If you are looking for an easy way to use those fresh strawberries, these gluten-free strawberry oatmeal bars make a delicious breakfast or snack. They are full of fresh fruit and your whole family will love this recipe!
Our farmer’s market is full of fresh local strawberries right now. They are big, juicy organic strawberries that burst with flavor when you bite into them. The strawberries in these oatmeal bars are definitely the hero of this snack. One bite of these fruity oatmeal cookie bars, and you will be hooked!
Things I love about these strawberry bars are: You only need a few simple ingredients to make them and they are customizable…use any fruit you have on hand! I have a ton of deliciously easy gluten-free cookie bar recipes on the blog!
Allergen Information:
This strawberry oat bar recipe is gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free (if you skip the optional almonds.) To make this recipe dairy-free, use a plant based butter.
Reader Rave
This is the perfect base recipe! I’ve made them twice now. Both times I mixed fresh strawberries with strawberry preserves. The second time making it, I doubled the recipe and used coconut oil instead of butter and gluten free protein oats!” Teddi F., Pinterest comment
Ingredient Notes:
- Gluten-Free Flour Blend – I tested this recipe with both King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour blends. Any blend should be okay, but avoid any flour with bean flour.
- Gluten-Free Rolled Oats – One important note for using oats when you are on a gluten -free diet. Make sure the oats you use gluten free oat brands. Cross-contamination is a huge issue for oats, and I don’t want anyone to get sick!! Oats themselves are gluten-free, but they are often grown next to wheat.
- Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar – You can use either brown sugar or coconut sugar for a lower glycemic sweetener.
- Baking Powder and Salt – I recommend aluminum-free baking powder.
- Strawberries – Fresh is best, but frozen strawberries are okay to use if you thaw them and drain off the excess liquid.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter.
Step-By-Step Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350º F. Add the crust dry ingredients to a large
Step 2: Mix the melted butter with the dry ingredients and mix it with a large spoon into a crust dough.
Step 3: Press half of the crust mixture into a greased 8×8 pan and press it down to compact it. I like to use this gluten-free baking spray, but you can use an oil spray if you prefer.
Step 4: Wash your strawberries and cut off the green stems. Use a sharp knife to slice the berries in thick slices (3-4 slices per berry.) Layer the fresh strawberries on top of the crust. Again, feel free to use the fruits on hand if you don’t have fresh strawberries.
Add a few layers of juicy strawberries so the flavor really bursts through.
Step 5: Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the top of the strawberries. Bake at 350º F for 25-30 minutes until the strawberries are softened and the bars solidify. (Note: as they cool, they will become more solid.)
Step 6: Put on pot holders remove the gluten-free strawberry oatmeal bars from the oven and allow them to cool on a cooling rack before slicing them.
Variations:
This oatmeal bar recipe works with lots of different fruits! Here are some ideas:
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Strawberry/ Rhubarb
- Peaches/Nectarines
Recipe FAQ:
You can use frozen strawberries in this strawberry bars recipe, but you must prep them so your gluten-free strawberry bars don’t turn out super mushy. Thaw the strawberries and pour out a little of the juice before adding the oatmeal layer.
These bars should keep fresh for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Store leftover bars in an airtight container in your refrigerator. They will keep fresh for four days. You can also freeze these bars. I recommend chilling them in the refrigerator overnight. You can then put slices into a freezer safe zip baggie.
And, if you bought too many strawberries, give these Gluten Free Strawberry Muffins recipes a try too!
More recipes with gluten free oats:
- Gluten Free Chocolate Steel Cut Oats (yes, you can have chocolate for breakfast!)
- Simple and delicious, these Grab and Go Gluten Free Oatmeal Breakfast Bars are perfect for a busy morning.
- If you are into big cookies, this Giant Gluten Free Oatmeal Pizookie Cookie is hard to resist.
- Another delicious breakfast recipe, this How to Make Overnight Oats tutorial, is great for meal prep.
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Include which flour blend you used, or if you changed anything about the recipe. This helps other readers. Thank you!
Quick and Easy Gluten Free Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 ½ cup gluten free rolled oats * see note
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder aluminu,-free
- ¾ cup gluten free flour blend * see note
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups fresh strawberries *see notes for frozen instructions
- ½ cup sliced almonds optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- Spray a 8×8 pan with a gluten free baking spray or oil.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients.
- Add the melted butter to the bowl and mix into a crumbly crust mixture. Press ½ of the mixture to the bottom of the pan to form a crust.
- Add a layer of fresh strawberries on top of the crust.
- Top with remaining crust mixture and bake it for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and let the bars cool.
Video
Notes
- It is critical to use gluten-free oats if you are Celiac. Cross-contamination runs high in regular oats. (Note: Gluten-Free oats are not available in Australia.)
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF and Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
- Several have asked about using frozen strawberries. These have a lot of liquid. I recommend thawing them and draining off the extra liquid before using frozen strawberries.
