These oat bars are out of this world delicious! Soft baked oats with a hint of spice and sweet chocolate crunchy M&M’s in each bite. Low in fat and packed with protein, these bars are perfect for breakfast, dessert or snack!
It’s no secret that I love oat bars. I just love the taste and texture of soft baked oats! And even more so, I love making multiple servings in batch so I can have healthy, easy-to-grab food prepared for the week. These M&M protein oat bars are some of my favorite to make because they are so tasty and fun!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THESE OAT BARS
- They will fill you up. Unlike some oat bars without protein, these M&M protein oat bars are packed with enough protein and fiber to keep you satisfied until your next meal time.
- They are delicious. The texture of these are one of my favorite parts about this recipe! Soft-baked, chewy, with a hint of spice GOOD! And when you add mini M&M’s to that… YUM!
- The macros are amazing. They are low-calorie, low-fat, and with moderate carbs and protein. Balanced in macros and easy to fit in your day.
- They are so versatile! Change up the spices, protein powder and add ins and you can completely transform this recipe. There are so many possibilities with these – you will never get bored!
- They are easy to make. JUST MIX INGREDIENTS AND BAKE!
- They are great for breakfast, snack, pre-workout, dessert, any time of the day! Each time I make these I go through them so fast because I will eat them multiple times a day 😂 I’ll snack on one pre or post workout, grab one to curve my sweet tooth after lunch or if I just need something to hold me over until dinner!
WHAT YOU NEED
- Oat flour – I love oat flavor the best because of the flavor it brings. But if you don’t have any, you can either make your own by blending whole rolled oats (not steel cut or quick oats) in the blender of food processor until a flour is formed, or you can use almond or all-purpose flour
- Protein powder – I used PEScience protein powder Snickerdoodle. I have also used their peanut butter cookie and vanilla flavor for this recipe and both turn out amazing! I love baking with PEScience because the protein bakes so well and brings an amazing flavor to the baked goods. You can save 10% on PEScience products with my affiliate code LaurenFitFoodie.
- Cinnamon + nutmeg + vanilla
- Sweetener – I used Splenda for baking
- Pumpkin
- Applesauce
- Egg whites
- Almond milk – or other milk of choice
- Mini Baking M&M’s – I used the special baking kind because they hold the color of the M&M’s better
THE FLAVOR POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!
One of the best parts of these oat bars is that they are so versatile! You can easily switch up the flavor combos to create a totally different flavor profile. You will never get bored! Here are some of my favorites ideas:
- Peanut Butter Cookie: PEScience Peanut Butter Cookie + butter extract + Reese’s chips
- Strawberry Cheesecake Oats: PEScience Strawberry Cheesecake protein powder + butter extract + dried strawberries and cheesecake chunks
- Birthday Cake Oats: PEScience Cake Pop protein powder + cake batter extract + sprinkles + white chocolate chips
- Strawberries & Cream Oats: PEScience or Vanilla or Strawberry Cheesecake protein powder + strawberry extract + dried strawberries + white chocolate chips
- Banana Nut Bread: PEScience Vanilla + banana and butter extract + sliced bananas and nuts
- Peanut Butter Chocolate: PEScience Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup + chocolate or butter extract + mini Reese’s or chocolate + PB chips
CAN THESE BE FROZEN?
YES! I love keeping some stored in the freezer for when I am in need of a soft baked oat treat! They hold up amazing when frozen and will stay good for 6 months.
TO FREEZE: Cut oats into bars and wrap the bars individually in wax paper, parchment paper or aluminum foil. Store in a freezer-safe ziplock bag and freeze up to 6 months.
WANT TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?
If you try these M&M protein oat bars and love them, please rate this recipe!
You can also tag me on Instagram, @LaurenFitFoodie. It makes my day seeing your yummy recreations!
Mini M&M Protein Oat Bars
These oat bars are out of this world delicious! Soft baked oats with a hint of spice and sweet chocolate crunchy M&M's in each bite. Low in fat and packed with protein, these bars are perfect for breakfast, dessert or snack!
