berry streusel bars

These easy healthy berry streusel bars combine two layers of almond oat streusel and one thick layer of berry filling. These dessert bars are vegan. If using certified gluten free oats, they're gluten free as well!

Healthy Berry Streusel Bars

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (23 milliliters) water

(about 300 grams) fresh

(60 milliliters) pure maple syrup

Tablespoon (11 grams) coconut sugar, brown sugar, or granulated sugar

(200 grams) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick oats

cinnamon

almond butter

(60 grams) unsweetened applesauce

(60 milliliters) melted coconut oil

(64 grams) sliced or chopped almonds and 1 extra Tablespoon oats

Berry Filling

Whisk the cornstarch and water together until all the cornstarch has dissolved. (I just use a fork to mix– very easy.) Place the cornstarch mixture, berries, maple syrup, and coconut sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture as it cooks. Smash some of the berries against the bottom/sides of the pot as you stir, gently breaking them up. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. After 2 minutes, remove pan from the heat and allow to cool completely. The mixture will thicken as it cools. To speed up the cooling process, feel free to cover and refrigerate it after it slightly cools for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. I recommend making the berry filling in advance so it can cool completely. Berry filling can be cold or room temperature when you assemble the bars&#8211; you just don&#8217;t want it hot or warm.

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.

Make the crust/streusel

Pulse the oats in a food processor or blender until they&#8217;re slightly broken up. (For whole oats, about 10 pulses. For quick oats, about 5-6 pulses.) Pour into a bowl and stir in the cinnamon, almond butter, maple syrup, applesauce, and melted coconut oil. Mixture will be thick and wet.

Using the back of a flat spatula or a spoon, press about 3/4 of the crust/streusel mixture tightly and firmly down into the pan. Make sure it’s flat and very compact, which helps guarantee the bars will hold their shape. Spread cooled berry filling evenly on top.

For Topping

Mix the sliced almonds into the remaining crust/streusel mixture. Sprinkle all over the top of the berry filling. Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of oats evenly on top. (Helps soak up some moisture.)

Bake for 27-31 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and place baking pan on a cooling rack. Allow bars to cool completely. After about 1 hour cooling at room temperature, you can place the pan in the refrigerator to help speed the cooling up. Lift the cooled bars out using the parchment paper overhang on the sides. Cut into squares.

Cover and store leftover bars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Made these earlier today- Absolutely DIVINE!! Sally, I love your recipes. Everything I have made from your site always comes out absolutely delicious. Thank you!

These easy healthy berry streusel bars combine two layers of almond oat streusel and one thick layer of berry filling. These dessert bars are vegan. If using certified gluten-free oats, they're gluten free as well!

(213 grams) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick oats

(56 grams) coconut oil, melted (or use melted butter)

Whisk the cornstarch and water together until all the cornstarch has dissolved. (I just use a fork to mix—very easy.) Place the cornstarch mixture, berries, maple syrup, and coconut sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture as it cooks. Smash some of the berries against the bottom/sides of the pot as you stir, gently breaking them up. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. After 2 minutes, remove pan from the heat and allow to cool completely. The mixture will thicken as it cools. To speed up the cooling process, feel free to cover and refrigerate it after it slightly cools for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. I recommend making the berry filling in advance so it can cool completely. Berry filling can be cold or room temperature when you assemble the bars—you just don&#8217;t want it hot or warm.

I made these for my teacher because she prefers healthier desserts and refined sugar-free or low sugar desserts. SHE LOVED THEM! She shared them with some of the other teachers and they all loved them too! My dad was eating them straight out of the oven too, and loving them. He said that they were better than his mother's cherry cobbler :) I was a little unsure about them. I have never worked with almond butter before, and it seemed very thick, but it all turned out great! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe, Sally!

My go to recipe for a healthy and super delicious bar using the wild berries we picked last summer.  They also travel well for a picnic or hike.  I added an extra cup of berries and didn't change anything else and it still comes out perfect.

I was craving for something indulgent but slightly a guilt-free snack and found this recipe.  I made a few modifications. I love ginger, so I added candied ginger and fresh ginger to the fruit compote. Also added an extra 1/2 heaping tsp of cinnamon and used cinnamon flavored applesauce.   Did not have maple syrup, so I substituted honey.  Added about 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, flax seed, dried cherries, and toasted nuts.   I added turbinado sugar and toasted coconut flakes to the almond/oats topping.  I didn’t have an 8” pan and used a 6” square pan instead.  ( Put the extra granola mixture in another pan and made granola clusters. ) The streusel bar baked for about 1 1/2 hrs.  The streusel bars was not as sweet as I prefer, probably bc of all my add-ins. Next time, would add another 1/4 cup of honey.  Thank you for another wonderful recipe, SBA!

This recipe is spot-on, filling, and sweet enough for dessert. I'm posting this to say I used peanut butter, and the peanut butter taste was subtle enough that two people who had it (who don't especially like peanut butter) had multiple portions. Served warm it's even more sumptuous. Thank you for the gluten free recipe!

These were really good! Was trying to find something "lighter" to bring to the potluck breakfast at my daughter's Little Flowers girls' group meeting. All the grocery store had was no sugar added almond butter, but they still tasted great and were sweet enough. Fruit compote in the middle was delicious. The bars held their shape well, the crumble on top (mostly) stayed on when slicing, and there wasn't a single bar left after the meeting.

Taste is very good but won’t hold its shape. I really packed the oat mixture down but the bars are falling apart so not sure what happened since I followed the instructions. I did use peanut rather than almond butter but that seemed to be allowed in the substitutions.

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Top 2 berry streusel bars recipes from across the web

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Healthy Berry Streusel Bars

Healthy Berry Streusel Bars

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