Easy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Try these Easy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars filled with fresh strawberries and a delicious crumbly topping. They’re a healthy, whole-grain breakfast, snack idea, or light dessert the whole family will fall in love with!
They only take 10 minutes to prep! Just like my incredible Raspberry Oat Bars!
Oatmeal is one of those comfort foods that is great when you eat it warm by the bowl with a dash of cinnamon or bake it into a tasty bar. This recipe for Easy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars is bursting with flavor and has a wonderful crumbly top.
This recipe is one of the best ways to use strawberries before they go bad. Plus, it’s a healthy food recipe because it uses minimal sugar and whole grains.
This Easy Oatmeal Bar recipe started our family’s love of bars baked with oatmeal. We love making them for healthy snacks or freezing them for grab-n-go breakfasts!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy
- Whole Grains
- Freezer Friendly
- Family Friendly
Why Make Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars?
Did you know? Oats are among the healthiest grains on earth.
They’re a gluten-free whole grain and a great source of important vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. We’re always looking for healthy alternatives to packaged food, so when you bake oats in a bar, and they taste this good, you can not go wrong!
This recipe is almost like a fruit crisp but healthier!
Easy Blueberry Oatmeal Bars are amazing, too! Baked blueberries bursting with flavor and a crumbly topping! And don’t forget about Raspberry Oatmeal Bars!
Ingredients
You need a few pantry staples, and you’re ready to bake!
- Butter – you can also use coconut oil.
- Vanilla extract – pure vanilla extract is our preference.
- Whole wheat flour – yes, you can use all-purpose flour, white whole wheat, or a combination of flour.
- Old fashioned oats – don’t use quick-cooking (instant) oats as the texture will be too dense.
- Honey – just a touch for sweetness. You can also use maple syrup.
- Brown sugar – light or dark brown sugar is fine.
- Cinnamon – just a hint to complement the oatmeal.
- Salt – we love using sea salt, but any salt will do.
- Fresh strawberries – these make the best filling.
- Lemon juice – to give the filling a little tartness.
How to Make – Step By Step Instructions
This recipe is so simple that you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried it before! It’s a great way to use up fresh strawberries.
One bowl. One pan. One delicious snack!
First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking dish with parchment paper.
Step 1 – Mix Crust & Topping Ingredients
Place all your dry ingredients for the main recipe, plus the melted butter and vanilla, in a large bowl and mix.
Cut fresh strawberries into chunks.
Step 2 – Place Crust in Pan
Reserve 1 cup of the oat mixture, place the remainder in your 8×8 prepared pan and pat down slightly.
Step 3 – Make Strawberry Filling
For the filling, sprinkle with half of the strawberries, half of the tablespoon of whole wheat flour, and then the lemon over the layer of oat mixture.
Layer on the rest of the strawberries and the remaining whole wheat flour.
Step 4 – Add Topping & Bake
Place the reserved cup of the oat crumble mixture on the strawberries, put the pan in the oven, and bake the bars for approximately 40-45 minutes.
Get ready for your house to smell amazing!
Erin’s Tips & Tricks
- Oats: These fresh strawberry oatmeal bars yield the best results if you use old-fashioned oats, not instant oats.
- Flour: We prefer using whole wheat flour, which is healthy, but regular all-purpose flour would also work.
- Strawberries: You can use frozen strawberries in the recipe as an alternative. Just make sure they are thawed first. However, you may want to increase the flour used on the berries so that the filling isn’t too watery. You can also use a mixture of berries instead of only strawberries.
How to Store
- To store, layer the bars between waxed paper in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It is best to bring them back to room temperature before serving.
- You can freeze Strawberry Oatmeal Bars for up to 3 months; bring them to room temperature when ready to eat them. Make sure to follow our tips to prevent freezer burn!
Servings Suggestion
Did you know? Strawberry Oat Bars are amazing as a healthier dessert as well. No surprise, we prefer them served warm with a generous scoop of ice cream. Enjoy!
