I'm fairly certain these strawberry crumble bars could pass for breakfast -- what with the oats and all -- but they're equally at ease when warm with ice cream for dessert. Your call.
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 35 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Servings 162-inch bars
Author katiebirdbakes.com
Ingredients
For the crust and crumble:
1cupold-fashioned (rolled) oats
3/4cupall-purpose flour
1/2cupbrown sugar, packed
1/2teaspoonsalt
6tablespoonsunsalted butter, melted
1/2teaspoonvanilla extract
For the filling:
2cupsfinely chopped strawberries
2tablespoonssugar
Zest of one lemon(around 1 tablespoon, and you'll use the juice for the glaze)
2teaspoonscornstarch
For the glaze:
1/2cuppowdered sugar
1tablespoonlemon juice(from the lemon you zested above)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with parchment paper (easiest method in my opinion) or grease the pan well, and set aside.
For the crust:
In a large bowl, whisk together oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter and vanilla until it's a well-mixed crumble mixture.
Set aside 1/3 of the mixture; pour the other 2/3 into the prepared pan and press into an even flat layer with your hands. Set aside while you prepare the filling.
For the filling:
In a medium bowl, toss strawberries, sugar, lemon zest, and cornstarch until strawberries are completely and evenly coated. Pour mixture over top of crust and spread into an even layer.
For the crumble:
Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 crumble mixture over top of the strawberries as evenly as you can, but this isn't an exact science. Just make sure it all gets on top.
Bake for 35-37 minutes, until crumble and crust are golden and fruit may be bubbling, but it doesn't have to be. LET COOL COMPLETELY IN THE PAN (I put it in the fridge to help it along) before lifting the parchment paper from the pan to remove the bars, otherwise they will fall apart.
For the glaze:
Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Pour over cooled crumble and cut into bars!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.Bars will keep, covered in the fridge, for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave before serving, or serve cold, whatever you prefer. I like these bars with yogurt in the morning, or with vanilla ice cream for dessert!