Oatmeal Bars

allforyouuApril 2, 2024

0 17 2 minutes read

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7×11-inch baking dish with butter or shortening.
In a large bowl, whisk together the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Stir in the egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Split the mixture in half and pat half of it into the prepared baking dish.
Warm the raspberry jam in a saucepan over low heat. Using an offset spatula, spread the jam over the oatmeal mixture.
Crumble the rest of the oatmeal mixture over the raspberry jam. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
For best results, let the bars fully cool before slicing.

Grease the baking dish well. I like to grease it with shortening. Jam is sticky, and it needs a good coat of butter or shortening.
If you don’t have a 7×11-inch baking dish, use a 9×9-inch baking dish.
For optimal flavor and taste, use rolled oats, not quick oats or steel-cut oats.
Any flavor jam works with this recipe, including strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, peach, apricot, or cherry.
You can replace 50% of the butter with almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, or coconut oil.
Let the dish cool before slicing, so the bars hold together well.
Because of the jam, cover and refrigerate the bars after they cool.
For chocolate chip oatmeal bars, skip the jam and add 2/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Spoon them into the baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Store the bars at room temperature in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
To freeze, first fully cool the bars. Then slice them and layer them in a sturdy freezer-safe container with wax paper or parchment paper between the layers. Thaw in the fridge overnight.