Banana, Date and Coconut Breakfast Bars

Healthy Breakfast Bars Recipe: Coconut, Banana and Date

We’ve had the good fortune of having friends and family coming for visits pretty much non-stop for the past 6 months. Planning activities and day trips can be daunting when you’re trying to coordinate a group—getting everyone out the door early enough to arrive at your destination, get settled, and squeeze in a proper lunch between noon and 2pm. That’s when I realised I needed a healthy breakfast bars recipe that could solve our morning chaos and we could eat on the go.

If going for lunch is part of the plan, then a big breakfast isn’t necessary. The solution? This healthy breakfast bars recipe. These coconut, banana and date breakfast bars tick all the boxes: super filling, easy to prepare, and packed with superfoods.

Every ingredient is a superfood—dates, bananas, oats, and seeds. In the mornings when we had day trips planned, I would set out a pot of coffee and cups along with some steamed milk and honey, a bowl of easy peelers, a pitcher of fresh juice, and these coconut, banana and date breakfast bars. This held the serious hunger at bay until we would have lunch around mid-day.

These breakfast bars are a great snack any time of day, as they’re most definitely power-packed food for energy. Think of your body as a machine that needs fuel, and imagine this power-packed bar being the equivalent of high octane fuel you would put into a high-performance vehicle.

The Superfood Lineup

The beauty of this healthy breakfast bars recipe lies in its simple, wholesome ingredients. Dates provide natural sweetness and are rich in fibre, keeping your digestive system happy. Oats offer sustained energy release, preventing that mid-morning crash.  Additionally,  Oats are a versatile food that not only supports hair and nail health but also contributes significantly to heart health. Bananas bring potassium and natural sugars for quick energy, whilst seeds pack in healthy fats, protein, and essential minerals. No refined sugar needed when nature provides such delicious alternatives!

Whether you’re rushing out the door for work, need a pre-workout boost, or want something nutritious for your family, this healthy breakfast bars recipe delivers. They’re brilliant as an afternoon pick-me-up with a cup of tea or coffee, or whilst sitting at your desk powering through emails. Pack them in a lunch box for the kids, or bring these bars along on a road trip for sustained energy without the service station junk food temptation.

Keeping Them Fresh

These coconut, banana and date breakfast bars will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container, making them perfect for weekly meal prep. Need them to last longer? Pop them in the freezer for up to a month—just thaw one the night before you need it, or let it defrost during your morning commute.

Make a batch on Sunday evening, and you’ll have this healthy breakfast bars recipe sorted for the entire week!  🍽️

Coconut, Banana and Date Breakfast Bars

Sainsbury Magazine

Healthy no-bake breakfast bars made with dates, bananas, oats, coconut and seeds. No refined sugar, naturally sweetened. Perfect for meal prep—keeps 5 days refrigerated or 1 month frozen.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine Heathy, International, superfoods

Servings 16 squares

Equipment

• Electronic digital scales optional
• Food processor OR Handblender preferably a food processor
• 20 cm square baking tin [ 8 inches]
• Baking Parchment
• Spatula OR pastry Card
• Wire Cooling Rack

Ingredients

  

• 250 grams Pitted soft dates - preferably Medjool [ 9 ounces, scant] Note 1
• 2 Ripe Bananas, peeled and broken into piece ideally super ripe brown bananas
• 200 grams Porridge Oats [ 7 ounces]
• 60 gram Wholemeal Flour [ 5 Tablespoons] I use Rye Flour
• 30 gram desiccated coconut [2 Tablespoons]
• 150 ml Mild Olive Oil [2/3 cup]
• 3 Tablespoon maple or agave syrup I use ½ of each
• 2 Tablespoon almond or soya milk, OR coconut cream Note 2
• 120 grams Mixed Seeds [ 7/8 cup] split in half Note 3
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180C [350 F] , fan 160C [320 F]. gas 4 and line a 20 cm [8 inches] square tin with baking paper, allowing the edgs to overhang the sides.
• Put all the ingredients [half the seed mixture] in the bowl of a food processor and blitz to make rough but well-combined mixture Note 4
• Spread evenly into the prepared tin and smooth with the pastry card or spatula. Sprinkle over evenly the remaining half of the seed mixture.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until firm to the touch and slightly golden on top. Remove from the oven and leae in the tin for a few minutes and then lift onto a wire rack to cool, using the baking paper as handles.
• Cut into 16 squares- they will firm up as they cool. Note 5

Notes

Note 1. Heat the kettle and pour over enough hot/boiling water to just cover the dates and leave on for about 10 minutes and drain.  This softens the dates and allows the mixture to whiz easier.  I use the date liquid to make a cup of tea or use it to water plants after the liquid has cooled.

Note 2. If you don't need to keep this vegan you can use regular milk

Note 3. I use 60 gram untoasted pumpkin seeds, 40 grams raw sunfower seeds and 20 grams chia seeds

Note 4. If you are using a hand blender, put all the ingredients into a arge mixing bowl and carefully use the hand bender to combine the ingredients- take special care to get the whole dates roughly chopped though the mixture.

Note 5. The bars will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container, or can be frozen for up to 1 month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keyword banana oat bars, coconut breakfast bars, date bars, energy bars, freezer friendly breakfast, grab and go breakfast, healthy breakfast bars, meal prep breakfast, no bake bars, no refined sugar, superfood bars