5-Ingredient Strawberry Oatmeal Bars are a joyous celebration of strawberry season! These easy gluten-free vegan crumb bars are the perfect light fresh strawberry dessert.
Oatmeal and crumb bars are all the rage in my household, so guess what we’re doing today?
Combining concepts of my Paleo Blueberry Crumb Bars and my Mixed Berry Apple Baked Oatmeal, we’re here with the perfect mashup of my two of my personal obsessions.
Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars.
Gooey, rich, buttery, and perfectly sweet, these healthier dessert bars can also serve as a guilt-free breakfast or snack.
Plus, in my mind, they’re a something for everyone treat as they cover so many bases. Just have a look.
Recipe Highlights:
- Gluten-Free
- Vegan
- Egg-Free
- Refined Sugar-Free Option
- Minimal sugar
- Easy to make
- Only 5 ingredients needed!
Let’s discuss the five simple fresh ingredients needed for these bars.
Ingredients for Strawberry Oatmeal Bars:
Strawberries: Fresh juicy strawberries are stewed with some sweetener to make a thick jammy filling. This strawberry jam filling has a bright tangy flavor with a nice gooey texture.
When combined with the buttery oatmeal flavor from the crust and topping, these bars are simply irresistible. To mix up these strawberry breakfast bars, use different fruits such as blueberries, peaches, blackberries, etc.
You can also use frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries if you don’t have access to fresh fruit.
Pure Maple Syrup or Cane Sugar: The sweetener for both the strawberry filling and the crust mixture! Use either pure maple syrup, maple sugar, or cane sugar depending on your preference. You can also use brown sugar.
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: A gluten-free flour blend is used in the crust and topping in combination with oats to create a flaky, delicious shortbread crust and crumble. Use your favorite gluten-free blend or regular all-purpose flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
If you’re looking for a grain-free recipe using almond flour, make my Paleo Vegan Strawberry Crumb Bars.
Oats: Rolled oats bring that otherworldly flavor of oatmeal to these bars and also create a light flakiness. Plus, they bring about breakfast or snack vibes, making these bars suitable for any time of the day. I use sprouted gluten-free oats.
For the best result, use old-fashioned oats for that lovely texture rather than using quick oats or instant oats.
Coconut Oil or Butter: The liquid and fat portion of the crust and topping! Use melted coconut oil to keep the bars vegan or melted butter if you aren’t dairy-free. Either one produces a rich, naturally sweet inviting flavor.
Sea Salt: A pinch of sea salt in both the strawberry filling and the crust ensures the flavors of all of the ingredients shine through.
Optional Glaze: Whip up a simple powdered sugar glaze using just 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of water or lemon juice. This added sweetness and creamy texture gives the strawberry oatmeal bars a sort of strawberry Danish vibe.
If you prefer your desserts on the sweeter end, be sure to make the powdered sugar glaze to go with the bars, as they aren’t remarkably sweet on their own.
Add vanilla extract to either the glaze or the crust mixture if you have it on hand to add more warm buttery flavor.
Let’s bake a batch of fresh strawberry bars!
How to Make Strawberry Oatmeal Bars:
Make the Crust & Topping:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8” x 8” baking dish with parchment paper.
The crust and topping are both made using the same ingredients, so thankfully, we stir once and use twice. No need to separate the dry ingredients from the wet ingredients – everything gets mixed at the same time.
Add all of the ingredients for the crust and topping to a large bowl and stir well until everything is combined. The dough should be somewhat crumbly and not over oily.
Measure out ½ cup of the mixture and set it aside to reserve as the crumble topping.
Transfer the remaining crust mixture to the parchment-lined prepared pan and press it into an even layer.
Use a fork to poke several holes into the crust.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is just slightly golden brown.
Make the Strawberry Filling:
While the crust is baking, prepare the strawberry mixture. To do so, transfer the strawberries and granulated sugar (or pure maple syrup) to a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan and heat it on the stove top over medium heat.
Allow the mixture to come to a full boil and cook until the strawberries are very soft and much liquid is seeping out, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Mash the strawberries using a spoon or fork until they reach your desired texture.
