Oatmeal Cookie Berry Bars

Finally, a cookie bar you can easily take anywhere! These are a cookie-ish twist on classic oatmeal crumble bars, with a base that won’t actually crumble in your hands.

The story

Normally, I’m a chocolate girl. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate and even love fruity desserts. I mean, they were always okay. But they were never chocolate.

Then I got pregnant. Fruit was by far my biggest craving. Sure, I went through a phase where I ate nothing but sourdough toast. But fruit was my loyal companion the whole pregnancy. In fact, I preferred it over chocolate. Shhhh.

Tbh, I had vanilla froyo with mounds of fruit for lunch on several occasions that first trimester. You do what you gotta do those first few months.

Anyway, I have a new appreciation for fruity desserts, especially now that it’s summer. You can do so much with fruit, and there’s the added bonus of feeling like your dessert is healthy.

While these berry crumble bars aren’t exactly a health food, they are the perfect dessert for summer. And they’re pretty failsafe. If you don’t have time to let them cool or they just don’t set up well, you can scoop them into bowls and top with ice cream.

In fact, that’s exactly what we did last year when I made these on the Fourth of July. It led to a hearty debate over what the best vanilla ice cream is. Did you know not all vanillas are created equal? I didn’t, until I got pregnant and actually cared about anything vanilla flavored.

The verdict? Tillamook Vanilla Bean.

About this recipe

My desire to actually know what I’m talking about with this blog has led to a lot of weird and sometimes mundane research. You may not care, and that’s okay. Just skip to my tips below or even just the recipe itself. I’m not offended.

That’s why I label my posts the way I do. I want to give you fair warning that I’m about to launch into a story related, however loosely, to the recipe and let you choose to read or skip.

This recipe uses the creaming method of batter/dough creation. I had no idea there were so many methods or that they affect the finished dessert so much. With cakes, your method matters most. But I still feel using the creaming method here—where you mix butter and sugar until fluffy before adding other wet or dry ingredients—makes a bit of difference. I’ve tried similar recipes over the years, and most call for making a dough that’s crumble-pie-topping-esque. But I’ve never gotten these to actually form into cuttable, handheld bars until I tried a more cookie-like method with softened butter. It worked. Science, who knew?

Sugar matters! Because I like to test how little sugar I can use before a dessert 1) doesn’t taste good and 2) doesn’t form correctly, I’ve been learning as much as I can about it in baking. I could go on all day about subbing honey or sugar’s role in a dessert rising, but I won’t. I’ll just say I had to experiment with using all brown sugar in this recipe, so trust me that it uses the least amount needed for a balanced sweetness and well-formed crust.

I use a lot of oats, which usually makes a dough crumbly or dry. But the creaming method helps it stick. So you can feel even more healthy about this dessert. ;)

Tips for this recipe

Sugar

Yes, more on sugar. :P If you’d rather use white sugar, you can! It’s best to use at least 1/3 brown sugar in the dough to get that caramel-y taste, but for the rest you can sub granulated white or coconut sugar (or a sugar substitute you’re confident baking with—I make no promises on the results).

Butter

Avoid softening in the microwave, as it almost always melts part of the butter. Also, avoid letting soften to too much, as we need non-melted butter here to create that perfect crust. As always, use European butter for a creamier bar.

Use old-fashioned oats

Quick cook oats will create a more chewy, soft dough. And while that’s why they’re perfect in cookies, they won’t be great for a bar base.

Mix the oats by hand

Usually, mixing by hand in a blended dough is dangerous, as your warm hands can melt the butter, thus altering the science of the recipe. However, most recipes like mine call for melted butter, so it’s perfectly safe. Plus, it’s easier and kinda like playing with play-dough.

Fruit

I prefer frozen fruit because it’s less-expensive and I always have some on hand. You can use fresh, but be sure to rinse it and also stir until it begins to macerate.

Also, you can absolutely use any berry here. I used blueberries in the batch photographed because it’s what I had on hand. But I actually think it tasted a bit better when I used the berry blend that has no strawberries (they get too watery and don’t macerate the same as smaller berries).

Oatmeal Cookie Berry Bars

• prep time: 20 minutes
• cook time: 55 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: 16

Ingredients:

Berry Layer

• 12 ounces frozen berries (avoid strawberries as they get watery and don't break down to small enough pieces)
• 1/4-1/2 cup packed brown sugar, to taste
• 1 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon flour

Oatmeal Cookie Layer

• 1/2 cup salted butter
• 3/4-1 cup packed brown sugar (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, I tend to omit in summer)
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats

Instructions:

1. Prep the berries. Place frozen berries in a bowl. Sprinkle with cornstarch and flour and stir until coated. Add brown sugar and stir to distribute. It will be grainy, but as the berries thaw, they will macerate and create a sauce to dissolve the sugar. Stir again at least twice as you make the cookie layer.
2. Preheat oven to 325*. Line an 8x8 square baking pan with foil and grease with butter or baking spray.
3. Make the cookie crust. Cream butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with electric beaters) on low until combined. Scrape bowl and beat on medium until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and beat on medium until combined.
4. Add flour (and cinnamon, if using) and beat on low until just combined, careful not to over mix. Add oats and mix with hands or spatula until combined.
5. Evenly press about 3/4 of dough into bottom of pan. (You should have a little more than a cup left for the topping.)
6. Stir berries one last time. They should have begun to thaw and create a sauce with the sugar. Spread over dough in pan. Drop small pieces of the remaining dough on top of berry layer.
7. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until bars are set and the topping behinds to turn golden brown. Let cool until close to room temperature. Remove from pan by pulling up foil edges then peeling foil away (should come off easily). I highly suggest you cut on a cutting board so you don't ruin your pan. :)

Enjoy!