
Drizzle of Maple Syrup
Drizzle of Nut Butter
Cranberries
Raisins
Chopped Walnuts
Coconut Sugar
Now you have 10 different oatmeal breakfast squares recipes ideas to choose from!
Store any leftovers in an air-tight BPA-free container for 2-3 days.
Order Recipe Ingredients
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Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread Breakfast Squares
Ingredients
For the wet ingredients:
- 4 medium organic bananas (ripe + spotty)
- ⅓ cup organic almond butter
- 1 tablespoon organic coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon organic pure vanilla extract
For the dry ingredients:
- 2 cups organic gluten-free quick rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
For the flax egg:
- 1 tablespoon organic ground flax seeds
- 2 tablespoons water (filtered/purified)
For the add-in:
- ½ cup organic walnuts (chopped)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare an 8 x 8 baking dish lined with parchment paper and set aside.
Prepare the flax egg:
- Add all ingredients for the flax egg to a small mixing bowl and whisk until well combined, then set aside.
Prepare the wet ingredients:
- Add the bananas to a medium mixing bowl and mash them together with a fork.
- Re-whisk the flax egg and add it to the mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining wet ingredients to the mixing bowl with the mashed banana and flax egg and stir until everything is well combined.
Add the dry ingredients:
- Add all the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until everything is well combined.
Add the add-in:
- Add the walnuts chip add-in to the oatmeal mixture and gently stir in until they are evenly distributed.
Assembly:
- Transfer the oatmeal mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly.
- Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until it is golden around the edges and cooked through in the middle.
- Make sure the breakfast squares are cooled before cutting and removing from the baking dish or they will be crumbly and fall apart.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The notes, instructions, and photographs for this recipe are copyrighted material and are protected under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). They cannot be used legally without my written permission.
More Healthy Vegan Oat Recipes
- Strawberry Chia Seed Overnight Oats
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal
- Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies
- or my Real Food Vegan™ 14-Day Meal Plan Program with 42 plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
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