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Healthy 3 ingredient banana flax bars that taste like banana blondies! They are vegan, oil-free, grain-free, added sugar-free, and only 87 calories each.
A Healthy Breakfast, Snack or Dessert in One Easy Bar
Some things are destiny.
For example, these bars (soon) topping your list of favorite recipes!
If I could have, I would have performed a back flip when they emerged from the oven, and several more when I tasted them. They are the perfect trifecta of delicious, easy, and nutritious.
They are my latest creation, 3-Ingredient Banana Flax Bars.
Recipe Benefits
The flavor and texture of the bars is akin to a banana blondie, perfect for satisfying a sweet tooth. But they are so packed with natural goodness, you can happily eat one, two, or even three (depending on the extent of your morning activities and hunger level) for breakfast.
Kids and (at least one) picky teen(s) love them, too. Major score.
They are all of the following, yet so much more:
- Vegan
- Oil-free
- Paleo
- Grain-free
- Added sugar-free
- High in fiber
- Only 87 calories each
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
To make the bars, you need nothing more than the following:
- Very ripe bananas (very soft and squishy with lots of black spots on the peel)
- Smooth nut butter or seed butter (e.g., peanut butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter)
- Flaxseed meal
If the nut butter you choose is minimally salted, or not at all salted, you can also add a bit of salt.
Step by Step Instructions
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Step One: Preheat Oven & Prep Baking Pan
Preheat the oven to 325F (160C). Line an 8-inch square baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper.
Step Two: Mix Everything in a Bowl
Mix everything in a medium bowl until blended, and then let the dough sit for about 5 minutes. This gives the flaxseed meal a chance to absorb some of the liquid from the mashed bananas and thicken.
Step Three: Spread in Pan
Spread the dough into the prepared baking pan, The bars are somewhat soft after baking; the parchment paper overhang makes it easier to remove them from the pan.
The dough is quite thick and somewhat springy, so I use my fingertips to help smooth the top and nudge the dough into the corners. Bonus: licking my finger afterwards.
Step 4: Bake
Bake the bars in the preheated, 325F oven for 16 to 19 minutes until the surface appears dry and the center feels firm to the touch.
Set the pan on a wire rack and cool completely before using the overhang to lift the bars out and transfer to a cutting board.
I cut 16 squares, but you can go with bar shapes, bigger squares, or, if you are geometry whiz, isosceles triangles, trapezoids, and more :).
These are perfectly sweet bites of yum.
If you like, turn perfect into plus-perfect with a drizzle of dark chocolate.
Happy baking! Oh, and if you like these bars, I know you will also love my 2-Ingredient Vegan Banana Bars. They are also oil-free and gluten-free (made with oats).
FAQ
- How should I store the 3 ingredient banana flax bars? Store the cooled bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer.
- Can I pack the bars in an unrefrigerated lunch bag? Yes! The bars will keep, unrefrigerated, while transporting during the day (e.g., for lunch, picnics, hiking) but are best stored in the refrigerator due to their high fat content (they are soft at room temperature, firm when refrigerated).
- Can I add other ingredients and flavors to the bars? Yes! Consider adding
- extracts (up to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, almond extract or orange extract)
- finely grated citrus zest (e.g., lemon zest, lime zest, orange zest)
- spices (e.g., up to 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, or allspice, or an 1/8 tsp of nutmeg or cloves
- chopped seeds or nuts (up to 1/2 cup finely chopped raw or toasted nuts and/or seeds, such as pecans, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, green pumpkin seeds (pepitas), or sunflower seed kernels
- chopped dried fruit (up to 1/2 cup of raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, prunes, figs, dates, dried blueberries or dried cherries)
- chocolate chips (up to 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, miniature chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate)
- cacao nibs (up to 1/2 cup cacao nibs)
Chocolate Drizzle Tip: I usually add a wee dab of coconut oil to the chocolate chips when I melt them. It makes it easy to drizzle a tiny bit of chocolate over multiple bars!
More Flaxseed Baked Goods
- Almond Flour Flax Biscuits
- 2-Ingredient Flax Sandwich Bread
- Oat Flax Skillet Bread
- 100% Flax Breakfast Cookies
- 100% Flax Chocolate Cookies
- 4-Ingredient Vegan Flax Muffins
- 2-Ingredient Quinoa Flax Bread
- 2-Ingredient Lentil Flax Bread
- White Bean Flax Biscuits
3 Ingredient Banana Flax Bars
Equipment
- 1 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed, very ripe bananas
- 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, (or any other smooth nut butter or seed butter)
- 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
- Optional: fine sea salt, to taste
- Optional: 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on opposite sides (for easy removal).
