As soon as strawberry season starts, loads of strawberries regularly end up in our shopping basket – whether at the supermarket or the farmers market. Most of the time, we simply snack on the red berries as they are. Fresh, sweet strawberries are just perfect for that. You can also use them for baking, of course. Our Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars are just one of many examples here. Really delicious little sweet treats where strawberry flavors really shine!
Traditionally, in our family, the first thing we’d usually make with strawberries is a simple strawberry cake with a light sponge base and a layer of vanilla custard. Grandma loved it, and this type of cake is still very popular with us today. Grandma and Mom typically used a ready-made base from the supermarket because it’s quicker, but we generally bake the cake base ourselves. If you happen to have a special strawberry cake baking tin lying around, you’ve got to use it, right?
Anyway. This year we broke with traditions and tried something new – the usual strawberry cake is just coming a little later in the season. And what can I say? A great decision! The little strawberry bars are a great addition to our already existing strawberry recipes. They turned out to be really delicious!
Of course, the fact that the Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars taste so good isn’t because of the strawberries alone. Sure, they make up a large part of the flavors, but it’s the combination with the oats and sweet streusel topping that makes them such a treat!
Compared to a sponge cake, these crumble bars are much easier to prepare. For a sponge cake, you need either a food processor or a hand mixer – something to whisk egg whites. Or maybe a strong arm, a whisk and some patience, because the egg whites for the batter need to be whipped until stiff peaks form. That takes a while. For the sprinkles, you simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl – you can do this with a hand mixer or simply with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. That’s considerably easier and less time-consuming.
If you don’t have oat flour on hand, you’ll first need to grind some rolled oats in a blender to get fine oat flour – that would be a kitchen machine you require as well… Assuming you want to follow the recipe to a T, but you don’t have to. If you don’t have a mixer or perhaps don’t have quite enough rolled oats at home, you can easily replace the ground oats in the recipe with regular flour. A few rolled oats in the crumble topping would be nice, though. If you read the recipe below more, you’ll understand what I mean.
Apart from that, crumble bars are really easy to make. The sprinkles you prepare are for the base and the topping as well – the fresh strawberries nestle comfortably in between. You can probably see that quite well in the photos. Once the streusel and strawberries are nicely layered, the baking tin is ready for the oven, and after about 35-40 minutes, the crumble bars are done. They need to cool down for a while and chill in the fridge as well for some time, but unfortunately, that’s part of the process… Nobody wants their crumble bars to crumble and fall apart when you cut into them, right?
Well… get started with the streusel topping and the strawberries, then enjoy the result in the sunshine with a coffee or tea. If you like simple and quick-to-do strawberry recipes, you should also check out our Easy Strawberry Tarts made with puff pastry. They’re quick to bake and simply divine with a dollop of whipped cream on the side!
Of course, you can also make something a bit more elaborate with strawberries – our Strawberry & Raspberry Layer Cake is an excellent example of that. But once you’ve tried that delicious cake, you’ll find the effort absolutely worthwhile. The cake is simply amazing!
INGREDIENTS / INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS / PREPARATION
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23x23cm square baking pan* with baking parchment, grease lightly and set it aside.
2. Blend the rolled oats (100g/3.5 oz) in a food processor to get oat flour/finely ground oats. Add them together with the flour, sugar, and vanilla powder to a large bowl and mix to combine. Next, add the butter in small pieces as well as the egg, and mix everything until you get different-sized sprinkles – we normally do this by hand. Transfer about 2/3 of the streusel to the prepared baking pan and press them down to get an even layer. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
3. While the base is in the oven, wash, dry, and cut the strawberries into small pieces. Mix sugar and cornstarch, then add it to the strawberries along with the lemon zest, juice, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Let the strawberries marinate for a few minutes.
4. Remove the pre-baked base from the oven and spread the marinated strawberries even on top. Mix the remaining streusel with the 3 tbsp. of rolled oats and sprinkle them all over the strawberries. Bake the crumble bars in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. The strawberries should bubble here and there, and the sprinkles should have a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and cool down on a wire rack. When cooled, place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
5. Remove the crumble bars from the baking pan by lifting them out with the baking parchment. Cut into nine bars/squares (or more if you prefer them smaller). Dust with confectioners’ sugar to your liking before serving.
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) top/bottom heat. Line a square 23x23cm baking tin* with baking paper, lightly grease it and set aside.
2. Process the 100g oat flakes for the sprinkles in a blender into fine flour. Place in a large bowl together with the flour, sugar and vanilla powder and mix. Add the butter in small pieces and the egg and work everything into crumbles – the quickest way is to do it with your hands. Pour about 2/3 of the streusel into the prepared baking pan and press together to form a smooth layer. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
3. While the base is pre-baking, wash, dry and cut the strawberries into small pieces. Mix the sugar with the starch and then add it to the strawberries along with the lemon zest, juice and vanilla extract and mix everything well – let stand for a few minutes.
4. Remove the pre-baked base from the oven and distribute the marinated strawberries evenly on top. Mix the remaining sprinkles with the 3 tablespoons of oat flakes and then sprinkle on the strawberries. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. The strawberries should bubble here and there and the sprinkles should have a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Then put it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
5. Remove the crumble bars from the tin with the baking paper and then cut into nine (or more, if you prefer smaller) pieces, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired and serve.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Description
These Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars are a great summer snack we love to prepare when local strawberries are the sweetest. They’re so good!
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23x23cm square baking pan* with baking parchment, grease lightly and set it aside.
2. Blend the rolled oats (100g/3.5 oz) in a food processor to get oat flour/finely ground oats. Add them together with the flour, sugar, and vanilla powder to a large bowl and mix to combine. Next, add the butter in small pieces as well as the egg, and mix everything until you get different-sized sprinkles – we normally do this by hand. Transfer about 2/3 of the streusel to the prepared baking pan and press them down to get an even layer. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes.
3. While the base is in the oven, wash, dry, and cut the strawberries into small pieces. Mix sugar and cornstarch, then add it to the strawberries along with the lemon zest, juice, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Let the strawberries marinate for a few minutes.
4. Remove the pre-baked base from the oven and spread the marinated strawberries even on top. Mix the remaining streusel with the 3 tbsp. of rolled oats and sprinkle them all over the strawberries. Bake the crumble bars in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. The strawberries should bubble here and there, and the sprinkles should have a golden brown color. Remove from the oven and cool down on a wire rack. When cooled, place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
5. Remove the crumble bars from the baking pan by lifting them out with the baking parchment. Cut into nine bars/squares (or more if you prefer them smaller). Dust with confectioners’ sugar to your liking before serving.
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