I get why overnight oats and other recipes using the whole grain have blown up in popularity. When combined with something wet – meaning any kind of milk, yogurt or even mashed bananas – the oats soak up the liquid beautifully and fill your stomach for hours as they slowly release energy. I used to regularly make my own granola bars to have for breakfast that would fill me up without being too heavy since I'm not big on eating in the mornings. So, here are a few recipes to inspire you to use oats more in your day-to-day life.

Granola bars

Let's start with my breakfast-to-go. It's super simple and entirely up to you to experiment, incorporate what you like! I’m also not going to bother with exact measurements because there aren't any. For this vegan recipe, you only need overripe bananas and plain oats, enhancing it is up to you.

Mash your bananas then gradually add the oats while mixing until the consistency is thick, the amount of oats needed depends entirely on how soft your bananas are. You will know your mix is thick enough when you can stand your spoon upright in the bowl. If you don't want to add anything else to the granola bars, then now is the time to pour the mix onto a wide baking tray lined with baking paper.

Spread the mix across the tin as thick as you want your bars to be. Bake it gently at around 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit) as you are essentially drying it out for about 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and directly cut the granola slab to the size and shapes you want and let them cool off on a cooling rack. If they are still too moist, you can throw them back into the oven for a few minutes.

Since I like different textures and flavors in my bars, I like to add crushed hazelnuts and finely chopped raisins. The crunch of the nuts makes for a satisfying contrast and I just love the pop of sweetness that the raisins provide. As we didn’t add any sugar, you can add chocolate chips to make it just a tad sweeter, I sometimes like to add the bitter kind. If you feel like being fancy, you can even dip one side of the granola bar in chocolate and make it extra yummy.

Store these in airtight containers preferably in the fridge. The bars are usually are good for a week but if you dried them more, they might hold for a bit longer. Making small batches and eating them quickly is definitely the best way to go about it because they can and will go bad if you let them hang around for too long.

Overnight oats

If granola bars aren't your thing you can always go for overnight oats. I like to do this from time to time when I know I won’t have time in the morning and need something to munch on while I check my morning mail. Bringing this along to work is of course an option as well. However, I need to say this: Just because I eat while I work doesn’t mean I endorse this behavior. It actually distracts you from eating and you might end up eating more than you usually would, so I recommend consuming food consciously whenever possible.

The recipe here is a suggestion, you can – and most definitely should – add whatever you like to this. When I say milk, feel free to use whatever kind your prefer – plant-based ones work just as well if not better, even yogurt can be used as a substitute.

Ingredients