Is it just me, or are desserts that are messy and all ooey gooey the best ones? These strawberry oat crumble bars were definitely messy, but that certainly didn’t stop me from eating them all up!
Strawberries have always been one of my favorite fruits, and I especially love eating them when they’re fresh, in-season, and nice and juicy. Just last week I was at the store, and there was a massive carton of strawberries on sale for a ridiculously cheap price…. so you better believe I threw those babies in my cart! I ended up using some in fruit salads, some on fresh bread with sunflower seed butter and chia seeds, and some in my oatmeal, but there was still tons to be used. Sure, I could’ve just washed them, sliced them, and threw them in my freezer, but I prefer the texture of them when they’re fresh and not frozen. So instead, I decided I would just use them to bake some sort of dessert!
Normally when I bake brownies or bars, I’ll just throw the batter straight into my greased baking dish, or sometimes I’ll line the dish with foil. However, today I decided to line the dish with parchment paper, and I think that was the last time I will ever be doing that.
Don’t get me wrong – using parchment paper didn’t at all affect the taste of these bars. It did, however, crumble everywhere when I was trying to lift the sheet out of the pan, making a big mess. In the end I finally got the bars out of the pan, but not without having little shreds of baked parchment everywhere! What a hassle! From now on, I’ll just stick to greasing a pan. If I do need to lift the bars out of the pan to slice them, then I’ll just use aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray… I’ve never had any issues with that!
Once I did manage to cut these into bars, it was well-worth all of the hassle. They were buttery, ooey gooey, and filled with that fresh taste of strawberry that I love so much.
My mom loved them so much that she actually decided to take the whole tray with her to work for a co-worker’s birthday, meaning I didn’t get to enjoy them like I was hoping. However, I did end up making them again very shortly after, and I’ll definitely be making lots more of them now that strawberry season is fast approaching!
- ¾ cup flour
- ¾ cup whole-wheat flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, diced
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 tsp. cornstarch
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a fork (or your hands) until the butter is broken up into very small pieces (about the size of peas.)
- Stir in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until the dough is crumbly.
- Place half the mixture into the pan and pat until firm.
- Combine the strawberries, sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Layer on top of the crumb mixture. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over top the strawberries.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until browned.