Stir in the gluten-free all-purpose flour (or tapioca flour or corn starch) and continue cooking without the lid until the strawberry filling is nice and thick, about another 2 to 3 minutes.
Make the Bars:
Once the crust is out of the oven, pour the strawberry filling mixture over it and spread it evenly.
Sprinkle the reserved crumble mixture on top. Bake for 22 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden-brown.
Remove the strawberry oatmeal bars from the oven and allow them to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh berries for an even more decadent dessert.
Store any leftover oatmeal bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the bars in a zip lock bag for up to 3 months.
The way I see it, these easy gluten-free vegan strawberry oatmeal bars are the perfect celebration of berries and are amazing to have on hand to share with friends and family.
Not to mention, they’re just so easy to put on repeat for any time you have a hankering for a snack.
If you love strawberry recipes, also try my Vegan Strawberry Cobbler!
More Healthy Dessert Recipes:
- Healthy Pear Crumb Bars
- 4-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Bars
- Keto Lemon Bars
- 3-Ingredient Banana Cookies
- 5-Ingredient Low-Carb Cherry Pie Bars
- Peach Crisp (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
Enjoy these beautiful little strawberry oat bars!
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
For the Strawberry Filling:
- 3 cups fresh strawberries
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar or pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour*
- Pinch sea salt
Shortbread Crust and Topping:
- 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- ½ cup coconut oil or butter melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar or pure maple syrup**
- Pinch sea salt
Optional Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp water or lemon juice
Instructions
Make the Crust & Topping:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8” x 8” baking dish with parchment paper.
- Add all of the ingredients for the crust and topping to a large bowl and stir well until everything is combined. The dough should be somewhat crumbly and not over oily.
- Measure out ½ cup of the mixture and set it aside to reserve as the crumble topping. Transfer the remaining crust mixture to the parchment-lined prepared pan and press it into an even layer.
- Use a fork to poke several holes into the crust.
- Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is just slightly golden brown.
Make the Strawberry Filling:
- While the crust is baking, prepare the strawberry mixture. To do so, transfer the strawberries and granulated sugar (or pure maple syrup) to a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan and heat it on the stove top over medium heat.
- Allow the mixture to come to a full boil and cook until the strawberries are very soft and much liquid is seeping out, about 8 to 10 minutes. Mash the strawberries using a spoon or fork until they reach your desired texture. Stir in the gluten-free all-purpose flour (or tapioca flour or corn starch) and continue cooking without the lid until the strawberry filling is nice and thick, about another 2 to 3 minutes.
Make the Bars:
- Once the crust is out of the oven, pour the strawberry filling mixture over it and spread it evenly. Sprinkle the reserved crumble mixture on top.
- Bake for 22 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden-brown.
- Remove the strawberry oatmeal bars from the oven and allow them to cool completely before slicing and serving.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh berries for an even more decadent dessert.
Notes
Nutrition
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This recipe sounds delicious! Do you know if/how I could incorporate my sourdough discard into this recipe?
Hi Kim! Without having tried it myself, I can’t be sure what measurements of discard you would use relative to the flour and the oats. If I were to try it myself, I’d use 1/2 cup of discard, stick with the same amount of all of the other ingredients (including oats) and add just enough flour to make a firm dough. Let me know how it turns out!
making this for the second time today, with these luscious super ripe local organic strawberries!! not even topping them with the glaze-they are good good good on their own!! less sugar the better for me. thank you for this super easy delicious one!!
Yaaay! I love that, Suzi! I enjoy my sweets less sweet too, so I’m thrilled you’re loving the bars without the glaze as well 🙂 Much love to you! xoxo
I must say I loved loved loved these. Yummy ! I had some cherry jam I thinned out with a little lemon juice.easy to make. Thank you.
I’m so happy you enjoy them, Linda! We’ve been glued to them 😉 xo
The recipe makes 16 bars, but the nutritional info is for 12 bars-and how can it have 15 grams of protein?? What’s the source of protein?
Hi there! Apologies for that – I transposed the numbers for the sugar and protein, so it’s 15 grams of sugar and 3 grams of protein. Sorry about that! xo