- In a medium bowl, stir together the banana, nut butter and flaxseed meal until completely blended and smooth. Taste the batter; add a pinch of salt, if needed. Let stand for 5 minutes. Spoon and spread into prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 16 to 19 minutes until top appears dry and the center is firm to the touch.
- Cool completely in pan set on a wire cooling rack. Use paper overhand to remove bars to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares or bars.
- If desired, drizzle bars with melted chocolate. Place in refrigerator to set the chocolate.
Notes
Nutrition
Love this recipe! But the recipe only made enough for like 3-4 bars, and I put the batter into a bread pan because there was so little batter. Next time, will double the recipe.
These tasted great!!! So easy to make, too.
I am so glad you like the bars, Sharon!
These are yummy! They turned out somewhat oily but I think that was due to my almond butter being pretty soft. Once I refrigerated them, they firmed up.
I’m so glad you like the, QZ!
Hi, l would love to make these. They sound delicious, but I’m wondering if using Tahini instead of the nut/seed butters listed would work? Thank you in advance. 🙂
Hi Jo! Yes, you can definitely use tahini (yum 😊). Enjoy!
Are they supposed to be like a not fully baked cookie. Mine are tacky and I followed the recipe. I even cooked longer cuz to me it seemed they weren’t ready
Hi Cheryl! They are supposed to be like blondies or fussy brownies in texture (fully baked, but soft and moist–not like crisp individual cookies). I hope that helps. If they were baked in a smaller pan (smaller than an 8×8-inch), they might be more gooey (because they will be thicker).
I made this today and loved it. I added 1/8 tsp of my Osmo pumpkin spice sea salt, 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, and topped it with cinnamon after baking. I’d make these again for sure, but I will use a loaf pan. Even an 8×8 was too big for the amount of batter this made.
I am so glad that you liked the recipe, Brigitte!
Made with “milled golden roasted flax” and was absolutely not a fan. Between the flax and the nut butter they were so greasy they soaked through the paper and never did firm up.
Clearly others have had better luck so leaving a comment to warn of that type of flax. It smelled really strong too.
Thanks for the tip, Melinda. I have not heard of that type of flax before. When made with regular flaxseed meal (I typically use golden flax seed meal in this recipe), they are not greasy at all, so that must be a function of the roasted meal for some reason.
Holy sh…..t this is tasty af. I added raisins, choc chips and cinnamon. Just wow.
Love these bars! I added walnuts, but kept everything else the same. Super yummy and filling. Great snack and great breakfast. So easy and quick to make and great use of old bananas. Thank you!
Yippee! It *the recipe) is an oldie but a goodie, so glad you like it!
OMG!!!! I just mades these this morning. I have NEVER posted comments about a recipe, but I am so impressed with this recipe I absolutely must. These were SO EASY and SO YUMMY! I like stuff sweet, and I did not even get the chocolate on these even though i love chocolate. I’m sure its a wonderful add on but these are amazing all on their own. I added a little vanilla and 1-2 tsp of swerve, because I love sweet stuff.
I also love GF treats and healthy things. If you are like me, and you’ve tried a number of GF recipes, you know that some of them are not so great.
This recipe is amazing, and if you are reading my comments – just go make this NOW! You will be glad you did.
I now can’t wait to try more recipes from this site. Thank you Camilla!
Yay! So glad these were so yummy , Melanie! I am with you, always exciting to find a recipe you love that is also a cinch. So happy my humble recipe fits the bill 🙂
You are brilliant! This recipe is so wonderful! Per your suggestion, I added nuts, cinnamon, and vanilla- it’s just like banana bread! The only problem is I am probably going to devour the whole pan in 2 days. Thank you for a great recipe!
Yum!! Perfect with coffee or tea! Tastes a lot like banana bread.
Whoohoo! I am right with you Victoria, I love having a healthy sweet to accompany my coffee or tea 🙂
Can you use egg instead of nut butter?
Hi C,
You could play around with recipe, I’m sure you could tweak it to work. But in general, I would not recommend an egg as a direct replacement for nut butter (especially in such a minimalist recipe) without some tweaking/trial runs.
These are very very delicious, especially with some dark chocolate drizzle. They did make me poop a lot the next morning though.
I made these, and I must say that for being such a simple recipe, it’s VERY good! Thank you for this!
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed them, Rose!