When life hands you overripe bananas, bake up some Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars with Peanut Butter Oat Streusel. Whew, that’s a mouthful! A delicious, chewy, chocolatey mouthful.
No Such Thing as a Bad Banana
I cannot even look at these photos without my mouth watering. Friends, these banana bread bars are everything. They’re sweet, chewy, dense, and y’all, I’m not even over here pretending they are a healthier version of anything 😂. Made with butter, brown sugar, and lots and lots of love, they disappear as fast as you can serve them up.
It all began one morning with a bunch of very ripe bananas. Never one to let a squishy banana go to waste, I decided to whip up something new. Something dreamy. And these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars with a Peanut Butter Oat Streusel are a dream come true!
First, a quick tip! People ask me all the time how they’ll know if a banana is ripe enough for baking. Do your bananas look gross? Like, really gross? Then they’re ready! The more ripe a banana, the sweeter the batter. In a pinch, you can ‘ripen’ bananas in your oven. Simply place them on a baking sheet and then bake for 30 minutes or so in a 300°F oven. Keep in mind, though, that oven-ripened bananas don’t quite have the same sweetness to them.
Banana Bread Bar Batter (Say THAT Three Times Fast!)
To make the batter, first, cream the butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer until light and fluffy. Next, add your eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, beat in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the oats, baking powder, and baking soda. Next, add the oat mixture to the ingredients in the stand mixer and beat on low to medium speed until well combined. Finally, fold in the mashed banana and then 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Streusel, Bake, Eat
To make the streusel, first stir the peanut butter, brown sugar, and oats together in a small bowl with a fork until crumbly. Next, gently mix in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. After spreading the bread batter evenly into a prepared baking pan, sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter. There you have it!
Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
I admit that waiting for these beauties to bake requires a lot of patience. And letting them cool for 15 minutes feels like a Herculean task. But I promise they’re worth the wait!
Finally, once cooled at least 15 minutes, cut the bread into bars and enjoy a bit of chewy chocolatey heaven. Supposedly, this recipe makes 24 servings, but I’ll let y’all be the judge of that.
Serve and enjoy! Your crew will devour these treats before you can say, “Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars with a Peanut Butter Oat Streusel!”
Craving some more sweet banana inspiration? Try this Classic Banana Bread or one of my flourless banana bread recipes which are all easily made in the blender with minimal ingredients. You’d never believe they don’t have any flour, butter, oil or granulated sugar in them.
I hope you and your loved ones enjoy these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars as much as we do. When you make them, be sure to snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see! 
I just love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the recipes and ideas I share.
xoxo,
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars with a Peanut Butter Oat Streusel
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24 bars
Description
When life hands you overripe bananas, bake up some Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars with a Peanut Butter Oat Streusel. Whew, that’s a mouthful! A delicious, chewy, chocolatey mouthful.
Ingredients
BREAD BATTER:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups quick-cooking oats
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 medium ripe bananas)
- 1 cup chocolate chips
STREUSEL:
- 1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9″ x 13″ x 2″ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
- To make the bread batter: in the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the oats, baking powder and baking soda. Add the oat mixture to the ingredients in the stand mixer and beat on low to medium speed until well combined. Fold in the mashed banana and then 1 cup chocolate chips.
- Make the streusel: in a small bowl, stir the peanut butter, brown sugar and oats together with a fork until crumbly. Gently stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
- Spread the bread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan before cutting into bars.
Notes
In this recipe, peanut butter can be substituted with almond butter or cookie butter.
It looks very very yummy….mine is in the oven now. In the directions it said to combine flour with soda and baking powder, but flour is not listed in ingredients. I also suspect it is one half cup in batter and one half cup in strudel. Not knowing about the flour I added a little (about a cup). I will know in about one hour how it comes out.
Oh my goodness, you are so right! I adapted the recipe from another banana bread recipe that used flour. Thank you so much for catching this. There’s no flour in the bars – I meant to put oats in its place. I am curious to hear how your bars turn out!
Could you substitute old fashion oats instead of quick cooking oats?
Hi Jenel! Yes, but the texture will be a bit chewier and might take a little longer to bake. I like using quick cooking oats for this recipe because they bake with a more uniform texture that is bread-like. The old-fashioned oats will give you more of a chewy granola bar texture. You can use a food processor or blender to pulse the old-fashioned oats a few times to give them the texture of quick cooking oats. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
Thank you so much!
This recipe made my kitchen smell like peanut butter Heaven! The inside of the bars are super gooey and moist (I think because of the bananas), and the peanut butter is soo creamy 😋. I was thinking maybe I could put some coconut in the streusel for some extra chew/flavor but maybe I’ll try that next time:)
★★★★★
Can you sub something or leave out the bananas?
Hi there! You can always sub pumpkin puree for the banana, if you choose. Enjoy!