Raspberry Oatmeal Bars with Crumble Topping — These easy raspberry bars are made with a delicious oatmeal crumble topping. They require less than 10 minutes of hands-on prep and everyone loves these!
Raspberry Bars with Oatmeal Topping
I love raspberries in all ways. From crisps and crumbles to bread to scones to drinks, I’m a fan. And if there’s a crumble or streusel topping, the happier I am!
It’s even better when the crust and crumble topping are one and the same, so there’s one less step and one less bowl to wash. Which is exactly the case with these supremely easy, no-mixer raspberry oatmeal bars.
I adapted my Blueberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars, which are a reader favorite, and incorporated raspberry preserves instead. You don’t need fresh raspberries for this fruit bar recipe, so you can make the bars year round.
These raspberry bars are soft and slightly chewy, and the hearty oats are a perfect contrast to the sweet jam. The big, buttery, oatmeal crumbles are irresistible.
These dessert bars aren’t overly sweet, and the raspberry flavor shines nicely making them an easy grab-and-go breakfast, snack, or a healthy dessert. They also happen to be egg-free, which may come in handy for some people.
Ingredients in Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
To make these raspberry jam bars with crumble topping, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Old-fashioned oats
- Salt
- Raspberry preserves
How to Make Raspberry Bars with Oat Crumble Topping
Making raspberry oatmeal crumble bars is always a good idea! The crumble topping and crust use the same dough, and because the filling is made with fruit preserves instead of fresh berries the recipe comes together in no time.
Here’s an overview of how the crumble bars are made:
- Make the crust / crumble dough: To a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, two types of sugar, and vanilla extract.
- Then, carefully stir in flour, oats, and a pinch of salt, and stir to combine. At this point, you’ll want to set aside 1 cup of the mixture — you’ll use this later as the oatmeal crumble topping!
- Assemble the bars: Transfer the remaining crumble mixture to a greased 8-inch square pan. Use your fingers or a spatula to pack down the mixture to form a crust.
- Once the crust has been packed down, evenly spread the raspberry preserves over it. Make sure the preserves completely cover the crust!
- Finally, sprinkle the preserves with the reserved crumble topping. Again, make sure to evenly distribute the mixture so that every bite of these raspberry bars will have all the layers.
- Bake the raspberry bars: Bake the raspberry oatmeal bars until the edges are set and the center is lightly golden brown.
- Cool the bars: Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving (the wait is worth it, trust me!).
FAQs
No, quick cook and instant oats are finer and behave like flour, which will make mixture too dry.
Yes, of course! I’ve also made, Blueberry Bars, Strawberry Bars and Cranberry Bars using this same base recipe.
Probably, yes, but I’ve only made this recipe as written. If using fresh raspberries, you may want to cook them in a saucepan over medium heat for a few minutes to break them down slightly and release some of their moisture before smoothing over the crust.
I imagine so, yes! However, you’d need to use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour and NOT something like almond meal or almond flour.
These raspberry bars freeze and reheat beautifully. To freeze these bars, cut them into wedges once fully cooled. Then, place them on a baking tray and set that in the freezer. After 90 minutes or so, the bars should be firm enough to stack in a freezer baggie or freezer-safe container.
When you’re ready to enjoy the frozen raspberry bars, simply set them out on the counter to thaw to room temperature. These bars are delicious as is, but a small scoop of vanilla ice cream would be a welcome addition!
Tips for Making Raspberry Crumble Bars
When stirring together the crust / topping mixture, make sure there are some chunkier bits as well as some sandier bits. You want the oatmeal crumble topping to have lots of texture!
I made this recipe as raspberry bars, but I’m sure you could just as easily use strawberry preserves or another fruit preserve of choice.
I’ve also had readers report success using fresh raspberries instead of raspberry preserves to make these bars. I haven’t tried this myself, but it sounds delish!
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Raspberry Bars with Oatmeal Crumble Topping
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup old-fashioned whole-rolled oats, don’t use quick cook or instant, they’re finer and behave like flour and will make mixture too dry
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- about 12 ounces raspberry preserves, with or without seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- To a large, microwave-safe bowl add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute.
- Add the sugars, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, oats, optional salt, and stir to combine. Mixture will have some larger, well-formed crumble pieces as well as some sandier, dryer bits.
- Set 1 heaping cup mixture aside to be sprinkled on later as crumble topping.
- Transfer remaining mixture to prepared pan, and using a spatula or your fingers, hard-pack the mixture to create an even, smooth, flat crust.
- Evenly spread the raspberry preserves over the crust making sure there’s complete coverage. Preserves should be about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick.
- Evenly sprinkle with the reserved heaping 1 cup crumble topping mixture. Before sprinkling, I squeeze the mixture in my palm to encourage bigger crumble pieces to form.
- Bake for about 30 to 32 minutes, or until edges are set and center has just set and is lightly golden browned. Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
- Adapted from my Blueberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Fruit Desserts:
Blueberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars — Fast, easy, no-mixer bars great for breakfast, snacks, or a healthy dessert! BIG crumbles and juicy berries are irresistible!!
Berry Crumble Bars — Big buttery crumbles top the soft, juicy bars packed with blueberries, raspberries and strawberries! Easy, no mixer recipe that’s irresistible! (Frozen fruit okay!)
Blueberry Pie Bars – Super soft, easy bars with a creamy filling, streusel topping and abundance of juicy blueberries!
Strawberry Lemonade Bars – Imagine crossing lemon bars with a strawberry pie. These easy bars taste like strawberry lemonade!
