Strawberry Oat Bars
Delicious oat-crumble bars filled with strawberry goodness — a great snack, dessert or treat to share.
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 cups fresh strawberries hulled and sliced
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1½ Tbsp cornstarch slurry made with cornstarch + water
- ½ tsp fresh lemon juice
Crust & Crumble
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temp
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F (≈175 °C). Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang for easy removal.
- Prepare the strawberry filling: In a medium saucepan add the strawberries, sugar and salt. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cornstarch slurry and cook until thickened (~30 seconds), then stir in the lemon juice and let cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Add the flour, rolled oats, cornstarch and salt, and beat just until combined.
- Press about half the dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Then spread the cooled strawberry filling evenly on top. Crumble the remaining dough mixture over the top and sprinkle 1 Tbsp extra oats if desired.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing into bars.
Notes
These bars keep well in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, then refrigerate. Frozen for up to 3 months. You can substitute frozen strawberries (no need to thaw), or add nuts or cinnamon to the topping for variation.