These raspberry oatmeal bars are vegan, gluten free, made with nutritious ingredients, and they are my favorite fruity dessert! I have been making them for years, and they have been a favorite here on my site for awhile. However, I recently have been tinkering with the recipe, and I updated it to make it even better. I am releasing this new version with the updates and I hope you all like it even more than the first one!
What you will need for the bars
For the crust
- 1 cup almond flour: you can purchase almond flour at pretty much any grocery store. This is what it looks like if you haven't seen it before. In the original recipe, I used non blanched almond flour, but when remaking it, I realized that blanched almond flour has a better texture for this recipe, so that is the one that I recommend using. However, both will work, of course.
- 1 ½ cup oats: use any kind of oats you have on hand.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup maple syrup: any kind of liquid sweetener will work. You can also use agave or honey. Don't use granulated sugar because it will throw off the balance of dry to wet ingredient and the crust will not bake correctly.
- ¼ cup coconut oil: make sure the coconut oil is melted when you add it to the recipe. You can melt it in the microwave for 1 minute. You can also use vegan butter, if you don't have coconut oil.
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
For the filling
- 3 cups raspberries: I measured this in grams as well to be exact and it came out to 370 grams. You can use fresh or frozen raspberries. I uses frozen ones, because they are more affordable. If you are using fresh raspberries, cut down the cornstarch used to 2 tablespoon from 3.5. This is because frozen raspberries have a lot more liquid (because of the ice frozen on them) and require less thickening agent (which is what the cornstarch is).
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- â…“ cup coconut sugar: you can also use another kind of granulated sugar like white sugar or brown sugar. I like using coconut sugar because of the taste and the slightly higher nutritional content.
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 3.5 tablespoon cornstarch
How to make the raspberry oatmeal bars
Start by making the crust. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, oats, baking powder, maple, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Mix them well.
Line the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with parchment paper and grease it lightly with some coconut oil.
Then add the crust to the pan, but save about ½ cup of the mixture for the top layer.
Use a spatula or your fingers to pat down the crust until you have a tightly packed, even layer.
Now it's time to make your filling. To a pan, add the raspberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, coconut sugar, and vanilla.
Note: If using fresh raspberries, cut the corn starch down to 2 tbsp.
Cook them over medium heat and use a potato masher to mash up the berries as best as you can. It doesn't have to be perfect but just enough to that they release their juices.
Cook the berry mixture for 3-4 minutes, then add in the cornstarch. Stir everything together for another minute, then remove from heat.
Pour the berry filling on top of the layer of crust. Use a spatula to make sure it's even.
Crumble the remaining ½ cup of crust on top of the raspberries.
Bake the bars for 30-35 minutes at 400F/ 200C.
Remove from the oven and give the bars plenty of time to cool so that the filling can set.
I sliced mine into smaller squares and made 16 bars with this recipe. Store it in the fridge for 5-6 days.
Here is a video showing the process of making the bars
If you like these raspberry oatmeal bars, you might also like:
Raspberry Oatmeal Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 ½ cup oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
Filling Ingredients
- 3 cups raspberries 370 grams- I used frozen
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- â…“ cup coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 3.5 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Start by making the crust. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, oats, baking powder, maple, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Mix them well.
- Line the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with parchment paper and grease it lightly with some coconut oil.
- Then add the crust to the pan, but save about ½ cup of the mixture for the top layer.
- Use a spatula or your fingers to pat down the crust until you have a tightly packed, even layer.
- Now it's time to make your filling. To a pan, add the raspberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, coconut sugar, and vanilla.
- Note: If using fresh raspberries, cut the corn starch down to 2 tbsp.
- Cook them over medium heat and use a potato masher to mash up the berries as best as you can. It doesn't have to be perfect but just enough to that they release their juices.
- Cook the berry mixture for 3-4 minutes, then add in the cornstarch. Stir everything together for another minute, then remove from heat.
- Pour the berry filling on top of the layer of crust. Use a spatula to make sure it's even.
- Crumble the remaining ½ cup of crust on top of the raspberries.
- Bake the bars for 30-35 minutes at 400*F/ 200*C.
- Remove from the oven and give the bars plenty of time to cool so that the filling can set.
- I sliced mine into smaller squares and made 16 bars with this recipe. Store it in the fridge for 5-6 days.
Video
Nutrition
How do I store the raspberry oatmeal bars?
Store these in an airtight container in the fridge.
How long will the bars last?
These last 5-6 days when stored in the fridge.
Can I use a different flour if I don't have almond flour?
I think almond flour is so perfect for this recipe because of the nutty flavor it adds, but if you don't have any on hand, you can also use oat flour instead, or replace the almond flour with all purpose or whole wheat flour (except then the recipe won't be gluten free). I have not tried this recipe with coconut flour, so I am not sure if it will work in this recipe.
Can I use a different fruit in this recipe?
Yes! I actually love using blueberries for this recipe as well and some readers have told me that they have tried this recipe with strawberries and loved it. Just make sure to measure the fruit by weight and measure it out to about the 370 grams that I used in this recipe.
Should I use fresh or frozen raspberries?
You can definitely use either fresh or frozen raspberries. I really prefer using frozen ones because I find that they are so much cheaper, and you can have perfectly ripe ones even when they are not in season. The only difference when using fresh berries is that you should use a little bit less cornstarch- use 2 tablespoon instead of 3.5 when using fresh berries.
Is this recipe vegan and gluten free?
Yes, it is both vegan and gluten free. If you have an allergy, make sure you use ingredients that are certified to be made in a gluten free facility.
How many bars does this recipe make?
I cut these bars in either 9 or 16 pieces, so it depends on how you cut them. I usually cut them into 16.
What is a good topping for this recipe?
I love eating these bars just how they are because they are so delicious, but they also taste amazing if you warm them up in the microwave for several seconds and top them with dairy-free vanilla ice cream.
Ana
Hi, what type of oats are you using for the recipe? Is it quick oats?
Gaby Dimova
Any oats will do! I used regular old fashioned 🙂
Marilyn
Is it possible to make these without the maple syrup ? Trying to eat as little sugar as possible
Heather
Hi. These were delicious! My children and I loved them. My daughter and I have food allergies, so this was perfect for us. Might you know the nutritional values, such as calories? Thank you!
Gaby Dimova
Hi there! I am so happy that you all liked them! 🙂 I am not sure about the calories unfortunately, but a lot of people ask so I might go ahead and calculate those if that would be useful! 🙂
Heather Paar
I cooked at 400 for 40 min and they came out pretty crispy! Either too hot or too long for my oven.
Gaby Dimova
I hope you liked how they turned out! 🙂
Aurora
These were so easy to make and just so good
Gaby Dimova
Hi Aurora 🙂 I am so happy to hear that you like them- thank you so much for your feedback 🙂
Holly
I cant wait to try these!! Can you use a substitute for the coconut sugar such as honey or agave syrup? Thank you!
Gaby Dimova
You can definitely substitute the coconut sugar, but you're going to want to substitute for granulated sugar and not liquid (like honey or agave) just because the texture won't work right if you do. I hope that helps!