Tropical Escape Soft Pineapple Crumble Bars — In need of a tropical pineapple dessert? Look no further than these pineapple bars! There’s an abundance of pineapple chunks in every bite, which are surrounded by a custardy, creamy filling!
Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars — The bars are soft, slightly chewy, and the hearty oats with big crumbles are a perfect contrast to the juicy cranberry filling.
Strawberry Custard Bars — These easy, one bowl, no mixer custard bars are perfect for your fresh strawberries. There’s a shortbread crust, topped with diced strawberries, before a custard filling is poured over the the top.
I had these at a potluck in my school. A colleague had made these and we were all fighting over it. Im planning to make as a favor for a religious festival since they don’t contain eggs. If I have to give it to guests on Saturday, how many days in advance can I make them to ensure that they are fresh. Also, do I need to refrigerate the after make them (I’m thinking no…since the bitter might solidify, but you’d know best). Thanks in advance.
The closer you can make before the event, the fresher they will taste; use your judgment. And no, don’t refrigerate, that will just cause they to dry out faster.
Love this! I use fresh raspberries with sugar and it works perfectly. ?
That’s wonderful to hear!
It’s really easy to follow too. I had this whipped up in about 5 minutes and I’m only twelve years old.
That’s so amazing! Congrats on being such a great cook at such a young age! :)
They’re in the oven right now!! I made them with strawberry jam and trader joe’s gluten free flour blend. I’ve never substituted 1:1 GF flour for regular flour, so we’ll see how it turns out. It looked pretty normal while it was raw (and the crumble batter tasted delicious) so I have high hopes!
Sounds like they’ll be a hit! LMK how the TJ’s GF flour blend works. I’ve never tried it but have been wanting to hear reports on it!
I need these with blueberry jam as the original calls for. But I used only about half the jam, half the sugar, and I threw in a couple tablespoons of flaxseed. I wouldn’t go so far as to call these “healthy”, but not nearly as sugary. They’re great with a cup of tea or coffee. I’d bet a scoop of vanilla ice cream would make them outright decadent. Next time I’ll try making them with almond meal and apricot jam instead. Yummy!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great based on your improvisations!
awesome post i like it :)
This recipe is wonderful. A coworker brought this to work as an early-morning breakfast treat for my team and I knew I had to have the recipe! First time making this, I only used preserves for half of the pan. On the other half I wanted to experiment so I did an even split of fresh blueberries and cherries (I didn’t add any extra sugar to the fruit and I didn’t even cook it down into a jam or filling first). My partner was completely in love with the bars, especially the quarter that had the fresh cherries! This is a recipe that I will definitely be using regularly.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! There’s this one too with blueberries in case you haven’t seen it! https://www.averiecooks.com/blueberry-oatmeal-crumble-bars/
It’s definitely an extremely versatile recipe and I’m not sure that it is physically possible to mess it up.
I’ve tried it many ways, including:
– As written
– Substituting out different jams/preserves/fruits
– Plopping chopped (uncooked) fresh fruit on the base instead of preserves for a more gooey bar
– Making my own jam, no pectin needed (Add your fruit plus –per pound of fruit– about 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar to a saucepan. Sugar usage should depend on the tartness of your fruit. Simmer it all together on low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow to cool before adding to the bar base.)
My most recent batch of these involved making my own jam out of cherries and strawberries. The bars got quite a few compliments at work! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe with us! It’s still one of my favorite treats to make.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love this recipe and have done lots of experimenting with it! I agree, pretty much impossible to mess up yet you’d be surprised sometimes :)
My all time favorite. Awesome recipe. Thanks for sharing this.
So easy to make, and delicious!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you!
These sound so amazing! Great for breakfast!
Thankyou Averie. We love your quick and easy raspberry crumble oatmeal bars. Favourite new recipe! I make the jammy layer a bit thinner (i.e. less jam) and scatter some frozen raspberries on it before the crumble goes on top. Feels a bit healthier. I’ve doubled the recipe today.
Love that you added some frozen berries! I bet that’s a wonderful addition! Glad you love the recipe and that you even made a double batch today!
Thank you so much for this easy and delicious recipe! I brought them to work and they were gone in minutes. I’m going to double the recipe next time for sure, so I can have some for myself ;)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad they were a hit at work and that you’ll make a double batch next time :)
The raspberry oatmeal crumble bars look delicious! i can’t wait to try them out! i was wondering if you had an idea how many calories or how fattening they are?? x
Sorry, I don’t know. But there are online calculators you can use to plug the data in if you’re interested.
Hi Averie,
Have you ever tried black cherry preserves with mini chocolate chips in your oatmeal crumble bars? If not, I highly recommend it!
I haven’t but that combo sounds amazing!
I made this to bring into work and they were amazing!! I think they were gone within an hour….definitely a recipe to hold on to and make again! And soooooo easy to make! I had these whipped up and in the oven in 5-minutes. Another wonderful recipe from Averie! Thank you for all the amazing recipes you share on your blog!!! ?
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you! And thanks for the super nice compliments about my recipes and so glad you had these in the oven in 5 minutes flat!
These bars are amazing! I’ve made them twice in the last week and am so in love with them. I’m sharing them on my site tomorrow.
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it came out great for you twice in the last week!
Can’t wait to make the Rasberry Oat bars… I will use my favorite jam “Favorit”Swiss Raspberry Preserves, 12.3 oz. I get the best deal from Walmart. It’s from Swizerland & the flavor is amazing. Normally I purchase Costco’s Kirkland Oraganic Raspberry Jam, but haven’t seen any this Winter. You won’t be sorry with the Favorit Brand above.