I was trying to think of a nice summery dessert to serve to friends coming over and remembered I still had some of the beautiful strawberries left from when I went strawberry picking. While strawberry shortcake would have been delicious, I wanted a little bar type of dessert. Fruit bars with an oat streusel topping sounded perfect, and they were!
The strawberries I was using were very juicy and I was concerned the bars wouldn’t set properly, and when I first cut into them they were quite mushy. I ran out and bought a back up dessert just in case, but I put them in the refrigerator for an hour or so before serving and it did the trick. They were a huge hit! So good!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup flour
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup, plus 1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups strawberries, chopped
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. cornstarch
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8″ baking pan with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. I only had a glass dish with me in Maine so I reduced the heat to 325 degrees.
For the bottom layer combine the melted butter, flour, oats, 1/2 cup sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. It will be crumbly.
Set 1 cup of the mixture aside. With your hands or a spatula firmly press the remaining crumble in the bottom of the baking dish.
In a mixing bowl, I used the same one, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.
Spread the strawberry mixture evenly over the layer of crust.
Using your hands, crumble the remaining cup of streusel evenly over the strawberry layer.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until the bars are set and the juices are bubblying on the edges.
Let cool for a few hours before trying to cut. As I mentioned previously, they are quite messy when first cut so you may want to put them in the refrigerator before serving so they set fully.
A perfect Summer treat!
Strawberry Oat Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 cup flour
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1/2 + 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups strawberries, chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp corn starch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8" square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Combine the melted butter, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Set aside 1 cup of mixture. Mixture will be crumbly.
- Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Combine strawberries, 1/3 cup sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a mixing bowl.
- Spread strawberry mixture over crust. Top with remaining cup of crumble.
- Bake for about 50 minutes or until bars seem set and juices on the sides are bubbling. Let cool for at least an hour before cutting. Best refrigerated for a few hours to fully set before serving.