I love to use local strawberries in homemade sorbet, on spinach salads with bacon and feta and with farmers market teacakes topped with fresh whipped cream. I also love to make strawberry oatmeal bars to serve for breakfast or as an after school snack.
My version of strawberry oatmeal bars uses fresh berries in a quick filling rather than strawberry preserves. I also like to top them with sliced almonds. And, I use white-whole wheat flour and less butter than many recipes so they’re a little healthier.
This is an easy and tasty use of the season’s bounty. Enjoy!
Almond-oatmeal bars with fresh Louisiana strawberries
Makes 24
For crust:
1 ½ cup rolled oats
1 ½ cup white whole wheat flour (such as King Arthur)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
For strawberry filling:
16 oz. (2 cups) fresh Louisiana strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
Topping:
½ cup almond slices
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
First, prepare crust by combining all crust ingredients in a food processor and pulsing until the mixture resembles course meal. Alternative: combine dry crust ingredients in a large bowl (oats through cinnamon) and cut in butter evenly with a pastry blender. Set aside.
Next prepare filling by washing and coring strawberries. Combine berries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Into the bottom, pour half of crust mixture and spread evenly. Pour strawberry filling on top. Pour remainder of crust mixture on top of berry filling, covering it entirely. Top evenly with almond slices. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Store in refrigerator.
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