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I realized the other day that it has been a hot minute since I made any sort of bar recipe. I think the last one I made was a couple of years back and was a twist on a PB&J and was made around back-to-school time. Sooo I thought it was high time that I made some more bars. I didn’t want these to be thin little nothing bars either. I wanted them to be a meal in themselves.
The heartiness of these bars makes them great for breakfast or as an indulgent sort of dessert. They’re thick and layered and absolutely delicious. Plus, they’re egg-free, vegetarian and made with whole wheat! One of my favorite thing about these bars though? They’re crazy easy to make!
I lightened these bars up and made them a bit more healthy by swapping in natural sweetener for some of the sugar, a brown sugar blend for the regular brown sugar, and I also used whole wheat white flour. With just these few simple swaps, you end up with a delicious treat that’s far less of a guilty pleasure while still tasting amazing!
You absolutely do want the raspberries to thaw completely and to get as much water out of them as you can. You could probably use FRESH raspberries here, but it would take a LOT of them. Plus, it would likely turn into more of a cobbler than a bar. The chill time is also important here. If you don’t let the bars cool, they’ll be a lot softer and more likely to fall apart.
Feel free to change up the fruit used. I chose raspberries because they sounded good to me today, but pretty much any frozen berry would work with the same process of thawing and draining well!
Whole Wheat Raspberry Oat Bars
Ingredients
- 2 (12 Oz.) Packages of Frozen Raspberries
- 1/4 C. Sugar
- 1/4 C. Natural Sweetener
- 1 Tbsp. Corn Starch
- 1 Lemon, Juiced
- 3 C. Rolled Oats
- 3 C. Whole Wheat White Flour
- 1 1/2 C. Melted Unsalted Butter
- 1 C. Natural Sweetener/Brown Sugar Bend
- 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a 9x13” baking dish with parchment paper; set aside.
- Place the 24 Oz. frozen raspberries into a large colander and lightly rinse with warm water. Then allow the liquid to drain and raspberries to thaw for about an hour or until softened.
- Mix the raspberries with the 1/4 C. sugar, 1/4 C. sweetener. 1 Tbsp. corn starch, and lemon juice.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the 3 C. oats, 3 C. flour, 1 1/2 C. butter, 1 C. brown sugar sweetener, 1 Tsp. baking powder, and 1/2 Tsp. salt together into a crumb-like mixture.
- Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven and spread the raspberry mixture over the top.
- Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the top and place the dish back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes.
- Once done, remove from the oven and allow the dish to chill for a few hours so that the bars can set up.
- Cut into 16 bars and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Calories
321.68Fat (grams)
18.92 gSat. Fat (grams)
11.11 gCarbs (grams)
36.75 gFiber (grams)
6.55 gNet carbs
30.2 gSugar (grams)
5.21 gProtein (grams)
5.7 gSodium (milligrams)
106.9 mgCholesterol (grams)
45.76 mgNutritional Claims: Low Sodium • Low Potassium • Kidney Friendly •Vegetarian • Pescatarian • Egg Free • Peanut Free • Tree Nut Free • Soy Free • Fish Free • Shellfish Free • Pork Free • Red Meat Free • Crustacean Free • Celery Free • Mustard Free • Sesame Free • Lupine Free • Mollusk Free • Alcohol Free • Kosher
Step-by-Step Photos: