We had 4 pounds of strawberries in the fridge, and they were starting to look sad, so my mom found a recipe for healthy strawberry oatmeal bars. This is not that recipe. The healthy version called for almond butter and apple butter, neither of which we had, so I began to look around for a recipe that called for real butter and more than 1 Tablespoon of sugar. I mean really. (In case you’re a healthier eater than me, here’s the recipe).

The recipe that I ended up making does have real butter, and an acceptable quantity of sugar, and you could tell. It was really yummy. I ate one of the bars with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was amazing. Using the fresh strawberries instead of the typical fruit preserves made a huge difference- the bars tasted so fresh. Even though hulling and dicing 2 pounds of strawberries is a little time-consuming, it is so worth it.

We made it with a little less than the 2/3 of a cup of sugar that’s called for in the strawberry filling, and the bars turned out a little tart, so if your strawberries aren’t very sweet, I would use the whole 2/3 of a cup.

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes…

add lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oats, flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and sugar on low speed  until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on high speed for an additional minute or so.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Spread the strawberry filling evenly over the top of the crust.

Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling, creating a crumb-like topping.

Bake for 45-48 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

Filling-

4 cups strawberries (about 2 pounds), washed, hulled and diced

around 2/3 cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries

juice from 1/2 lemon (about 4 tsp.)

1/3 cup corn starch

Crust/topping-

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease a 9″x13″ baking pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together strawberries and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix oats, flour, cinnamon, butter, vanilla and sugar on low speed  until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix on high speed for an additional minute or so.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spread the strawberry filling evenly over the top of the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling, creating a crumb-like topping.

Bake for 45-48 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

 

Jordan