Strawberries are so abundant right now and when you feel like you have too many of them because you picked too many (or you just bought a lot) this is the perfect way to use them up. The base starts with oats so it’s not too rich. And the filling thickens up to become almost jam like. Topped with this amazing streusel, which really is the best part and what makes this such a treat!

12 servings / 20 mins prep time / 3 hours total time

Ingredients

Oat bar

       ¼ cup butter, melted

       1 cup flour

       1 cup quick cooking oats

       1/3 cup maple syrup

Filling

       2 ½ cups strawberries, chopped

       1 tsp flour

       1 tbsp lemon juice

       1 tsp vanilla

Streusel topping

       ¼ cup butter, melted

       1/3 cup brown sugar

       1 tbsp sugar

       ½ tsp cinnamon

       2/3 cup flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

In a bowl add your oat bar toppings and combine together until it almost comes together (it might look a bit crumbly).

Add the oat bar mixture to an 8×8 oven safe dish and press down the mixture evenly, so the whole bottom dish is covered.

Next, in a bowl add all the filling ingredients and mix until combined. Once evenly combined add on top of the oat bar.

To make the streusel combine the melted butter with the sugars and cinnamon. Mix until evenly combined. Then add the flour and combine until it represents a crumble (it’s okay if some pieces are more combined then others).

Sprinkle the streusel on top of the strawberry filling evenly.

Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Allow to cool completely and then transfer to fridge for 2 hours. After 2 hours, slice up and serve with ice cream or eat on its own!

Note: It is very important that you let this cool completely before digging in. The bars need to be completely cooled to firm up, if you eat right away it will fall apart.