Healthy Strawberry Crumb Bars Recipe
These healthy strawberry crumb bars use oat and almond flour and fresh strawberries along with pure maple syrup for a natural sweetener. They’re a much healthier alternative to traditional strawberry crumb bars!
This strawberry crumb bar recipe features delicious and nutritious fruit layered with a crumbly streusel topping. Make these scrumptious strawberry oatmeal bars for a healthy dessert, or to share at a p potluck or picnic.
The Best Healthy Strawberry Crumb Bars
Yes, I said the best. For something made with such healthy ingredients, these bars knock it straight out of the ballpark in both flavor and texture.
Are These Strawberry Crumble Bars Really Healthy?
You betcha’! There is no refined sugar used at all. Just healthy, pure maple syrup. And instead of using strawberry jam, as many recipes do, you’ll be using real, fresh strawberries.
Are These Strawberry Crumble Bars Gluten-Free?
They are! But you do have to make sure that you purchase oat flour labeled as gluten-free, because, although oats are naturally gluten-free, they can be full of gluten thanks to cross-contamination at processing plants that also process wheat.
Are These Strawberry Crumble Bars Vegan?
They are if you use vegan butter! Everything else is naturally vegan.
Can These Be Made Dairy-Free?
For sure! As with making them vegan, you’ll simply substitute the butter for either a dairy-free butter substitute or for coconut oil.
About The Strawberries
You wouldn’t think strawberries would be a hot topic, but when you are making strawberry crumb bars, people have questions, and I have answers!
Can I Use Frozen Strawberries?
You can if you thaw them first. This is easily done in a microwave.
Can You Freeze Fresh Strawberries?
You can! If you have extra fresh berries left over after making this, you can simply freeze them on a cookie sheet, and then transfer them to a freezer-safe container.
How Long Can You Freeze Strawberries?
Fresh strawberries can be frozen for up to one year. They will hold up better if you remove all moisture and as much air as possible before freezing them. In other words, only freeze dry berries, and make sure to squeeze as much air out of any zipper-top bag you store them in.
Recipe Variations
While these bars are pretty straightforward, there are a few alterations you can make to this recipe.
Can I Use Different Berries For This Recipe?
You can! Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are all great options!
What Else Can I Add To This?
If you like, you can add some chopped nuts or even chia seeds to the crumb topping for a little extra crunch and nutrition.
You can also add a teaspoon vanilla extract to the strawberry filling if you wish.
About The Oats
Never use steel-cut oats in this recipe, unless you are grinding them up for flour.
Can I Use Quick Oats In This Crumble Recipe?
In short, no. quick oats won’t hold up as well. Plus, they tend to soak up liquid much easier than regular oats, so you run the risk of them not holding up texture-wise in baking. Use traditional or “old fashion” oats. Also known as rolled oats.
Can I Make Homemade Oat Flour In A Blender?
You can! A food processor can work too. You may have to blend for a while to get the correct consistency, but most newer appliances will do a good job of making flour out of oats. The higher power your blender is, the better it will work.
About The Ingredients
Almond flour – Make sure this is blanched almond flour. Not almond meal. You don’t want almond skins in this.
Oat flour – Purchase gluten-free oat flour if this is a need.
Traditional Oats – Again, don’t forget to look for gluten-free if you need it.
Salt – I used pink Himalayan salt, but use whatever salt you normally bake with.
Butter – melted, or use virgin coconut oil melted to a liquid state.
Pure maple syrup – Use the real stuff. The grade isn’t all that important. Use what you have on hand.
Fresh strawberries – cleaned and de-stemmed. See the instructions above if you only have frozen strawberries.
Arrowroot powder – or cornstarch.
Lemon juice – this can be bottled or freshly squeezed. If using fresh squeezed, consider adding the zest of the lemon as well for some extra lemony zing.
How To Make Healthy Strawberry Crumble Bars
Preheat the oven to 375 F, line a 9×12 inch pan with parchment paper and measure all your ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the almond flour, oat flour, rolled oats, salt, maple syrup, and melted butter (or oil). Mix by hand for about 5 minutes or until the mixture forms a dough. Reserve ¼ cup of the mixture for the topping and set aside.
Transfer the remaining dough mixture to the baking pan. Press it to form the bar base. (you should aim for about a ½ inch thickness.).Bake it for about 5-7 minutes or until it looks golden brown. Set it aside.
While the crust is baking, coarsely chop the strawberries and put them in a pot over medium-low heat. Add the starch (arrowroot or cornstarch), lemon juice, and maple syrup.
Stir until the strawberries soften. It should take about 5-8 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened and the strawberries release some of their juices.
Pour the sweet strawberry filling on top of the bar base, using a spoon or spatula to spread it evenly over the base.
Crumble the reserved dough into a crumb mixture. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top of the filling, covering it as evenly as possible. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the crumbles on top look golden brown.
Allow bars to cool completely before cutting into them, otherwise, they will fall apart. To speed up this process you can store this on a heat-safe surface in the fridge.
Serve as is, or over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
How To Store Strawberry Crumb Bars
In the fridge: you can store these strawberry oatmeal bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
In the freezer: these strawberry crumble bars are freezer-friendly. If packed well, they will last up to about 4 months in the freezer.
How To Serve These Healthy Strawberry Crumb Bars
These are great on their own, or you can serve them over vanilla ice cream, or even with some slices of additional fresh fruit. If packed well, they make a great lunchbox treat as well.
Recipe Supplies
For this recipe, you’ll need a few supplies, some of which are, a medium pot, a baking pan, and a storage container. Click on any of the images here to be taken to that product on Amazon. (Affiliate links). Other supplies are listed in the recipe card below.
More Healthy Bar Cookie Recipes
More Healthy Strawberry Dessert Recipes
SUBSCRIBE
Remember to subscribe to my free newsletter to receive all my latest recipes in your inbox. Click here to sign up!
Healthy Strawberry Crumb Bars Recipe Card
Healthy Strawberry Crumb Bars
Equipment
- 1 9×12 inch baking pan
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
- 1 Medium pot
Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cups almond flour
- 1½ cups oat flour
- ¾ cup oats
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ cup butter (melted, or virgin coconut oil in liquid state)
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
Strawberry Filling
- 1 lb. fresh strawberries (cleaned and de-stemmed)
- 3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 1 tbsp. arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, line a 9×12 inch pan with parchment paper, and measure all your ingredients.
Crust And Topping
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the almond flour, oat flour, rolled oats, salt, maple syrup, and melted butter (or oil). Mix by hand for about 5 minutes or until the mixture forms a dough. Reserve ¼ cup of the mixture for the topping and set aside.
- Transfer the remaining dough mixture to the baking pan. Press it to form the bar base. (you should aim for about a ½ inch thickness.).Bake it for about 5-7 minutes or until it looks golden brown. Set it aside.
Strawberry Filling
- While the crust is baking, coarsely chop the strawberries and put them in a pot over medium-low heat. Add the starch (arrowroot or cornstarch), lemon juice, and maple syrup.
- Stir until the strawberries soften. It should take about 5-8 minutes until the mixture is slightly thickened and strawberries release some of their juices.
Assembling The Bars
- Pour the strawberry filling on top of the bar base, using a spoon or spatula to spread it evenly over the base.
- Crumble the reserved dough over the top of the filling, covering it as evenly as possible. Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until the crumbles on top look golden brown.
- Allow bars to cool completely before cutting into them, otherwise, they will fall apart. To speed up this process you can store this on a heat-safe surface in the fridge.
- Serve as is, or over a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
