I guess I’ve been on a bit of a breakfast kick lately. I usually like my weekday breakfasts to be relatively no-fuss yet healthy affairs and these bars certainly fit the bill. They do look a bit deceptive, however. If you are expecting a sweet sugar fix, please turn away now. These aren’t dessert necessarily, but that’s not to say that they don’t go well with a cuppa or two in the evening – because they most certainly do. And I’m sure if you did want to sweeten things a bit, serving a square topped with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream would be the proper thing to do.
Now that we’re into spring, I’ve got my eye on the things in my freezer. I still have quite a few berries leftover from last summer and I want to get things emptied so that I can soon fill it up with new berries. I saw the original recipe over at The Kitchen Sink which used blueberries, but I bypassed the blueberries and dug out a container of raspberries and another of blackberries knowing they’d be so perfect here. They were. A luscious mouthful of summer berries against a wholesome crust? Pretty much perfect.
And elsewhere….you can find me whipping up a frenzy out of a nearly empty refrigerator. In my latest post for ReadyMade I get thrifty in the kitchen and make a pretty simple (yet delicious) meal out of zucchini & mushrooms served over millet. So head on over and take a peek!
raspberry/blackberry oat breakfast bars
(recipe adapted from The Kitchen Sink)
2 c old-fashioned organic rolled oats
2 c whole-wheat organic pastry flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t ground cinnamon
6 T cold unsalted butter
1 c plain organic yogurt
1 T lemon juice
2 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 c white sugar
1 T cornstarch
3 c fresh or frozen organic raspberries/blackberries
2 T raspberry jam
2 T organic raw sugar1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Butter a 9×13″ glass pan and line with 1 piece of parchment paper, allowing the paper to hang over the sides. Butter parchment and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, blend together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in the oats & the cinnamon. Chop the butter into small pieces and drop into the flour/oat mixture. Use your hands to blend until the dough resembles small peas.
3. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla together. Pour this mixture into the flour/butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it just comes together.
4. In another bowl, roughly chop up 2 cups of the berries and mix with cornstarch and white sugar. Toss in the remaining berries.
5. Press a bit more than half of the dough into the prepared 9×13″ pan and spread the berry mixture over top. Dollop the raspberry jam over top of the berries and crumble over the remaining dough over top. Sprinkle with raw sugar.
6. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the berries are bubbling and the oats are golden brown. Remove from oven to cool completely before cutting into squares.
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Hoo boy, I am so glad you posted a recipe for these! These are the bars you mentioned on Twitter, right?
I am baking these very, very soon… I hope I have some berries in the fridge!
This looks amazing! I love oatmeal when it’s prepared like this with berries! I have one remaining container of frozen raspberries in the freezer from last summer which I can use for this! I’m seeing various fresh berries in the markets lately but they are imported from Mexico, which I try to avoid purchasing. I rather wait until Ontario’s berry season arrives to indulge in a mixed berry dessert!
mmm that looks really good!
Yes, Samantha, this is the very recipe I mentioned on Twitter. Make it, it’s a goodie.
Bijoux, I always buy my berries fresh and I try to pick them myself whenever possible. I always have a ton in the freezer so that I can use them throughout the winter.
Thanks Briana, it is 🙂
I’ve been looking for a not-too-sweet breakfast bar recipe, and this looks like it could be just about perfect. Great use for all those freezer berries I’ve been hoarding 🙂
I’ve still got a freezer full of berries too, and this sounds like my kind of breakfast!
Um, yes please! These will be made promptly (and devoured nearly as promptly. ahem.). Thanks!
These look amazing. I LOVE anyt oat/fruit/breakfast combo so will have to give these a try!
I would adore these for dessert. Supersweet things late at night just set off some monster cravings to eat everything in the house. But these I’m pretty sure would satisfy my sweet tooth without making me go crazy. I love fruity desserts!
Hello there! These bars look delicious. I love berries and this is perfect for breakfast.
Magda
Oh man, I really wish I still had some of last summer’s berries for this! Looks like a lovely breakfast.
yes please!!
Hey,the oatmeal bars look lovely and they make for a wholesome meal as well!You have a lovely blog!Do drop by mine sometime!
Yummy! I think if you twisted my arm hard enough, I’d say yes to these with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. OUCH, OUCH, stop twisting already!
i just made these bars — and they are soooo good, a wholesome treat!
Looks delicious AND healthy! We have to give this one a try. Thanks so much for posting some of the most deliciously healthy looking recipes on the web.
Lo, this is the perfect not-too-sweet breakfast treat! Enjoy.
Jacqui, it’s a good one!
Julie, I hope you love them muchly.
Beth, then these were made just for you.
Ha, forget about monster cravings, Joanne. These bars will quell those cravings for good.
Thanks Magda.
Codfish, I really seem to hang on to things that I can’t replace…so I always have a rather large stash of berries in the freezer.