- These bars will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
There appears to be some liquid missing from this recipe, otherwise there is no need for the baking powder which requires water to react. I have made this several times. The first batch I substituted Splenda/Brown Sugar mix for the brown sugar, which reduces the calories nearly in half. The trouble is they were still too “more-ish” and I ate them all in two days I have reduced the sweetening to one-half and they are still tasty. I found “milling” half the oats in a food processor gives a better texture. Also, one batch with 1/4 cup coconut milk added did have a little more body. I will simply leave out the baking powder next time.
I am glad you have had fun experimenting with the recipe. There definitely are no missing liquids…it could be the gluten free flour blend you are using. Every blend has a different starch to grain ratio and this can affect how much liquid you need.
Making these today for a girls spa day! Can’t wait to try them!
A spa day sounds awesome! Enjoy.
Very yummy!!
I am really glad you loved them Melissa, thank you!
Has anyone made these with coconut palm sugar instead of brown sugar? I prefer that for lower glycemic ingredient.
Hi Jen, I haven’t tried coconut sugar in this recipe, but it should be fine to use based on my experience with this sugar type.
Hi Sandi!
You list this recipe as nuts-free also. But what about coconut oil? Wouldn’t that be classified as nuts-containing? After all , like my doctor said, coconut is a tree nut- it’s just a big tree nut. Also almond milk, used in your recipes, would declassify those recipes as non-nut free? Thanks for all your delicious recipes!! I want to try this one soon!
Mary
Hi Mary, I don’t see where I called this specific recipe nut-free and I don’t claim my recipes on the blog are nut-free in general. I do often offer nut-free options in those recipes that contain nuts…but otherwise my recipes should only be considered gluten free. As to coconut, it is not technically a nut, this link from John Hopkins talks more about this: https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/Patients-Families/Health-Library/HealthDocNew/If-I-Have-a-Nut-Allergy,-Can-I-Eat-Coconut
Delicious recipe. Always looking for good gluten free recipes. I also tried it with adding one mashed ripe banana to the dry mix and it tasted great. I’m wondering if I can also make this recipe using apples instead of strawberries like an apple crumble? … Hmm.
I love your banana variation. I plan to give it a try!
Hello, I do not have a 7X7 pan. Would an 8X8 work? Thanks!
Yes, an 8×8 is perfect.
They are delicious 😋
I am so glad you enjoyed them Jehrica 🙂
Very tasty! I made sure to pack it down and it wasn’t as crumbly.
Question. Because this has fruit in it does it need to be refrigerated?
Hi Lindy, you will definitely want to refrigerate these bars. You can leave them on the counter for a day if it isn’t summer, but they do keep longer in the refrigerator.
Is there a way to make these bars stay together and not be so crumbly? They are delicious, but I have to eat it out of the pan with a spoon because they don’t hold together.
Hi Jordyn, what gluten free flour blend are you using?
Has anyone substituted honey for the sugar? I’m unable to have any brown, granulated, cane or confectioners sugars. I’m going for it and see how it turns out!
Hi Mary, These bars are moist due to the strawberries so you will want to go easy if you use a liquid sweetener. If you try honey, please come back and let us know how it turned out. Have you tried date or coconut sugar?
I just made this recipe following the recipe exactly. The taste is fantastic but it had the consistency of a crisp—too soft to cut into squares. Any idea what could’ve gone wrong?
Thanks
Hi Gaby, I am not sure but my first question is what gluten free flour blend did you use? Some are starch heavy.
Hello! I’m wondering – the almonds are optional. Do I just add them in with the rest of the dry ingredients?
Hi McKynna, I usually sprinkle sliced almonds over the top before baking. Enjoy :-).
I made this with regular flour as we’re not gluten-free, it just looked like a great recipe. They are fantastic! Definitely making again.
I am so glad you liked it and that you could make it the way you like 🙂
Do you refrigerate the leftovers? Made tonight and they were great.
Hi Felicia, The leftovers should keep 2-3 days…you can also freeze them.
Have you tried dates instead of the brown sugar? We use dates a lot in granola and oatmeal. Just wondering how they would hold up in something this?
Hi Kaye, I haven’t but it sounds like a great idea. If you try dates in this recipe, please come back and let us know how they turn out.
These are amazingly delicious! I made 2 dishes to ensure I had some to bring back home from a get-together, but just barely had any to bring back! My only question would be if anyone else has needed to make these as a dairy free option? My daughter needs both dairy and gluten free. I used a dairy free “butter”, but since it was mostly oils, the crust didn’t want to hold together as well as I would have liked. I’m hoping there might be someone with a suggestion as to what else can be used or done, if anything, to help.
Thanks in advance!
I am so glad you liked this recipe Angela. Thank you so much for stopping back to tell me, you made my day. As for a dairy free version, I would use coconut oil, but less. I haven’t tested this recipe with it, but I would maybe start with 1/2 the amount of oil and see how the texture is. Please let us know how it goes :-).