apple, blueberry & cinnamon breakfast bars

This is the autumn remix of one of my most popular recipes. My Blueberry & Raspberry Breakfast Bars have gone down so well that I gave them a seasonal tweak, swapping the raspberries for apple and cinnamon.

They’re soft, slightly chewy, and easy to make ahead, so there’s a healthy breakfast ready in the fridge for busy mornings.

Why they’re a good way to start the day

A nutritious breakfast is a good start for anyone. It can be especially helpful during perimenopause and menopause, when many women find it harder to balance energy, appetite and weight. These bars give you:

• A balanced mix: fibre, healthy fats and protein, which together can help keep blood glucose more balanced than a breakfast that’s mostly sugar.

• Magnesium: this contributes to a reduction in tiredness and fatigue, and to normal bone and muscle function.

• Six plants in one bar: oats, banana, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, blueberries, and apple. All of these count towards the 30 different plants a week I often suggest to support gut health.

How to serve them

Each bar has around 10g protein on its own. To boost the protein, serve one warm with a generous dollop of Greek yoghurt. Around 150g of a high-protein yoghurt takes it to roughly 25g of protein. Try Fage, Yeo Valley Greek Recipe or Coconut Collab’s vegan protein yogurt.

Top with toasted nuts, seeds (hemp seeds are especially good) or a drizzle of nut butter for a little more protein, fibre and healthy fats. Finish with extra berries, apple slices or a sprinkle of cacao nibs.

Ingredients

Makes 6 bars

• 300g ripe banana (peeled weight)

• 160g rolled oats

• 50g toasted pumpkin (or sunflower) seeds* (40g mixed in, 10g for the top)

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 75g peanut (or almond) butter

• 80ml plant milk

• 2 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)

• Pinch of salt

• 90g frozen blueberries (I like organic Pack’d)

• 75g peeled apple (about 1 small apple), cut into roughly ½cm dice

*Toast the seeds in a dry frying pan for around 6-8 minutes, tossing regularly.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. Line a 20 x 12cm baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, mash the banana until fairly smooth (some lumps are fine). Add the oats, 40g of the seeds, the cinnamon, baking powder, and salt, and mix well.

3. Stir in the nut butter, plant milk and honey.

4. Gently fold through the blueberries (from frozen) and the chopped apple.

5. Scrape the mixture into the dish, even out the top and scatter over the remaining 10g of seeds.

6. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden around the edges and set through the centre.

7. Cool completely before cutting into 6 bars. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

8. To serve warm, microwave for about 30-45 seconds.

raspberry & blueberry breakfast bars

Busy mornings are much easier with something ready in the fridge - no decisions, just grab and go. These Raspberry & Blueberry Breakfast Bars are made with oats, banana, peanut butter, berries, and pumpkin seeds, so they provide a healthy mix of fibre, protein, wholegrains, good fats, and plant nutrients in something easy to take with you.

Each bar provides around 10g protein and 6.4g fibre. I usually suggest aiming for around 30g protein at each meal and 30g fibre across the day, so a bar on its own won't get you all the way there, but on a busy morning it can be a much better start than skipping breakfast altogether.

They're soft and slightly chewy, but firm enough to wrap up and take to work, school or eat on the go. If you're eating at home, they're delicious warmed through and served with Greek yoghurt, fruit compote, a few chopped almonds or other nuts, or both. For an extra protein boost, you could stir a scoop of protein powder into the yoghurt.

They also work well as an afternoon snack.

Fresh raspberries are lovely while they're in season, but you can experiment with other fruit like grated apple or pears, berries, nuts, seeds and nut butters depending on what you have.

Ingredients

Makes 6 bars

• 50g pumpkin seeds (40g mixed in, 10g for the top)

• 300g ripe banana

• 75g peanut butter

• 80ml plant or cow’s milk

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 160g rolled oats

• ½ tsp baking powder

• Pinch of salt

• 75g fresh raspberries

• 75g fresh blueberries

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan. Line a 20 × 12cm dish with baking parchment.

• First, toast the pumpkin seeds for around 5 minutes in a dry frying pan on a medium heat. Set aside to cool a little.

• In a large bowl, mash the banana until fairly smooth, then stir in the peanut butter, plant milk, honey and vanilla.

• Mix in the oats, 40g of the pumpkin seeds, the baking powder and the salt.

• Gently fold through the raspberries and blueberries.

• Scrape the mixture into the dish, smooth the top and scatter over the remaining 10g of pumpkin seeds.

• Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden around the edges and set through the centre.

• Cool completely before cutting into 6 bars.

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

• Approximate nutrition per bar: 306 kcal | 10g protein | 6.4g fibre

• Serving suggestion: high-protein Greek or coconut yoghurt, fruit compote, chopped nuts/seeds, cacao nibs, desiccated coconut, nut butter