You’re welcome, vanillasugar.
Wit, you could eat them for dinner!
Lynn, ice cream. Yes. I’m twisting.
Karen, so glad you made them so quickly!
Ah shucks, Brenda. Thanks!
Fantastic Fantastic and another time fantastic!!!
Ooo love the look of these breakfast bars and how crumbly and jammy they look!
Thanks for the joyful words, przepisy 🙂
Very jammy good, Ashley.
The raspberry oat breakfast bar looks delicious! If wanted to make them for the week, so I can just grab it and go, how long do they last before they start to spoil? The idea of making my own breakfast bars in advance and then having them to go sounds great!
Thanh-Thuy, I’m sure these freeze quite easily so you can make a batch and freeze half.
I made these last weekend for my family. My 8 yr old son, who is the pickiest eater in the house, LOVED these and has been asking me to make more ever since. Thank you for offering us healthy, wholesome recipes that taste good! My entire family is benefiting from my food blog addiction, with your help.
Brenda, so glad to hear this! Yay.
I too have been on the quest for a quick/yummy/healthy/easy breakfast snack (to divert me from the dangerous cream cheese muffins at Prado Cafe). This will fit the bill! The addition of jam is absolutely inspired. And I have cupboards full of jam.
Oooh, now I’m curious about those muffins, Debbra! This is a healthy way to start the morning and who doesn’t love jam?
I just wanted to say that I *heart* your blog. I think you rock.
These were fantastic! I just wanted to note that you’ve skipped a step in the recipe. At no point does it say to make a mixture of the flour, baking soda and salt. As a result, I forgot to add the baking soda and salt (I did figure out that I should put in flour!) – and the result was still delicious – though more of a rasberry topped cookie then a bar. 🙂 I think the non-sweet version is perfect, especially for breakfast – but if people wanted to sweeten it, an alternative to ice cream would be to add some brown sugar to the dough.
Aw shucks, thanks so much Nicole!
MHS, wow, thanks for noticing that. I’ve just fixed the recipe to reflect the missing section. Glad I’ve got some sharp eagle-eyed readers!
THANKYOU!!!! I have four kids who are tired of cereal in the morning.I made these Sunday afternoon and they were ready for monday breakfast, tuesday breakfast and wednesday breakfast.
When I was making these yesterday, I thought the pan was too big when I was trying to press the dough into the bottom, and ditto with the berries- I actually added more berries since I didn’t feel I had enough. Now that I’ve eaten one, I see that the dough wasn’t pressed out enough because the crust is too thick, but the extra berries are good. Next time I would either try to spread out the jam beneath the berries or omit it, I don’t think it added much. Just some feedback!
Tray, so glad you & your kids loved this! Great to hear.
I didn’t find the pan too big at all, but I did give it a good pressing. More berries is always good 🙂
These are just what I’ve been itching to make! They look incredible. Definitely going to give them a try. Thanks!
Just made these yesterday they make a beautiful breakfast today but even better when they are just out of the oven!asbestos mouth permiting!
Hey Kickpleat, would regular white flour work if I don’t have any of the whole wheat? (I know that makes them not-as-healthy, but otherwise would the substitution be okay? And side note, is whole wheat pastry flour different from regular whole wheat flour?)
Thanks for helping me…I’m still learning my way ’round the kitchen! 🙂
Katie, yes, regular all-purpose flour will be just fine. As for ww pastry flour, I like it better because it’s lighter and doesn’t make all your baked goods as heavy as stones. When I have just plain old ww flour, I usually cut it with half white all-purpose flour for baking. I hope that helps you out and I hope you love these bars!
I have been looking for a great breakfast bar to make. I am getting tired of making pancakes for my son. Do you think fresh blueberries work for this with apricot preserves instead of jam?
Beth, definitely!! Give it a go!
This looks so delicious! For some reason my stomach is the absolute worst in the mornings in the sense that it only wants sweet things, but not TOO sweet. I’m soo happy to find a recipe that can tread the fine line 🙂
I have been off work with a terrible cold and nothing sounded good to me, but when I opened the freezer and saw my summer berries staring back at me, I remembered you posted a recipe that might coax me into eating breakfast. Wow, are these ever spectacular! I didn’t have the whole wheat flour, but I have buckwheat flour so I used that and AP flour in equal amounts. It turned a gray-brown color (as buckwheat turns most everything), but man alive these are good! I love that they aren’t cloyingly sweet, too, and you can really taste the berry goodness. Thanks for another home run! 🙂
love your blog. how can I “pin it”? or atleast save it to my recipe box?
Thanks KJ for asking about pinning – well, you can manually do it from pinterest by adding in a link or download the pin bar to your browser and pinning directly from there. I’ll be adding a pin it button shortly!!!
Phew! I’ve added in a Pin It button to every post 🙂 Enjoy!!