I’d sworn that I was no longer turning on the oven unless I had to, but sometimes you just want a delicious baked good over a cold treat. Especially when it’s grey and dreary and seems like it will never stop raining.

Enter these strawberry oatmeal crumble bars.

These were incredibly easy to make (though a bit messy if you use too small a bowl like I did to mix the crust!), and they’re quite tasty. They’d be equally delicious if you substituted blueberry, blackberry, rhubarb, or any other kind of jam. The sky’s the limit, friends.

Strawberry Oat Crumble Bars

serves 9

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup strawberry (or any other flavor) jam/preserves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º and grease a foil-lined 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
3. To the bowl, add the softened butter; mix with your hands until the mixture becomes crumbly.
4. Reserve a heaping ⅓ to ½ cup of crumble and pour the remaining mixture into the baking dish, pressing into an even layer.
5. Spread the jam onto the crumble to about ¼ inch of the sides (if you spread it too far, the jam will stick to the foil). Top with remaining crumble, and gently press into the jam.
6. Bake in the oven for 35-40* minutes.
7. Allow to cool. Lift the foil from the pan, gently remove crumble, and slice into 9 bars. Store in an airtight container.

*I baked mine for just 35, and they were a little crumbly in the center—40, possibly even a minute or 2 more, would have done the trick. Just keep an eye on them to ensure the crust doesn’t burn or dry out.

I’ve actually never made any kind of dessert like this (I’m more of a cake or cookie girl), but both Mark and I thought these were delicious. While they do have a fair amount of sugar and butter, the whole wheat pastry flour and oats make them pretty substantial and somewhat of a good choice. Plus, if you made your own jam, I’m sure you could limit the sugar (and additives) even more, possibly turning them into a good choice for breakfast.

Although I don’t have a day’s worth of eats to share (my meals this week were fairly standard fare that you’ve seen dozens of other times), I’m linking up with What I Ate Wednesday. These bars are definitely something I’ve eaten this week. 😉

Don’t forget to stop by and check out other blogs with their drool-worthy meals—and happy hump day!