Weight Watchers Recipe of the Day: Oprah's Healthy Apricot Oat Bars
I love oat-based baked goods, so these Healthy Apricot Oat Bars seemed too good to pass up when they appeared in my Facebook feed.
WW Friendly Apricot Oat Bars
Up until now, my go-to recipe for Apricot Oat Bars has been a variation of this old-fashioned Date Bars recipe from my Nana's recipe file, where I substitute a layer of apricot jam or fruit spread for the date mixture.
Sweet, crumbly and delicious, they're always a big hit whenever I make them.
Skinny on Oprah's Healthy Apricot Oat Bars
This recipe for healthy apricot oat bars from Oprah.com seems a better choice for Weight Watchers following SmartPoints since it has less butter and sugar.
And it's easier too, with just a few basic ingredients stirred together in a single bowl, then baked and cut into bars.
What's not to love?
How Many Calories and WW Points in these Oat Bars?
According to my calculations, each bar has a reasonable 145 calories and:
6 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
6 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
5 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
Recipe Variations
no dried apricots - try other favorite dried fruit: raisins, dried cranberries, pineapple, cherries, blueberries, plums, alone or in combination
vegan - substitute coconut oil for the butter
more protein - substitute ¼ cup PB2 (affiliate link) powdered peanut butter (affiliate link), or ground nuts, for ¼ cup of the all-purpose flour
Find More Weight Watchers Friendly Fruit Bar Recipes
Here's a video demonstration that shows how to make a similar recipe for apricot and date oat energy bars:
If you like Oprah's healthy apricot oat bars, be sure to check out more easy, healthy Weight Watchers friendly recipes including Low Fat Cranberry Bars, Nigella's Breakfast Bars, Weight Watchers Skinny Apricot Poppy Seed Quick Bread, Low Fat Banana Bread with Dates and Apricots and Banana Oatmeal Cookies
If you've made this Apricot Oat Bars, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Oprah's Healthy Apricot Oat Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1-½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup applesauce
- 1-½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (about 28) dried apricots, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. For easy cleanup, line an 8-inch baking pan (affiliate link) with foil. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, the oats, brown sugar, salt and nutmeg until well combined with no big clumps of brown sugar remaining. Stir in the melted butter, applesauce and vanilla until blended. Gently stir in the apricots.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan, pressing it flat with the back of a spoon or spatula.
- Bake for about 25 to 35 minutes, until golden.
- Remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then lift the slab of bars out with the foil out and let the bars cool completely on the wire rack.
- Transfer the foil and bars to a cutting board (affiliate link) and use a large knife to cut into 16 even squares.
Recipe Notes
- no dried apricots - try other favorite dried fruit: raisins, dried cranberries, pineapple, cherries, blueberries, plums, alone or in combination
- vegan - substitute coconut oil for the butter
- more protein - substitute ¼ cup PB2 (affiliate link) powdered peanut butter (affiliate link), or ground nuts, for ¼ cup of the all-purpose flour
Source: Oprah
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
This video from The New York Times shows how to make no-bake almond-apricot granola bars:
More Lightened Up Bar Recipes for Weight Watchers
- Homemade KIND Bars (EatYourselfSkinny)
- Low_Fat Chewy Granola Bars (SkinnyTaste)
- Homemade Fruit & Nut Bars (SlenderKitchen)
- Peanut Butter Power Bars (LaaLoosh)
- WW No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars (RecipeDiaries)
- No-Bake Almond Butter Granola Bars (EatYourselfSkinny)
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Cynthia
great!
Karen A Unterseher
The only reason it's not a 5 star recipe is... sugar! It would be wonderful if you would find a way to substitute Stevia for the sugar. I can play around with the recipe and make it work. But it should benefit everyone if you could publish a recipe using Stevia vs sugar. Thank you ?