Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars — Melinda Lamarche

These Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars were SO good! Pretty darn easy to whip up anytime of year to take advantage of in season and local produce. I am anxiously waiting for local berry patches and orchards to open up and welcome guests, so that we can really take advantage of this year’s harvest.

For this recipe, I used strawberries but you could easily use other berries or apricots, peaches, apples or pears instead, depending on what’s in season. The possibilities are endless! And when it’s the dead of winter and in season goodies are a thing of the past, use frozen fruit, works just was well, particularly when it comes to using berries. Delicious with yogurt or ice cream on the side but pretty darn good all on its own too.

This recipe makes a big batch, easily halved but any leftovers could also be frozen.

Strawberry Crumble Bars

Makes ~18 bars

Crumble ingredients:

2 1/2 cups quick oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cup butter

Strawberry (or other fruit) filling ingredients:

3.5-4 cups fruit (sliced strawberries, apples, peaches, apricots, halved cherries or whole blueberries)

2 tbsp flour

3 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, combine strawberries and other ingredients for the fruit filling layer, mix well and set aside
In a large bowl, combine crumble ingredients, cut in butter until crumble starts to come together i.e. “pea sized” pieces start to form
Press half of the crumble into the bottom of a 9x13” baking dish, arrange strawberries on top followed by the remaining crumble topping. Press down slightly on the crumble topping
Bake for 45-60 minutes or until fruit centre is soft and cooked through
Enjoy with whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream or all on its own