Thank you to Now Real Food® for sponsoring this Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Bars recipe post, and thank YOU for supporting the brands that help make Meal Prep On Fleek possible. All opinions are our own.
These tangy-sweet lemon oat bars are a fiber-filled start to the day. Healthy fats from coconut oil and almond flour help keep you feeling satiated, and monk fruit sweetener keeps blood sugar from spiking. Pair with high-protein yogurt for a complete meal.
With the summer temps rolling around the country at record highs, the last thing we have wanted to do is eat a hot meal, especially in the morning! So instead, we have been opting for extra easy, cool meals like these Lemon Poppy See Oatmeal Bars. They are the perfect combination of sweet and tangy. They aren't overly sweet like a store-bought granola bar, but the glaze made with Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 Monk Fruit replacement adds a nice little kick!
There is just something about the soft, chewy texture of the bars with the cool glaze that does it for us! To make them a full meal, we recommend serving them with a side of fresh summer fruit and either Greek yogurt (if not vegan) or a coconut-based yogurt. If you're buying plain yogurt and want to sweeten it up a bit, we like to add just a touch of the Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 Monk Fruit Sweetener. There is no such thing as "too much" of a good thing. 😉
We also know summertime may mean less meal prep for many of you. That's the great thing about these bars! They are perfect for packing in a cooler for a road trip, taking to the beach, or wrapping in foil and throwing them in your backpack for a hike. Taking them with us, hiking is actually one of our favorite things to do with them! The ratio of carbs (fiber) and healthy fats give us the right amount of energy to keep going without weighing us down.
I'm sure many of you are thinking, "well, if I grab a bag of the Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 Monk Fruit Sweetener," how else do I use it? That is an excellent question! We have quite a few other recipes on the site! For example, do you remember the Pecan Pie Bars, the Apple Cinnamon Muffins, and the Almond Butter Chicken? The bars and muffins are also great pack-n-go options!
But these aren't the only ways to use the 1:1 monk fruit replacement. You can add it to smoothies, homemade ice cream, oatmeal, yogurt bowls, etc. All perfect meal ideas for summertime. It's a low-carb, keto ingredient that can be added to any recipe in which you use sugar—bonus, not icky aftertaste like other sweeteners.
So, let the summer recipes begin -- starting with these Lemon Poppy See Oatmeal Bars!
Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Bars Ingredients:
For Bars
- ¼ cup hot water
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
- ¾ cup blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 Monk Fruit Sweetener
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
For Glaze
- ¼ cup Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 monk fruit sweetener
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon corn starch
For Serving
- 1 cup cubed watermelon
- 1 cup cubed cantaloupe
- 1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt (use coconut milk yogurt for vegan)
Ingredients
For Bars
- ¼ cup hot water
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
- ¾ cup blanched almond flour
- ¼ cup Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 Monk Fruit Sweetener
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
For Glaze
- ¼ cup Now Real Food® Organic 1:1 Monk Fruit Sweetener
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon corn starch
For Serving
- 1 cup cubed watermelon
- 1 cup cubed cantaloupe
- 1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt use coconut milk yogurt for vegan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Whisk together water, lemon juice, coconut oil and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add oats, almond flour, monk fruit sweetener, lemon zest, poppy seeds and sea salt. Stir until well moistened.
- Pour mixture into pan and press to form to pan. Bake for 20 minutes, until edges are golden. Cool bars in pan at room temperature completely, about 1 hour.
- While bars cool, heat unsweetened almond milk, lemon juice and monk fruit sweetener over low heat in a saucepan. Whisk regularly until sweetener has dissolved, 2-3 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch and continue to cook 1-2 minutes longer until slightly thickened. Pour mixture into a small bowl and cool for 10 minutes.
- Invert baking pan with lemon poppy seed bars onto a cutting board. Slice into 8 bars and drizzle with glaze. Allow glaze to set for 10 minutes in a dry spot.
- Add 2 lemon poppy seed oat bars to large compartments of 4 white meal prep containers. Add Greek yogurt to 4 small compartments and divide watermelon and cantaloupe between remaining small compartments.
