Raspberry and blueberry oaty breakfast bars

Who’s bored of breakfast?

(imagine me waving my hand in the air madly)

I know I say this every time I share a breakfast recipe (it’s hard finding 300 words to say 3 times a week, you know…), but cereal and milk just don’t cut it for me any more. I’ve discovered some awesome breakfast options – breakfast muffins, breakfast bowls, baked eggs, etc. – but they all require a bit of actual effort, so I tend to save them for weekends. I just don’t have the mental energy during the week to put any effort whatsoever into breakfast.

I need to embrace the make-ahead breakfast – and these raspberry and blueberry oaty breakfast bars are definitely a new favourite! Make a batch on a Sunday night, and they’re there to grab and go through the week.

The recipe is easy – just mix everything up, bake it for about 40 minutes or so, then cut into squares. Not much energy required on a Sunday evening. You only need one mixing bowl and one cake pan, so not much washing up either.

My clean up was made even easier by this super non-stick cake pan from the Circulon Ultimum collection. If you’re a long-time reader, you’ll have heard me rave about my Circulon frying pans on several occasions – I’m inordinately in love with my frying pans, it’s quite sad really. They’re so non-stick that they almost don’t even need washing, just a quick wipe – nothing sticks at all, even now, a few years after I started using them. Their circular ridges are truly magical.

So I had high hopes for my new Circulon cake pan. I was crossing my fingers that it would be as impressive as the frying pans, and I wasn’t disappointed! Just look – not even the slightest hint that these oaty breakfast bars wanted to stick to the pan. They came out like a dream. I will never bake a round cake again, it’s this square baby all the way from now on.

By the way, the little white bits you can see in my oaty breakfast bars aren’t white chocolate chips (although come to think of it, that would be pretty delicious) – it’s cottage cheese. I know not everyone likes cottage cheese, and I know there will be some people turning their noses up right now. But trust me! You don’t really notice it in the finished bars, it just adds a slight chewiness – and about 4 grams of protein per bar. So it’s definitely worth including it if you want to stay full til lunchtime! In total there’s almost 9 grams of protein in each of these little squares, which is pretty amazing if you ask me.

I wanted to make these breakfast bars as healthy as I could, while still feeling like they were a bit of a treat. So I did sprinkle a bit of sugar over the top (skip it if you prefer!), but also included fresh blueberries and raspberries, pumpkin seeds, and that lovely cottage cheese. Believe me, it works. It kind of feels like you’re eating flapjacks for breakfast, without actually having to stoop to that level.

These oaty breakfast bars are great served at room temperature, or pop them in the microwave for a few seconds if you’d prefer them warm. Serve them with extra fresh fruit and a dollop of yogurt if you don’t think one bar will cut it. Or just have two.

What are your favourite make-ahead breakfasts? I feel like I could do with a few more go-to options to whip up on a Sunday night!

Print Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Raspberry and blueberry oaty breakfast bars

Servings: 9 bars

Calories:

Author: Becca Heyes

Ingredients

• 165 g rolled oats (~ 1 3/4 cups)
• 250 ml milk (~ 1 cup)
• 280 g cottage cheese (~ 1 cup)
• 2-3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 100 g blueberries (~ 2/3 cup)
• 100 g raspberries (~ 3/4 cup)
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
• Add the oats, milk, cottage cheese, brown sugar and egg to a large mixing bowl, and mix thoroughly. Add the blueberries, raspberries and pumpkin seeds, and fold together gently (hold back a few pieces of fruit for topping, if you like).
• Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased cake tin (mine measured 9 inches square), and spread into a single layer. Top with a few extra berries, if desired.
• Bake uncovered for around 40 minutes, or until firm and golden brown. Sprinkle with a little extra sugar for the last 10 minutes of baking, if desired.
• Cut into squares, and serve warm or cold. Store in the fridge.

Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/9 of the recipe.

Here’s another tasty make-ahead breakfast – apple pie overnight oats!