More Healthy Oatmeal Recipes
Blueberry Oatmeal Bars
Cranberry Oatmeal Bars
Blueberry Crockpot Oatmeal
Apple Cinnamon Slow Cooker Oatmeal
Crockpot Peanut Butter Oatmeal
Recipes Using Strawberries
Strawberry Shortcake in a Jar
Strawberry Chia Seed Jam
Brownie Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Kale Smoothie
Strawberry Flatbread
Love this Strawberry Breakfast Bars recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below ⬇️ and/or a review in the comment section further down.
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Easy Strawberry Oatmeal Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust & Crumble Topping
- 6 Tablespoons butter, melted, (you can substitute coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats, (not instant)
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Strawberry Filling
- 2 ½ cups chopped fresh strawberries
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line the bottom of an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, foil, or cooking spray.
- To make the crust & crumble, place the whole wheat flour, regular oats, honey, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter and vanilla until just combined. The mixture should be a little dry and crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture; this will be your crumble topping.
- Add the oat mixture to the prepared baking pan—press mixture into the bottom of the pan in an even layer.
- Cut up fresh strawberries. Scatter half of the strawberries over crust. Sprinkle the tablespoon of whole wheat flour evenly over the top, then sprinkle on the lemon juice. Scatter on the remaining berries.
- Evenly sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture over the top of the strawberries.
- Bake the bars for 40-45 minutes. Remove the bars from the pan and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut and enjoy!
Notes
- Oats: These fresh strawberry oatmeal bars yield the best results using old-fashioned oats, not instant oats.
- Flour: We prefer using whole wheat flour, which is healthy, but regular all-purpose flour would also work.
- Strawberries: You can use frozen strawberries in the recipe as an alternative. Just make sure they are thawed first. However, you may want to increase the flour used on the berries so the filling isn’t too watery. You can also use a mixture of berries instead of only strawberries.
- Storing: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days or freeze for 3 months.
This recipe was originally published on May 9th, 2017. We updated it with enhanced instructions on April 7, 2020.
Since oats are one of the most nutrient-rich foods and are so yummy, add a little fresh fruit and enjoy a pan of Strawberry Oat Bars today!
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Make it1 tbl lemon juice. Any fruit will do.
Cut back sweetener in half and change to jam of choice..
Replace wheat flour with 1 tbl almond flour.
This was delicious! In fact, I am making it again today. I even had to improvise a little. I didn’t have a full half cup of honey, so I added an extra tablespoon of brown sugar. I didn’t have quite enough strawberries, so I added some frozen blueberries. It was a hit with my husband and grandchildren!
Your improvisations to the recipe sound perfect, Kimberly! This recipe is very easy and as well as forgiving. We love these bars year-round.
Question – making these as I type this and the ingredients list calls for 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp flour for the strawberry filling. However, the written instructions call for 1 tbsp flour and don’t mention the lemon juice measurement. Should the lemon juice be 1 tsp? Looks like the measurements may have been reversed in the list of ingredients.
Thank you for catching this, Wendy. It’s 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon lemon juice for the filling. The recipe card is updated accordingly. Happy baking!
Can you use almond flour in lieu of whole wheat flour?
We have not tried using almond flour with this recipe. Give it a try and let us know how it goes!
Yum! These look delicious. I have some frozen strawberries from the summer just looking for a recipe. I’m going to make these this weekend.
Perfect! We often freeze strawberries and use them for this recipe too!
I LOVE these strawberry oatmeal bars! So tasty and perfect to have as a healthier dessert!
That is so right, Katie! We love them as a grab-n-go breakfast or snacking 🙂
These were fantastic! So easy to eat on the go and I just love the fresh strawberries!
The crumbly topping is our favorite! Perfect for when you want a healthier snack!
Sounds like a great recipe and I see Florida strawberries starting to show up in the stores:@)
Love strawberry season!! Thanks for stopping by, Lynn!
How much coconut oil do you use if substituting for butter?
Good question, Deborah. I would go 1 for 1 if subbing in coconut oil. let me know how it goes!
Sounds healthy and delicious – pinned and shared
Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks also for the shares 🙂 Enjoy the recipe! It’s a good one!