These Quick and Easy Raspberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars Will Disappear Fast

Photo byModern Meal Makeover

These raspberry oatmeal crumble bars have a crunchy oatmeal base, a sweet yet tart fruit center and a golden crumbly, buttery topping. Best of all: you use the same mixture for the bottom and top layers, so the recipe only takes about 15 minutes to prep and half an hour to bake.

Because this recipe uses basic ingredients like flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and raspberry jam, it costs very little to make. I usually make this with an 18-ounce Great Value jar of raspberry jam, which costs less than four dollars (and the recipe doesn't use the whole jar).

While I like raspberry jam with seeds, you can also use the seedless version. Or to save calories, substitute sugar-free raspberry jam for the real stuff and margarine for the butter.

Raspberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars

Ingredients

8 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup raspberry jam

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8-inch baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.

3. Cut the butter into chunks, add it to the bowl with the flour and oat mixture, and use your hands to work the butter into the mixture until it's crumbly.

4. Pour half of the oat mixture (about 1 1/2 cups) into the baking dish and press it down until it forms an even base layer.

5. Drop the jam in spoonfuls onto the pressed oat mixture. Don't worry if it doesn't fully cover the bottom layer and don't try to cover the edges of the dish. If you want to, you can smooth the jam with the back of a spoon.

6. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture on top of the jam.

7.Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

8. Fully cool on a wire rack before serving.

Notes

Double the recipe and use a 9 x 13-inch pan if you want more bars.

If you want to save time, you can use a food processor to mix the oatmeal mixture. Give it a few pulses to mix the dry ingredients then add the cubes of butter and give it a few more pulses. Afterward, you can use your hands to make bigger chunks for the crumbly topping.

I have also made the bars with a stick of melted butter. It's easier and there's not a huge difference in the texture of the oat mixture. You still want to use your hands to shape the topping into a few larger chunks to add texture.