6-ingredient Pistachio Oat Squares are a lightly sweet healthy snack, breakfast, or dessert! Easy to make, vegan, and gluten free.
I’m excited to share this recipe today – these Pistachio Oat Squares are SO delicious!
It’s spring which means that the best cookbooks are coming out now. You know the ones – they’re brimming with fresh healthy, veggie-ful recipes. This recipe is from Jessica Murnane’s book One Part Plant. If you’re not familiar with my blog pal Jessica, you should go listen to her podcast – she’s hosted all of your favorite food bloggers (including yours truly!) and other inspiring folks who are part of the plant-forward food community.
Her mission is simple – to inspire people to eat one plant-based meal a day. No judgement, no strings. Simple as that. The cookbook reflects her vision with accessible, easy to prepare, yet delicious recipes like these oat squares.
These are in the “snack” section of her book – Jessica noted that they’re a little too sweet for breakfast but not quite sweet enough for dessert. Well, um… I ate these for dessert and then again the next morning for breakfast – they’re addictive!
While these look so pretty with pistachios, I feel like this recipe would easily lend itself to the use of other nuts if you don’t happen to have pistachios on hand. These were so easy to make – go run to your kitchen now if you’re craving a lightly sweet, nutty, oaty snack!
This lasagna recipe is next on my to-make list – yum!
Oh, and go get her book!
If you’re looking for more oaty, nutty snacks, check out these homemade granola bars, these energy balls, or any of these 47 Best Healthy Snacks next!
Jessica's Pistachio Oat Squares
- 1 cup raw shelled pistachios
- 1 cup rolled oats*
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup, more for drizzling on top
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ⅓ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- additional handful of chopped pistachios for the topping
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. In a food processor with the S blade attached, process the pistachios, oats, and salt for about 30 seconds, until a meal starts to form. Drizzle in the maple syrup and olive oil while the motor is still running and the meal begins to come together into a crumbly, almost-wet dough.
- Press the dough evenly into the pan and cover it with coconut flakes and remaining pistachios. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the coconut is nice and golden brown and the dough is cooked through. You want the squares to still be a little soft - don't overbake these.
- Carefully lift the cooled dough out of the pan by holding two sides of the parchment paper. Cut it into squares. Drizzle a little maple syrup over the top for extra sweetness, if you like. Store the squares in a sealed container for up to a week.
I made these as a snack and they were really delicious!! I subbed honey for the maple syrup and then added cinnamon and a smidge of vanilla and they tasted like baklava. I’ll definitely be making these again!
I followed the recipe almost, as I used tahini and honey in place of the maple syrup and baked longer, but it is not coming together very well and is crumbly like granola. Is there any way I can make it into bars? I pulsed it in the food processor as well so it is in small crumbs. Thank you!
Im gonna try this with honey instead of maple syrup (just not a fan of syrup at all) and im pretty excited for this to be a nice breakfast with almonds instead of pistachios!
Yummy. I replaced the olive oil with cashew butter. Added a bit of extra coconut sugar. Topped with craisins and chopped pistachios. (I’m not a fan of coconut.) Will make again.
I made these last night and they were so good! Loved them and will definitely be making them again. Thanks for sharing!
Yummy but the coconut and extra pistachios did not adhere to the top, even though I pressed it all down. The result was a bit of a mess.
I made these but I added 2 more tablespoons of coconut sugar and another of maple syrup as they were no where sweet enough. I also added a half cup of vegan chocolate chips melted over the top with Christmas sprinkles. These were loved by everyone!
Is it 1 cup of shelled pistachios, then unshelled for the recipe? Or was it 1 cup UNshelled?
Hi Trish, it’s 1 cup without the shells.
Can you make ahead and freeze?
I think that would work!
Hi, I’m a little confused because the picture above shows in the food processor but they’re not in the recipe
Infant step one “in a food processor…”
Yeah her pic shows walnuts in the food processor. There was not enough to fill an 8×8 pan. What a sticky waste.
Love it. Just right amount of sweetness. I made it 2x to fit my 7” x 7” pan. But baked in 25mins for the coconut flakes to be toasted.
Was so easy to make and was more flavorful and delicious than I expected. Luckily I didn’t eat the whole pan in one sitting.
Hi Holly, I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
This recipe is awesome, I’ve made this so many times now. Everyone loves it. Have had to send it on to friends numerous times.
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed!
I’ve just made these- they are divine! Can I ask the best way to store them and how long they stay fresh for?
Hi Courtney, these are best stored at room temp and I’d say they’re best to eat within 3 or so days.
These are delicious. I’ve made them a couple of times. If you want to play with variations, it seems like you can use almost any UNSALTED nut. I’ve tried almonds and an almond/walnut combo. Both were great. I’ve also substituted unsweetened oatmeal packs that had other seeds/additions in place of plain oats, which was also fun. When it comes to the thickness — think ‘granola bar’ more than ‘cookie.’ They are thin and have a delightful, sweet taste.
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them!
I made these using peanuts instead of
pistachios. They are delicious and so easy to make. Maple syrup is not easily available in our region.
Honey ideally should not be heated according to dietitians.
What are the other options that can be used?
Maybe agave? Or date syrup (which you can easily make at home!)?
Is this using the imperial system? I used the metric system and did not have enough mixture to fill the pan, so I transferred it to a small bread pan which worked well. The flavour was great and I’ll make it again once I understand the measurements.
Loved this recipe! I subbed the coconut flakes for soya flakes (mixed in + not on top) to make them higher in protein + great as protein snack bars now!! The soya flakes dried them out to more of a biscuit, but you could add water/extra syrup if you wanted to get round this! Now part of my regular breakfast bakes!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I have made many batches of these and have found that they can also be made with walnuts in place of pistachios. Very healthy and DELICIOUS! I add about 1 tsp of powdered ginger for just a bit more zing. Everyone loves them. I share this recipe often.
For me these are dangerously addictive!
I didn’t have pistachios so I used half almonds, half pecans (all raw), and half a ripe small banana, only half the olive oil.
I will be making these weekly! Thank you for a delicious recipe.
I’m so glad you loved them!