These sweet potato bars made with oats are an ideal healthy snack. Customize with dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips to suit your preference.
In October I discovered meal prep and it completely changed my weekly routine. I hadn’t been one to spend hours cooking on the weekend, but once I started tracking macros more closely, prepping food ahead of time made everything so much simpler.
After a few months I realized the key to sticking with meal prep wasn’t spending hours on full recipes — it was prepping ingredients. Roasting a tray of vegetables, cooking a couple of starches like rice or squash, and browning a pound or two of ground meat means quick meals during the week. I also wash fruit and greens and chop snack vegetables in advance. That little bit of preparation makes weekday meals effortless.
One baked item I do make weekly is a simple snack bar, like these sweet potato oat bars.
I keep a batch of bars in the fridge for afternoon snacks. They’re convenient for when that post-lunch slump hits or when I need a bite before an evening workout. These bars have a pleasing macro profile — around 4.5 g protein, just under 15 g carbohydrates, and 3.3 g fat per bar — so they’re a satisfying, relatively low-carb option compared with many snack bars.
How Do You Make Sweet Potato Bars?
The recipe is very simple and comes together quickly in a food processor. Add most of the ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth, fold in any mix-ins by hand, then bake in a prepared pan. It’s an easy, low-effort bake that’s perfect for meal prep.
These bars rely mainly on two ingredients: oat flour and cooked sweet potato. If you don’t have oat flour, make your own by processing rolled oats in a blender or food processor until they form a fine flour.
I often bake sweet potatoes when I’m already using the oven for other meal prep and freeze the cooked flesh in bags for later. Cooked sweet potato is versatile — it works in soups, stews, muffins, cookies, and bars — so keeping some on hand is handy. I do the same with overripe bananas, cooked carrots, and cooked lentils for quick use in baked goods and snacks.
What Can I Add To My Sweet Potato Bars?
The bars are flexible — dried fruit, nuts, coconut flakes, cacao nibs, or chocolate chips all work. I used dried cranberries in the photos for a festive touch, but raisins, dried cherries, or blueberries are great choices too. If you want more of a dessert-style bar, toss in chocolate chips. Keep add-in quantities similar to the recipe so texture stays consistent.
As an alternative to sweet potato, cooked carrots can be substituted to lower the carbs further. For reference, 100 g sweet potato has about 20 g carbohydrates while 100 g carrots contain roughly 10 g.
How Do I Store Sweet Potato Bars?
Store the bars at room temperature for a day, then keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. They also freeze well for one to two months. In my house they rarely last more than a few days.
More Sweet Potato Snacks:
Whole wheat sweet potato banana muffins
Sweet potato chocolate chip cookies
Sweet potato raisin bread
Other similar ideas: pumpkin apple olive oil muffins (you can swap pumpkin for sweet potato) and sweet potato and fig muffins.
Sweet Potato Oat Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked sweet potato, about 200g
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup oat flour* (see notes)
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 scoops / 1 serving whey protein powder**
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons flax seed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- Optional add-ins: 1/4 cup dried cranberries or other dried chopped fruit, chopped nuts, coconut flakes, or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Add all ingredients to a food processor in the order listed, except any add-ins.
- Process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Stir in add-ins by hand with a spatula if using.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly and smoothing the top.
- Bake for 22–25 minutes, until the center is set.
- Remove from the oven and lift the bake out of the dish using the parchment overhang. Cool completely on a rack, then cut into 12 bars.
Notes
*To make oat flour at home, process rolled oats in a blender or food processor until fine.
**I used a collagen whey in the photos and have also used flavored whey for extra cinnamon notes; use one serving of your preferred whey protein powder.
Macros per plain bar (no add-ins): 4.5 g Protein | 14.8 g Carbohydrates | 3.3 g Fat
Macros per bar with 1/4 cup dried cranberries: 4.5 g Protein | 17.4 g Carbohydrates | 3.3 g Fat
Calories: 186 kcal
Carbohydrates: 24 g
Protein: 8 g
Fat: 7 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sugar: 10 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.