Fresh Strawberry Oatmeal Bars with Hemp Hearts
These wholesome strawberry oatmeal bars are bursting with juicy strawberry flavour and whole grain goodness. SO easy to mix up, they’re the perfect, not-too-sweet, fruity treat for dessert, tea time or even breakfast!
Equipment
- 8 x 8 inch square baking dish
Ingredients
Oatmeal Base + Crumble
- 2 cups quick oats see note if you want to use rolled oats
- 1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour swap a starch-based GF flour blend if desired
- ½ cup hemp hearts
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Strawberry Filling
- 4 cups fresh strawberries diced, see notes for frozen
- 2 tablespoons sugar or maple syrup use up to 1/4 cup to taste, see notes in post!
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder cornstarch works too!
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175℃). Line an 8 x 8 square baking dish with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, hemp hearts, baking powder, salt, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined. Reserve 1 cup (250 mL) of the mixture for the topping.
- Using damp hands, press the remaining mixture firmly and evenly into baking dish. You want to use firm pressure as it helps the base come together!
- Give the bowl a quick wipe if desired, and then mix the diced strawberries, maple syrup, lemon juice, arrowroot and salt. Gently smash the berries as you mix. If the mixture isn't getting juicy at all, this is your sign that you might need some more maple syrup.
- Evenly spread the strawberry mixture over the oat base. Then, crumble the reserved oat mixture over the strawberries.
- Bake until the strawberries are jammy and bubbly, and the oat crumble looks golden, about 38-45 minutes.
- Let cool completely in the pan, set on a cooling rack. Once cool, carefully lift the bars onto a cutting board and cut into 9 or 12 squares.
Notes
Bars will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days...if they last that long!
Want to use rolled oats? It will change the texture but you can do it. Use 1 1/2 cups rolled oats with some extra hydration: add either 1/4 cup more oil or some almond or peanut butter.
And yes… you can make these with frozen strawberries but I’m gonna give it to you STRAIGHT: some frozen strawberries taste just awful (HOW?), and well, you’ll need to fix that. If you can get them, Costco frozen strawberries are super good and I dunno, taste like actual strawberries? If that’s not what you have, just thaw until choppable, taste, and sweeten accordingly.
For my low FODMAP friends, 1/9 of the recipe is low FODMAP, as long as you're using a low FODMAP baking blend. This means a starch-based flour like Bob's Red Mill 1:1 (the blue bag, NOT the red and yellow bag...that one is chickpea based).