Healthy Strawberry Oat Bars - Vegan, GF
These healthy strawberry oat bars are minimally sweetened, bursting with sweet strawberries, and packed with whole grain oats. They are easy to make, use simple everyday ingredients, and are perfect for breakfast or snacks any day of the week.
Servings: 16 squares
Ingredients
Oat Crust and Topping
- 5 cups Rolled oats 500g
- 4 Ripe, spotty bananas (mashed) ~420g
- ½ cup Coconut oil (melted) 110g
- 4 tsp Baking powder
- ¾ tsp Sea salt
- 2 tsp Cinnamon optional
Strawberry Filling
- 5 cups Frozen strawberries 560g
- ¼ cup Organic cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Arrowroot powder can sub cornstarch or tapioca starch
- ½ tsp Sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a 9x9 Square Baking Pan with parchment paper.
- Mash your bananas in a large mixing bowl until they are runny with only small chunks remaining. Add your melted coconut oil to the bananas and stir to combine.
- Add the oats, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt on top of the banana mixture, and give the dry ingredients a stir on top to spread out the baking powder and salt. Then fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until evenly combined.
- Spread half of the oat crust mixture evenly over the bottom of the lined baking pan. Pack it down with the back of your spatula, and push it into the corners evenly.
- Prepare your filling by combining all of your "Strawberry Filling" ingredients into a bowl. Stir well and then scrape the filling out onto the bottom oat crust layer in the lined baking pan. Spread out the strawberries to cover the oat crust in an even layer.
- Then, scrape out the remainder of the oat crust topping over the strawberries. Use the back of your spatula again to pack it down tightly over top of the strawberries.
- Place the baking pan into your preheated oven and bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven when the middle of the bars looks set, but slightly more moist than the edges. Do not overbake, or the oats will dry out quickly. The bars will set as they cool.
- Let the bars cool completely to set firmly if you want to be able to pick them up and eat on the go. Or dig in while they're still warm for a comforting treat. Enjoy!
Notes
Freeze leftover bars for up to 1 month and defrost on the counter or re heat in the oven for an easy, healthy breakfast that's ready to enjoy any day of the week.