Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Published 4/26/2021
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These Strawberry Oatmeal Bars are your summer dessert dreams come true! With an easy-to-make crust and crumble topping, and a filling made of sliced fresh strawberries reduced to perfection, these oatmeal bars are one of our favorite healthy strawberry recipes.
From lemon blueberry crumble bars to gluten-free lemon bars to coconut key lime pie bars (oh, and who can forget the triple berry crumble bars!), look no further than Fit Foodie Finds for your go-to desserts of the season.
Favorite Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Calling all summertime dessert lovers! We are here with the most delicious Strawberry Oatmeal Bars that are going to make you swoon.
why you’ll love these
These strawberry oatmeal bars come complete with the perfect sweetness crust and crumble topping, and a not-too-sweet jammy strawberry filling (made with fresh strawbs!).
Does it get any better?! Welp, kind of, because we’re also going to walk you through this bad boy step-by-step so you can leave with your very own batch of what we’re officially dubbing the dessert of the summer!
The Perfect Crust
Before we send you off to the recipe instructions for these strawberry oatmeal bars, can we just take a second to fully appreciate how great it is when you get the absolute perfect crust for dessert bars?!
Seriously, this crust is the most delightful combination of oats, almond flour, and natural sweeteners like vanilla extract and 100% maple syrup.
Plus, you’ll mix up the ingredients for the crust and crumble topping all at once (yes, in ONE bowl!), eliminating that annoying step you typically have to take with multi-layer bars. #swoon
Here’s What You Need
- Almond meal
- Rolled oats
- Almond milk
- Coconut oil
- Maple Syrup
- Vanilla extract
- Coconut sugar
How to Make Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Don’t let these 10 steps scare you, we’ll walk you through how to make these strawberry oatmeal bars to perfection, so you can bring them to your next get together or serve as a fruity treat at home! Let’s get into it:
Step 1: Preheat and Pan Prep
First, preheat oven to 350ºF and line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside. We love lining our baking pans with parchment paper when making bars for a couple reasons — it’s SO much easier to take them out and slice, and you never have to “wreck” the first bar out of the pan when you shove a spatula underneath it 😀
Step 2: Make Crust and Crumble
Next, create your crust and crumble. Mix all crumble ingredients together (minus the coconut sugar, you’ll add this later).
You’re going to want to make sure that the coconut oil is slightly melted, but not liquid. You do this so the dough is more of a crumble, but can still be pressed together into a crust.
Step 3: Press Crust and Finish Crumble
Then, take 2/3 of the mixture and press it evenly onto the bottom of your pan. Set the rest of the crumble mixture aside and add 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar, and then mix together. This deliciousness is what you will use for the crumble topping.
Step 4: Bake Crust
Bake crust at 350ºF for 10 minutes. Then, remove the crust from the oven and set aside to let cool.
Step 5: Prep and Reduce Strawberries
Next, place all ingredients (except for the tapioca flour) for the strawberry filling into a medium saucepan or cast iron skillet. Turn heat to medium/high and bring the filling to a boil, stirring often and breaking up the strawberries.
Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. Don’t skimp on this! It’s important to break down the strawberries or your bars will be too wet when they’re done.
Continue stirring throughout the 20 minutes as it will help break down the strawberries evenly and prevent burning.
Step 6: Thicken Strawberry Filling
Once the filling has cooked for 20 minutes and has become darker in color (almost a dark jam color!), add in 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour and stir until there are no more tapioca flour clumps and the strawberry filling has thickened.
You’ll notice a distinct change in the texture after the tapioca flour has a chance to absorb into your strawberry filling mixture. It will be almost sticky and gooey when it’s ready to go!
Step 7: Pour Filling and Add Crumble Topping
Pour on top of the crust and spread out evenly. Then, sprinkle on the rest of the crumble mixture evenly over the top of the strawberry filling.
Step 8: Finish Baking
Bake for another 20 minutes at 350ºF. Your kitchen is about to smell even more amazing 😀
Step 9: Let Cool
Let your strawberry bars cool for 20 minutes before placing into the fridge for at least 2 hours. Or, for best results, let them cool overnight in the fridge to allow the filling fully set.
let them cool!
WE REPEAT: let these cool for an ample amount of time. You need to allow the fruit filling to set and if you try and slice too soon it will be a sloppy mess!
You know they are fully cooled when you touch the filling and it feels almost gel-like and doesn’t get your fingers messy.
Step 10: Slice and Enjoy!
Hold the two edges of parchment paper on either sides of your pan and carefully remove the entire pan of bars. Then, place on a cutting board and cut into squares. Enjoy your strawberry oatmeal bars with ice cream, whipped cream or alone! These bars will not disappoint.
Storage
Because these bars are made with a fresh fruit filling, we recommend storing these bars, covered, in the refrigerator. They will last for up to 3-5 days!
Before eating, we recommend letting them sit on the counter to soften for at least 20 minutes OR you can microwave them for 30 seconds.
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
Crust and Crumble
- 2.5 cups superfine blanched almond meal, almond flour
- 1.5 cup rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup softened coconut oil, but not melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup, or honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, or brown sugar
Strawberry Filling
- 3 cups fresh strawberries, finely diced
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- zest from one lemon
- 1/3 cup maple syrup, or honey
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- First, preheat oven to 350ºF and line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Next, create your crust and crumble. Mix all crumble ingredients together (minus the coconut sugar, you’ll add this later). You’re going to want to make sure that the coconut oil is slightly melted, but not liquid. You do this so the dough is more of a crumble, but can still be pressed together into a crust.
- Then, take 2/3 of the mixture and press it evenly onto the bottom of your pan. Set the rest of the crust/crumble mixture aside and add 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar. Mix. This is what you will use for the crumble topping.
- Bake crust at 350ºF for 10 minutes. Remove crust and set aside.
- Next, place all ingredients (except for the tapioca flour) for the strawberry filling into a medium saucepan or cast iron skillet. Turn heat to medium/high and bring the filling to a boil, stirring often and breaking up the strawberries. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 20 minutes (don’t skimp on this! It’s important to break down the strawberries or your bars will be too wet.). Continue stirring.
- Once the filling has cooked for 20 minutes and has become darker in color, add in 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour and stir until there are no more clumps and the strawberry filling has thickened.
- Pour on top of the crust and spread out evenly. Then, sprinkle on the rest of the crumble mixture over the top of the strawberry filling.
- Bake for another 20 minutes at 350ºF.
- Let cool for 20 minutes before placing into the fridge for at least 2 hours (or for best results, overnight) to let the filling set. Slice and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- The most important part of this recipe is letting it cool and chilling it before slicing. This helps activate the tapioca starch, which is what holds everything together. Do not try to slice into these while they’re still warm.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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So delicious! Made to be eaten in the morning with coffee! 😋
Best breakfast EVERY.
I’m in Iceland and can’t find tapioca flour. Will all purpose work as well?
I would use cornstarch instead!
Hi There!
I’m looking forward to making these and have a silly question that I may have already found the answer to: can you substitute Almond Flour for Almond Meal? I’m not entirely sure what the different is.
Thanks!
It’s pretty much the same thing!