Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Thick and chewy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars made with wholesome ingredients. With chewy oats base and sweet strawberry filling, you will fall in love with them in the first bite Made with no oil, no butter, no refined sugar and these are gluten free too!

Try my Healthier Strawberry Cookie Cups next!

Got strawberries lying in your fridge? Use them in this Easy Strawberry Bread, or this Strawberry Bundt Cake.

Not in mood to bake? Try Oreo Strawberry Icebox Cake or these fresh Strawberry Cake Pops! 

I love to bake with fresh strawberries of the season! If just like me you are also into baking healthy desserts that you can also enjoy for breakfast, these oatmeal bars are it!

Made with good for you ingredients (And a little chocolate chips), with no baking needed, fruity and chewy, these are sure to become an instant favorite! 

Taste and Texture:

• Soft and chewy base made with oats
• Filled with a thick layer of juicy Strawberry filling
• Topped with oats crumb topping using the same base recipe
• Melty Choc chips in every bite
• Flavored with Vanilla, Wild flower honey and Cinnamon

Recipe Ingredients:

1. Oats: Quick Oats are ideal for this recipe. If you have old fashioned oats on hand, pulse them in blender (like I did) till a coarse texture is achieved.
2.  Honey: I used wild flower honey for its floral scent. I suggest adding an extra teaspoon of vanilla if using regular honey.
3. Apple Butter: Apple butter makes bars super chewy. If unavailable at your end, replace it with apple sauce.
4. Strawberries: I like to use fresh strawberries for these bars but frozen can be used in a pinch. Use diced frozen strawberries if taking that route. As whole frozen strawberries would be tough to dice and if you attempt to dice them, resultingly a mush will form and we don't want that.
5. Cinnamon and Vanilla Extract: For flavor.

Recipe overview:

For Strawberry Filling:

Mix fresh strawberry chunks, honey, cornstarch + water slurry and lemon juice in a microwave safe bowl. Heat it in 30 seconds increments till it thickens slightly.

Alternatively you can also prepare this filling over stove top in a heavy bottomed pan too.

Remember not to thicken the filling too much like a jam. Filling needs to thicken slightly but will still be a little runny. Worry not, the filling will firm up a lot more as the bars bake and cool down.

You will love the texture of that baked filling. It tastes almost jammy, similar to your favorite strawberry pie filling only made with cleaner ingredients.

To make Oats Bars Base:

Base and the crumb topping is one single recipe made in one bowl.  Super convenient right?? And you get to enjoy a soft cookie bar base and streusel topping in one single bar.

We will simply dump and mix all the base ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Remember to reserve some of this mixture for crumb topping and layer the rest in a baking pan. I used apple butter in the bars base, you can easily add in some apple sauce as a substitute.

If calories aren't your concern you can also use 4 tablespoons of melted butter instead.

Next we will spread strawberry filling over the base layer. Make sure the filling is at room temperature before spreading. We don't want the base to turn soggy due to hot filling.

This next step is super fun and simple, simply crumble the remaining oats mixture over the filling. Top with chocolate chips and bake till the filling sets and the crumb topping appears golden brown.

Filling Variations:

You can pretty much use any berries or a mix of berries to make bars your way. I like to add a mix of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries in the filling sometimes. Use diced strawberries, cut raspberries into halves and keep blueberries whole to make the filling.

Even blackberries. cherries and apples can be used here. If using apples, dice them like you would for an apple pie. Add a dash of cinnamon in the filling too if taking this route.

Use cherry halves if adding cherries in the filling. I have tried all these variations myself as we like to rotate them for our breakfast. These are so good as grab and go breakfast bars.

All these variations taste equally good. But if I have to choose one personal favorite, it would be triple berries filling. I even like to throw a few blackberries in the mix some days.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve the bar with some greek yogurt for that perfect breakfast option.

These bars are naturally sweetened, but if you like them sweeter, drizzle some maple syrup or honey on top for that extra sweet bite.

A scoop of vanilla ice cream would be ultimate here too! 

What can I do with too many strawberries?

Add them in this Fluffy Strawberry Cake

How about my Lemonade Strawberry Punch

and in these Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

If you liked these Bars give them a 5-star rating. Also, tell me in the comments below, how did this turn out for you! And don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog Also follow me on Pinterest and Facebook! 

Recipe

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Thick and chewy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars made with wholesome ingredients. No oil, no butter, no refined sugar and these are gluten free too!

5 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

US Customary - Metric

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Bars

1x2x3x

Calories: 259kcal

Author: Neha

Equipment

• 8x8 inches Square Pan

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 and ¼ Cups Quick Oats
• ▢ 1 Cup Nut Butter (Both PB and Almond butters are fine)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ ¼ Cup Honey (Wild flower gives best flavor)
• ▢ ¼ Cup Apple Butter (or any other fruit butter, even apple sauce works)
• ▢ 1 large Egg
• ▢ ½ Cup semi sweet Chocolate Chips

Strawberry Filling:

• ▢ 2 Cups Fresh Strawberries (diced)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Cornstarch
• ▢ 2 tablespoon Cold Water
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice
• ▢ ¼ Cup Honey (I used Wild flower)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Add and stir all the filling ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave them in 30 seconds increments. Stir in between. This should take about 2-3 minutes.

  Alternatively you can prepare the filling over stove top too. Premix water and cornstarch before adding other filling ingredients so that lumps don't form.
  2 Cups Fresh Strawberries, 2 tablespoon Cornstarch, 2 tablespoon Cold Water, ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice, ¼ Cup Honey
• When the filling gets slightly thick. it is ready. Let the filling come to room temperature, while you prepare the base of bars.
• Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C) and prep an 8x8 square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper with enough overhangs on the sides. This step will aid easy removal of bars.
• In a bowl combine oats, cinnamon, nut butter, apple butter, vanilla, honey and egg. Stir till everything is mixed well.
• Press the oats mixture in prepared baking pan. Reserve ¾ Cup of prepared mixture to crumble for the top layer. Now add and spread room temp strawberry filling over oats mixture.
• Crumble remaining oats mixture and chocolate chips over strawberry filling. Press the topping lightly into the filling so it all sticks together.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. The topping will appear slightly brown at this point.
• Allow to cool down and set completely before cutting. You can also stick them into refrigerator for 15-20 minutes if you want them to cool down faster!

  Waiting before slicing the bars will prevent them from crumbling. Also the jam will set nicely during this time and your bars will cut perfectly.

Notes

Storage Info:

• Bars stay fresh at room temp for 2 days and up to 5 days in refrigerator.
• These Strawberry Bars are freezer friendly. Store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw before enjoying.

Quick Tips:

1. Oats: Quick Oats are ideal for this recipe. If you have old fashioned oats on hand, pulse them in blender till a coarse texture is achieved. 
2. Apple Butter: Any other fruit butter can also be used here. Even apple sauce works well. If you are out of both apple butter and apple sauce, ¼ cup of butter can be used in a pinch.
3. Berries: Instead of strawberries, you can use blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or even cherries. A combination of berries can be used as well in the filling. Just make sure to dice raspberries, blackberries and cherries into halves before making the filling. Blueberries can be used whole.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Bar | Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 13g | Sodium: 10mg | Sugar: 15g

Tried this recipe? Pin it for later!Mention @greedyeats or tag #Greedyeats!