Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Gorgeous Strawberry Oatmeal Bars with a buttery, shortbread-like crust. Made with plenty of whole grain oats, fresh ripe strawberries, and sweetened with maple syrup for a healthy twist. A delicious, nourishing treat perfect for potlucks! Easy to make, kid-friendly, gluten free and vegan-friendly.

Stunning summer produce is upon us! Don't you just want to go berry crazy at the grocery store right now?! We simply can't get enough of juicy, sweet strawberries right now.

Bars with oatmeal are kinda my jam, no pun intended (like my blueberry oatmeal snack bars, raspberry oatmeal bars and blueberry pie bars). I wanted a simpler ingredient list without sacrificing that stellar shortbread crust, and I must say I seriously delivered!

Ingredients

• Strawberries: You'll need one package of fresh, ripe strawberries that we'll cut into small pieces for the jammy strawberry layer.
• Old fashioned oats: Also knows as rolled oats, I love this whole grain that makes up the base of the crumble. I recommend these over quick oats. Don't miss all my healthy snacks made with oats! You can grind oats in the Nutribullet to make homemade oat flour or buy it at the store. I love the cookie-like flavor it adds.
• Almond flour: This adds natural sweetness and moisture to the crumble. Note that this recipe won't work if you substitute another flour like purpose flour since almond flour is so high in fat. If you do experiment with another flour, I'd recommend using 8 tbsp butter instead of 6.
• Butter: Butter adds amazing flavor and mouthfeel to the crumble layer to achieve the perfect strawberry crumble bar! I like salted for extra contrast to the sweet strawberries.
• Maple syrup: We're sweetening the bars with a bit of unrefined maple syrup versus sugar. You could also use honey, but they will have more of that honey flavor profile.
• Cornstarch: To thicken the strawberry layer and help it stay together. You could also use arrowroot powder.
• Lemon juice: For some nice acidic contrast.
• Salt: A pinch to round out the flavor.

See recipe card for full ingredient quantities.

Substitutions and dietary modifications

• Frozen strawberries: You can use frozen strawberries instead of fresh! It will be about 3 cups.
• Make it vegan: Simply use vegan butter.
• Gluten free: Be sure to use certified gluten free oats and oat flour.

How to make

Storage

You can store strawberry oatmeal bars on the counter for up to 2 days and then refrigerate for 3 more days. I actually prefer them right out of the fridge.

These freeze well, too!

I hope you're as obsessed with this fun recipe as I am!

I'd be super grateful if you'd take a moment to leave a quick star rating and review below. Comments mean the world to me and your honest feedback helps me to continue to share recipes you'll crave!

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