063 / 75 · Smaller Meals and Sweet Finishes
Peanut Date Oat Bars with Skyr Dip
8 baked bars and about 2 cups dip; 2 bars plus one-quarter of dip per serving · Active 20 min · Cook 25 min · Total 1 hr 15 min
Print recipe · PDFChopped dates and mashed banana hold these baked oat bars together, with peanut butter providing a distinct roasted flavor. The cool skyr dip is a separate part of the serving, not an icing baked into the pan. Cut the batch into eight rectangles and serve two with a quarter of the dip. That makes the portions clear while letting the bars travel without becoming coated in dairy.
Chop dates before they meet the oats
Soft pitted dates should be chopped to pieces about the size of a pea. Large sticky clumps leave one bite intensely sweet and another quite plain, and they make a bar more likely to split at the cut edge. A lightly dampened knife helps with very sticky fruit. Remove any hard stem caps and check for an occasional remaining stone before weighing. If your dates are extremely dry, choose a softer batch rather than adding an unmeasured splash of water to the mixture.
Press gently, then give the slab time
The oat mixture should be thick and spreadable, with no pool of milk underneath it. Scrape it into the lined pan and press into an even layer with the back of a spoon. Corners that are much thinner than the center tend to become brittle. Baking sets the egg and hydrates the oats; the cooling period then makes a cleaner cut possible. This is a soft, chewy breakfast-style bar rather than a crisp granola bar, so allow the stated thirty minutes before lifting it out.
Pack the dip for where you will eat
Plain skyr gives a thick contrast to the sweet fruit without needing extra sweetener. Lemon juice loosens it just enough for dipping. Divide it into four small lidded containers while the slab cools, then refrigerate them. For a bag taken to training or work, the dip needs cold sources even when the bars seem sturdy. If you only want a bar on one occasion, keep the dip for another meal and remember that the displayed nutrition estimate describes two bars and dip together.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (180 g)
- About 6 tablespoons plus 3/4 teaspoon smooth peanut butter, unsweetened (100 g)
- 4.2 oz soft pitted dates, finely chopped (120 g)
- 1 medium ripe banana, peeled and mashed (120 g)
- 1/2 cup 2% milk (120 ml/120 g)
- 1 large egg, without shell (50 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (4 g)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (2 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g)
- 2 cups plain nonfat skyr (500 g)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (15 ml/15 g)
Set out
8-inch/20 cm square metal baking pan, Baking parchment, Mixing bowl, Fork, Knife and cutting board, Four small lidded dip containers, Instant-read food thermometer
Allergens
Peanut, Milk, Egg, Tree nuts (almond-butter variation), Check oat and nut/seed-butter labels for cross-contact when relevant.. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Line the pan with parchment, leaving handles on two sides.
- Mash the banana in the bowl, then beat in peanut butter, milk and egg until combined. Stir in dates. Add oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and mix until all oats are moistened.
- Spread in the lined pan in an even layer about 3/4 inch/2 cm deep, pressing gently into the corners. Bake for 22–25 minutes until the center is firm rather than wet, the edges are lightly golden and the center reaches at least 160°F/71°C for the egg mixture.
- Leave in the pan for 30 minutes. While it cools, stir lemon juice into the skyr, divide into four containers and refrigerate.
- Lift the slab out using the parchment. Cut once down the middle, then across into four rows to make 8 equal rectangular bars. Serve 2 bars with one-quarter of the dip.
Before the week becomes crowded
Wrap the eight bars as four pairs after cooling. Keep the dip in separate containers so a portion can be packed without handling the whole slab. Use the base portion as a clear reference, rather than assuming every training day calls for the same amount.
A useful detail
Use rolled oats, not steel-cut oats. Stir a separated natural peanut butter thoroughly before measuring so the bars receive a consistent mixture of peanut solids and oil.
Another way
- Use smooth almond butter instead of peanut butter, changing the nut allergen from peanut to almond.
- Replace the dates with the same weight of finely chopped soft dried apricots for a sharper fruit flavor.
Keep it well
Refrigerate bars and dip separately at 40°F/4°C or below for up to 3 days. Freeze the bars, separated by parchment, for up to 1 month and thaw in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the skyr dip. Carry both chilled in an insulated bag with two cold sources.