Oatmeal Bars are a homey dessert recipe everyone loves. Fresh blackberries add a delicious sweetness to this easy oatmeal bars recipe.
Oatmeal bars are very easy to make and have great homey flavors.
Add in some fresh blackberries and they become an irresistible treat you’ll make on repeat!
Ingredients in these Oatmeal Bars
These ingredients in these oatmeal bars are probably already in your pantry and refrigerator!
- fresh Blackberries
- Granulated Sugar
- Cornstarch
- All-Purpose Flour, regular or gluten-free*
- Quick-Cooking Oats, regular or gluten-free*
- Brown Sugar
- Baking Soda
- Kosher Salt
- Chopped Pecans
- Unsalted butter, room temperature
PRO TIP: Frozen thawed blackberries may be substituted for fresh blackberries.
Use Quick-Cooking Oats (regular or gluten-free)
A key for this oatmeal bars recipe is to use Quick Cooking Oats. Do NOT traditional rolled old fashioned oats that take a longer time to cook.
Regular or Gluten-Free Oatmeal Bars
We’ve tested this recipe with regular all-purpose flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour.
The results are fantastic with both!
My recommendation for Gluten-Free Flour
I like measure-for-measure type flours.
They have been developed to substitute one-for-one for wheat flour.
Check the ingredients! I personally do NOT like garfava or garbanzo bean flour in gluten-free flour blends used for sweet baking.
It has good structure but tastes beany.
The blend I used for these that I really liked is Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten-Free Flour. It tastes great and works wonderfully in baking recipes.
There are multiple gluten-free flour blends.
I’m sharing what I used when developing the recipe that I felt provided great results in texture and flavor.
Use your favorite blend!
Gluten-Free Quick Oats
The other ingredients that makes these bars regular or gluten-free is the oats.
If making gluten-free oatmeal bars, be sure to use quick cooking oats labeled as ‘gluten-free’.
If they are not labeled they probably are not gluten-free.
Oatmeal Bar Shortcut
Want an easy shortcut?
Instead of using fresh berries substitute blackberry preserves!
Skip the recipe step of tossing the berries in sugar and cornstarch.
Use 10-12 ounces of Blackberry Preserves.
Spread that evenly when the berries are added in the recipe and proceed with the rest of the steps.
Any preserves can be used! Experiment with strawberry or raspberry preserves too!
How to Make Blackberry Oatmeal Bars – Step by Step
For the detailed printable recipe instructions please refer to the recipe card at the end of the blog post.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a 9×9 inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, toss blackberries with sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Use a standing mixer or handheld mixer and combine: the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and pecans (photo 1). Mix to fully combine.
- Add the softened butter and beat on low speed. Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
- Spoon half of the oatmeal mixture into the prepared pan. Gently press mixture into bottom of the pan.
- Top with the cornstarch-coated blackberries (photo 2).
- Sprinkle with remaining oatmeal mixture (photo 3). NOTE: do not press down on the mixture.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown (photo 4).
- Cool completely before slicing into 12-20 squares (see cutting tips).
PRO TIP: Best Way to Cut Oatmeal Bars
These oatmeal bars are most easily cut when cold. When still warm they are more crumbly and soft.
Allow them to cool fully in the pan. Then place the pan in the refrigerator to chill until firm (a few hours or overnight).
Take them out of the refrigerator when firm, cut into bars. Select a size you prefer.
Allow to warm to room temperature before serving for best flavor.
Want a larger pan of Oatmeal Bars?
This recipe makes a 9-inch by 9-inch pan of fat oatmeal bars.
If you want to make more bars, use a prepared 9-inch by 13-inch pan.
Bake for 35 minutes or until golden on top.
Proceed with the recipe as written.
NOTE: when using a larger pan, the oatmeal bars will by thinner.
More Easy Dessert Recipes
- Buttermilk Strawberry Shortcake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Bars
- Pumpkin Bars
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Mug Cake recipe
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Recipe
Blackberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour regular or gluten-free*
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats regular or gluten-free*
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups fresh blackberries
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line a 9x9 inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, toss blackberries with sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Combine in the bowl of a standing mixer the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and pecans. Mix to fully combine. Note: a hand held mixer may also be used.
- Add the softened butter and beat on low speed, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Spoon half of the oatmeal mixture into the prepared pan. Gently press mixture into bottom of the pan.
- Top with the cornstarch-coated blackberries.
- Sprinkle with remaining oatmeal mixture. NOTE: do not press down on the mixture.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool completely before slicing into 16-25 squares.
Holly K says
We’ve made these so many times and they are always a hit! I’ve done blackberries, strawberries, jam – I think the filling, as long as it’s not super moist, can be swapped out without too many modifications. We also skip the nuts because we’ve got some folks who don’t roll like that, but it’s still delicious and one of our summer staple recipes since I found this a couple of years ago!
Ali says
I have made this recipe many times and it’s always fabulous! I use walnuts instead, reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup and double up on the blackberries. I will try it with less butter next, to reduce fat and calories. Thanks for sharing! We love it!
Toni Dash says
So glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe! Thanks for sharing your personal tweaks too!
Pamela S says
I made these in a 9×13 pan, using Black Raspberries instead of blackberries and did not put in nuts. OMG! This is my new favorite dessert! You WON summer! I believe these bars would be fantastic using any kind of fruit. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Toni Dash says
Sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing your modifications and your kind words. So glad you love the recipe.
Kathleen Becker says
Can I substitute frozen blackberries for fresh?
Toni Dash says
We haven’t tried it Kathleen. The fresh berries add both structure and size (frozen thawed berries are usually softer, smaller and with more liquid). If you experiment let us know how they turn out!
Susan says
I just tried this with frozen berries that we picked last summer. It was really delicious. I did not thaw them first. Tossed with cornstarch and sugar and added while still frozen.
Selena says
I’ve used fresh just now and it taste so good my toddler approves, next time I’m doubling the fruit by using frozen Alaskan picked blueberries for extra tartness
Christina says
Making for the second time! Absolutely delicious ♥️
Toni Dash says
So glad you enjoy them!
Kim D says
Thank you for posting this recipe! I was wondering if the sugar could be reduced by half?
Toni Dash says
Hi Kim! We’ve only made the recipe as written. The sugar helps with texture as well as sweetness so I’m unsure you could successfully reduce it that much. You can always try it and see what you think!
Bridget says
Could I try a different nut like cashews?
Toni Dash says
Hi Bridget. We’ve only made the recipe as written but you could certainly try another nut. Cashews tend to be softer so they may not give the bars the structure they need.