Strawberry Oat Bars
Why I Love This Recipe
Ingredients You'll Need
Strawberry Filling:
1 pint or two cups overflowing with strawberries
1/4 cup maple syrup, agave, or sweetener of choice
squeeze of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of corn starch or arrowroot powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Oat Bar Layers:
1 cup vegan butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oats
1 to 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Heat oven to 350F.
Slice up your strawberries and remove the green bits. You should have just over two cups, or one pint. Add those to a small sauce pan, and put it on medium heat. Add your sweetener of choice (I used maple syrup) and your squeeze of lemon.
Once they come to a boil, slowly sprinkle in your corn starch or arrowroot starch, while whisking to help avoid clumps. Let your strawberry sauce simmer away until it starts to thicken. It should be like a thin jam consistency. Remove from heat and stir in your vanilla extract.
Measure all of your crust ingredients into a bowl. The vegan butter should be cold.
Use a fork or pastry cutter to mix it all up. If you use a hand mixer, that’s ok, but just be careful not to over mix. Some small chunks of vegan butter here and there are a good thing.
Lightly grease an 8″ x 8″ pan. Pour about half of the oat mixture in the pan and pat down. Pour all of your strawberry sauce on top and spread around to evenly distribute. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture on top of the strawberry sauce, and lightly pat down. Stick it in the over for 30 to 40 minutes, until lightly browned.
