Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bars (Gluten-Free)
These healthy chocolate chip banana bars are soft, moist, and loaded with melty chocolate chips. Made with oat flour, ripe bananas, and coconut sugar, they bake in 30 minutes – much faster than traditional banana bread!
Got more ripe bananas? Try my viral Healthy Banana Bread, Vegan Banana Muffins, or Vegan Banana Bread Cookies next!
Quick Look: Vegan Banana Bars
- Ready In: 45 minutes
- Servings: 9 banana bars
- Key Ingredients: Ripe bananas, oat flour, peanut butter, coconut sugar, and vegan chocolate chips
- Dietary Info:Ā Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and oil-free
- Texture:Ā Soft, moist, and tender with melty chocolate chips in every bite
Once I tasted these banana bars, I knew they deserved a spot alongside my favorite banana recipes. They have the same cozy flavors as my healthy banana bread or vegan banana muffins, but bake in just 30 minutes. They’re perfect for meal prep, snacking, or a healthy dessert. Those ripe bananas on your counter have been waiting for this!
Featured Review
“I made these bars for my sonās 39th birthday this past Sunday. They were a huge hit! These bars are easy to make, delicious and healthy! I highly recommend this recipe!”
– Lois
Table of Contents
What Makes These Banana Bars So Good
All the cozy flavors of banana bread, in bar form.
- Soft and moist banana bread texture
- Melty chocolate chips in every bite
- Made with simple pantry ingredients
- Ready in 30 minutes (half the time of banana bread)
- Perfect for breakfast, snacks, meal prep, or dessert
- Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and oil-free
A Closer Look At The Ingredients
Each ingredient has a purpose in creating these soft, tender banana bars!
- Bananas: This recipe uses 3 ripe bananas. The riper your bananas (lots of brown spots), the sweeter and more flavorful your banana bars will be.
- Oat Flour: Oat flour creates a soft, tender crumb while keeping these banana bars gluten-free. It’s the same flour I use in myĀ healthy banana bread and healthy banana muffins.
- Coconut Sugar: Adds a subtle caramel flavor and sweetness while keeping these bars refined sugar-free.
- Peanut Butter: Use a natural, drippy peanut butter made with just peanuts (and salt). I usually use myĀ homemade peanut butter, but the Kirkland natural peanut butter from Costco works great too. Avoid thick, no-stir peanut butters (like Skippy or Jif), as they can make the dough too dry.
- Non-Dairy Milk: Any dairy-free milk will work: soy, almond, oat.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the banana and chocolate flavors.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Using both helps the bars rise and stay light and fluffy (instead of dense).
- Cinnamon & Salt: Cinnamon adds warmth while salt balances the sweetness.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: Make sure your chocolate chips are dairy-free to keep this recipe vegan.
Need To Swap An Ingredient?
- Peanut Butter: Almond butter or cashew butter work, but they’ll slightly change the flavor. For a nut-free option, use sunflower seed butter.
- Coconut Sugar: Keeps this recipe refined sugar-free, but you can swap forĀ date sugar, brown sugar, or cane sugar.
- Oat Flour: I don’t recommend replacing the oat flour since it gives these banana bars their soft, fluffy texture. Other flours won’t produce the same results.
How to Make Banana Bread Bars
This is just a recipe overview! Scroll down to the recipe card to get the full recipe with measurements.
- Preheat the oven: Preheat your oven to 350Ā°F. Grease or line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Mash the bananas: In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas until mostly smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients: Whisk in the coconut sugar, peanut butter, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients: Fold in the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips: Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
- Bake: Add the batter to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with mini chocolate chips. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool and slice: Cool completely before slicing into bars (I know itās hard, but worth it). Enjoy!
The Secret to Perfect Banana Bars
- Use very ripe, spotty bananas.Ā The darker and more brown-spotted your bananas are, the sweeter and more flavorful your banana bars will be. Those bananas you think are too ripe? They’re perfect for this recipe!
- Don’t overmix once you add the dry ingredients.Ā Fold until just combined. Overmixing can make the bars dense instead of soft and tender.
- Let the bars cool completely before slicing.Ā Since they’re made with oat flour, they need time to set after baking so they can firm up. I know it’s tempting!
- Finish with flaky sea salt.Ā A sprinkle on top adds the perfect sweet-and-salty balance.
How to Store & Freeze These Bars
If these banana bars aren’t already gone within the first hour (guilty) hereās how to store them.
- At room temperature: Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days
- In the fridge: Store in an airtight container for 5-7 days
They also freeze beautifully, so I like to keep a stash in the freezer right next to myĀ frozen snickers banana pops. Having homemade treats ready to grab from the freezer is one of my favorite little hacks!
- Freeze them: Store your sliced banana bars for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe container
FAQs
Yes! Slice the bars first and then freeze for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe container.
Yes. Almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter all work well.
1 cup of mashed banana = about 2 medium bananas.
I don’t recommend substituting the oat flour since it’s what gives these bars a light, fluffy crumb.
Got More Ripe Bananas?
Try these banana recipes next!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ā ā ā ā ā star rating below. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram so I can see your creations!
Healthy Chocolate Chip Banana Bars (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
wet ingredients
- 1 cup mashed banana, about 2 ripe bananas
- Ā¼ cup coconut sugar
- Ā¼ cup peanut butter
- Ā¼ cup non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dry ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Ā½ teaspoon baking powder
- Ā½ teaspoon baking soda
- Ā¼ teaspoon salt
- Ā½ cup vegan mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350Ā°F. Grease or line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Mash the bananas: In a large mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas until mostly smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients: Whisk in the coconut sugar, peanut butter, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients: Fold in the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips: Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
- Bake: Add the batter to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with more mini chocolate chips on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool and slice: Let them cool before slicing into bars. I know itās tempting, but patience is key. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use very ripe, spotty bananas. The darker and more brown-spotted your bananas are, the sweeter and more flavorful your banana bars will be. Those bananas you think are too ripe? They’re perfect for this recipe!
- Don’t overmix the dry ingredients.Ā Fold until just combined. Overmixing can make the bars dense instead of soft and tender.
- Let the bars cool completely before slicing. Since they’re made with oat flour, they need time to set after baking so they can firm up. I know it’s tempting!
- Finish with flaky sea salt.Ā A sprinkle on top adds the perfect sweet-and-salty balance.
hey! is there any chance you would be willing to weigh your ingredients the next time you make these? i only have a scale and arent familiar with imperial units. usually when i do the math to convert recipes myself they dont turn out the same! š
Totally understand! I don’t always weigh my ingredients when developing recipes since we use cups in America, so I may not be able to provide gram measurements for every recipe, but you can use an online ingredient conversion chart! I’d recommend looking up the specific ingredient (for example: 1 cup almond flour in grams) rather than using a general cups-to-grams converter. King Arthur Baking has a good weight chart that’s pretty reliable. Going forward, Iāll try to include gram measurements for recipes where itās especially helpful. š
What can the alternate of coconut sugar?
An equal amount of date sugar, brown sugar, or cane sugar will work!
I made these bars for my sonās 39th birthday this past Sunday. They were a huge hit! These bars are easy to make, delicious and healthy! I highly recommend this recipe!
Soo happy you and the family loved them and that they were part of such a special birthday celebration! Thank you for sharing, sweet Lois! š
Absolutely delicious. Love the combination of chocolate, peanut butter and banana! Will be making these over and over againĀ
So happy to hear you loved them! I hope Alex and baby did too.. š
These are so moist, fudgy, and insanely good…taste just like banana bread but somehow better! My new go-to snack!Ā