These Oatmeal Bars are stuffed with fresh strawberries and blackberries to create a tasty, sweet, oaty treat that will become a family favourite!
Hi everyone, hope your week is going well. I’m so excited to share these Strawberry and Blackberry Oatmeal Bars with you today! They are chewy, soft, fruity, sweet and perfect for a quick snack.
When they came out of the oven with their chewy base, crisp top and bubbling centre I wanted to dive head first into them! I manged to wait until they had at least cooled a little before grabbing a spoon and digging in. Oh my goodness, so good!!
I’m so happy all the berries are sweet again. This is by far my favourite time of year, fruit wise. I bought 1kg of strawberries this week and I’ve eaten half already! They are so juicy and sweet, I knew they would make a great filling to these oatmeal bars.
Because the berries are sweet, you don’t need to add much sugar to the filling, however, if you wanted to make them when berries aren’t so sweet you’d need more.
You can throw these oatmeal bars together in next to no time and then the hardest part is waiting for them to cook.
The filling is just fresh berries, flour, sugar and lemon juice. You leave that to one side while you make the oat mixture and it becomes glossy perfection.
There is no cutting butter into the oats either in this recipe.
I used melted butter, mixed it with flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and sugar and then brought it together into one lump of dough. Divide it up into your base and topping and you’re ready to assemble the bars.
I put 2/3 of the mixture into an 8×8 pan, pressed it into an even layer, tipped the fruit mixture on top and then crumbled the remaining oat mixture on top.
Pop it into the oven for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling then wait for them to cool before slicing up and devouring. These bars also keep really well, so they’re great to make ahead at the weekend and then keep for a snack/breakfast on the go!
Strawberry and Blackberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- For the filling:
- 2 cups (300g) sliced fresh strawberries
- 1 cup (150g) fresh blackberries
- 3 tbsp* white sugar
- 2 tbsp plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- For the oat mixture:
- 2 cups (160g) rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and spray an 8×8 inch square pan. Place a strip of grease proof paper, with enough over hang to lift the bars out, along the base of the pan.
- Make the filling first: Place the strawberries, blackberries, sugar, flour and lemon juice into a medium sized bowl and stir until all of the berries are coated in sugar/flour. Leave to one side.
- Make the oat mixture: Place the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir briefly to ensure no lumps of flour.
- Pour in the melted butter and vanilla and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes into one big lump. It shouldn't be sticky, just slightly moist, but on one big ball.
- Take 2/3 of the oat mixture and place into your prepared pan, press into an even layer with your hands/the back of a spoon.
- Your fruit mixture should now be glossy, tip this on top of the oat mixture and smooth into an even layer.
- Crumble the remaining third of your oat mixture on top of the oats, it won't cover the berries completely, this is fine.
- Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling.
- Leave to cool in the pan completely, before lifting out the bars and transferring to a cutting board. Slice into 9-12 bars and dig in.
- Strawberry and Blackberry Oatmeal Bars will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature for 4 days, or in the fridge for 6 days. You can eat them chilled or at room temperature, whatever you prefer!
Notes
Annie is a self-taught baker, recipe developer and food photographer, who has an obsession with dessert and beauty! 