Ingredients
- 2 scoops protein powder (62g) - I used Pescience snickerdoodle
- 2 cups oat flour (240g)
- 1-2 tbsp zero-calorie granulated sweetener - I used Splenda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Dash of salt
- 1 can pumpkin (425g)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce (122g)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup egg whites (120g)
- ¼ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (60 mL)
- 2 tbsp mini baking M&M's (28g)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients (except M&M's) together until completely mixed. If you need to make your own oat powder, do this part in the blender first.
- In a larger bowl, using a hand mixer or blender, blend egg whites for 10 seconds. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Blend until completely combined.
- Add the whole mixture into the baking dish and spread out evenly. Sprinkle with M&M's.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Notes
MFP ENTRY
Lauren Fit Foodie M&M Oat Bars
STROAGE
Keep stored in an air tight container in the fridge.
M&M OAT BARS IN COOKBOOK
Servings listed under this recipe in my All Things Sweet Cookbook are 16, but I have since updated the number of servings to 12. You can now log by the number of grams of the M&M oat bar, so this should not be an issue!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 bar (97g)Amount Per Serving: Calories: 133Total Fat: 2.5gSodium: 65mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 3.1gSugar: 3.7gProtein: 8.4g
If you love monster cookies, this recipe it for you! Love the crunch of the m and ms on top!
Yes, that crunch is my favorite part! 😀
Made these for the first time the other day and absolutely loved them! I’m a big fan of anything pumpkin and chocolate and these did not disappoint. Love all of your recipes and hope to make more soon 🙂
You and me both!! Pumpkin and chocolate are such an awesome pairing 😛
Made these last week, and I’m obsessed! Definitely my new nightly dessert 😍
Every recipe I’ve tried has been incredible. But these, these are insanely delicious! Thank you for sharing such tasty macro friendly recipes.
If I wanted to omit the pumpkin would they still turn out okay? Should I add something in its place?
They won’t be as voluminous or as moist if you omit. I would replace with unsweetened applesauce, and if you don’t have that I’d try nonfat Greek yogurt!
I’m obsessed with these and the protein skillet cookies during my current prep! They really help curb my cravings when they hit! Thank you!!!!!
Book marked these to try!!
Definitely need to try these!! Do you know how they work with other types of protein powders?? M&M’s are my favorite so this is a must make for me!!
I wonder how quest makes theirs….
I’m going to make these tonight, they look so good!
I made these on Sunday so that I could curb my sweet tooth during the holiday season and they definitely do the trick. The M&Ms are a great addition not only due to their taste, but also the colors! Thank you for sharing this with us.
When I first saw this on ig i was super intrigued by it because i love m&ms 😍 and it’s so aesthetically pleasing too. I have all the ingredients except the oat flour, do you make that yourself or buy it done for you?
Definitely going to make these for my new year’s party next week! They look so good and a lot more macro friendly than other bars 🙂
Will defiantly be trying this!!! Love all of Laurens recipes I’ve already tried. YUM
Can’t wait to make these
I’m obsessed with these! So easy! All of Lauren’s recipes are amazing!
Just got protein powder for Christmas…making these first with it!
Going to act like I didn’t literally eat 7 of these bars yesterday… Christmas had me in a MOOOOOOD these are SO. DANG. GOOD. Making more for New Years.😍😍
Looking forward to trying these!! I’ve been ordering macro friendly brownies from an online company, but would prefer to make my own so I know the macros are exact and save myself some additional money! Since Christmas passed already, will look forward to getting valentine day M and M’s to use for the brownies instead!!
These bars are up next on my baking list! Keep meaning to make them because they look heavenly 😇
Question- can you do all pumpkin or all applesauce or do you recommend using both for the recipe?
Hi there! The Squad brought me here 😉
Question – where I live, canned pumpking isn’t a thing [woooo, southern hemisphere!]. Could I easily substitute with more applesauce, or with mashed banana, or even greek yoghurt, without adversely affecting the texture? I know that’s probably a really obvious question, but my options are limited in this country – even the Greek yoghurt here is kinda weird! And since we’re back down in lockdown again, I don’t want to potentially “waste” ingredients [I have no one to share them with!] if I make a mistake, so trying to get it right-ish first time. Thank you!