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!
Raspberry and blueberry oaty breakfast bars
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!
I don’t usually eat breakfast until I’ve been up a couple of hours, but these are easy and healthy. I use a scant 2 Tbsp of brown sugar in the mix and sprinkle a Tbsp of cinnamon sugar on top for the last couple of minutes of baking. Biting through the crispy sweet satisfies my sweet tooth completely. I’ve introduced them to my daughter, who returned to work last week after maternity leave. She’s thrilled to save the morning prep and still get her oats and fruit.
So glad you’ve both enjoyed this recipe Tanya! Thanks so much for sharing :)
Would these freeze ok? I look forward to trying them!
I haven’t tried freezing these I’m afraid! I think the berries would go a bit squidgy when defrosted and I’m not sure if the texture of the bars themselves would be quite the same… but I do think it’s worth a try :)
I’d test a couple squares and find out
Hi! I just came across your blog and i am glad i did. :) Just wondering, if it would be ok to sub cottage cheese with yogurt? Cottage cheese is kind of expensive in Thailand, just trying to find a cheaper alternative.
I haven’t tried it myself but you could definitely give it a try! Yogurt is runnier than cottage cheese, so maybe add a little less. Let me know how you get on :)
Breakfast recipes are my favourite and these look like something worth waking up for!
Really love the look of these! Nothing wrong with using cottage cheese, it just means extra protein, right? I cannot wait to make this at home but I will skip the sugar and use natural sweetener such as date syrup instead.
Make ahead of time breakfasts will be a love saver for you when baby arrives and you are off to a great start here. I love breakfast bakes like this.
These look so tasty! Nine grams of protein per square is super impressive, the cottage cheese is such a good idea! I imagine as it’s oats they keep pretty well in the fridge for a while? PS. I’m in awe of your cake pan.
They’ll definitely keep for a few days in the fridge :) And you should definitely try a Circulon cake pans, you do a lot more baking than I do – it would be so useful for you!
I used to turn my nose up at cottage cheese (still do when it’s on its own) but, I do love the texture it as to baked goods. Speaking of which, these bars are perfect to bake ahead and enjoy – almost like a berry baked oatmeal! Delicious!
My husband and I are horrible at eating breakfast during the week, so this recipe would be perfect for us! Also, I’m glad to meet another cottage cheese lover. Whenever someone turns it away, it’s just more for us haha!
Haha I can kind of understand why people don’t like the texture, but personally I love the squeakiness – like halloumi! So good.
This is my kind of breakfast. It is like eating dessert. Perfect for grab and go when you are on the run too.
My hand is up here and I am totally bored with breakfast. I know my kids are too so they would love this. I like that it can be made ahead and eaten all week. Less work for me!
Definitely, I can never be bothered to make much in the mornings :)
This looks delicious. I don’t usually make breakfast in the week as I’m too lazy and like the extra time in bed but I could definitely get stuck in to this at the weekend! Looks well worth the effort.
I love easy and this looks like a great alternative to my everyday breakfast I have! I want to have this now with my cup of coffee!!
These look so good. I love blueberries when they’re baked. They are so much sweeter that way.
Aren’t Circulon pans great?
They’re fantastic!
Me! Oh me! Me! I’m a breakfast disliker! Part of it is I just can’t eat so soon after getting up. No appetite. If it’s not a work day I generally wait one or two hours before I can have anything, so on work days breakfast is something that’s forced down.
Another part is, breakfast? Soooo boring. It’s the most boring meal of the day, and it’s almost always the same thing every flipping day!
I’ve had a few gos at the overnight oats with apple you posted earlier, and also some other overnight oats recipes I found (which originally involved chia seeds, which it was then discovered we didn’t like at all as they gelled the whole thing up to a consistency that was like eating glue. Ugh! Very far from the promised ‘creamy pudding-y texture’), so I’m slowly building up a small repertoire in that department. I’ve found it can be varied endlessly by just a couple of large spoonfuls of fruity yoghurt or similar.
But this is all making a short story long, so suffice to say, I’m DEFINITELY going to try this one out!
Haha I love your enthusiasm (or is it anti-enthusiasm?!). I sometimes add a sprinkling of chia to my oats, but only a tiny bit, because of that gloopy texture you mention! Not nice. Hope you enjoy these breakfast bars more :)
The recipe I had found was a whole tablespoon for in two small helpings. I tried thinning it out with more milk, but that didn’t really work. It’s much better when they’re just left out all together. I do wonder though if it was a misprint and was supposed to have been a teaspoon.
Anyway, I’ve had a rootle about in the kitchen and found some black currants in the freezer that really wants using, preferably before the bush starts producing new berries and Husband starts wondering why I asked for one in the first place… :p I’ll try to remember to let you know how that substitution works out.