Healthier Fresh Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Gorgeous healthier 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 nourishing 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 (my raspberry oatmeal bars are a must as well as these 5-star healthy blueberry pie bars). I wanted a simpler ingredient list without sacrificing that stellar shortbread crust, and I must say I seriously delivered!

A few notes on key ingredients

• Strawberries: I developed this recipe with one package of fresh, ripe strawberries that we'll cut into small pieces for the jammy strawberry layer but of course I also tested this with frozen. It does work (you'll need about 3 cups) but I can't lie--I think the flavor is superior with fresh.
• Almond flour: The GOAT! I love in this recipe how it 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: Honestly I didn't think butter vs coconut oil would move the needle on flavor, but I found butter adds epic flavor and mouthfeel to the crumble layer to achieve the *perfect* strawberry crumble bar! And I actually like salted for extra contrast to the sweet strawberries.
• Lemon juice: It was clear in testing that zippy lemon juice added needed acidic contrast.

Make them with me!

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!

Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews

• Author: Alexis Joseph
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 35 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 16 bars 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

Gorgeous Strawberry Oatmeal Bars with a shortbread-like crust. Made with 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.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the filling:

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, diced small
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tsp cornstarch

For the bars:

• 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup oat flour
• ½ cup almond flour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• 6 tbsp butter, melted (I like salted)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8 inch baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2. Place a medium pot over medium heat. Add strawberries, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cornstarch, mixing to combine. Once mixture is gently bubbling, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk oats, oat flour, almond flour, and salt. Add maple syrup, melted butter, and vanilla, stirring until a moist dough forms. Set aside about ½ cup of the mixture for the topping.
4. Press the remaining mixture firmly into the lined pan. Pour strawberry mixture on top, smooth with a spatula, then crumble remaining topping over strawberries. 
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the topping is golden and smelling delicious. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. (I like to put them in the fridge once they've cooled down a bit to speed up the process.) Delish with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Notes

VEGAN: Sub vegan butter.

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.