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Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

October 31, 2013 by Laura 76 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars are pretty much amazing.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars 11

Yum

I’m on a mission to create new healthy snack recipes so that my boys will have some great options on hand. But here’s what happened after I made these Raspberry Oatmeal Bars:  I dug into them while I was in the kitchen by myself and loved them so much that I forgot to call in the kids. Then when I realized I was like, “Eh, the kids can have a piece of cheese.” And then I kept eating the bars. Great mom moment, huh? :)

This may be one of the best snack recipes ever, hands down. The kids thought so too, once I remembered to share.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
 
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Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • 1½ cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup sucanat
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • ½ cup raspberry jam (100% fruit)
Instructions
  1. Mix together flour, oats, sucanat, baking powder, and salt.
  2. Stir in melted butter until the mixture resembles crumbs.
  3. Press half of the mixture into an 8x8 inch baking pan.
  4. Spread jam over the top.
  5. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top of the jam layer, pressing down to cover.
  6. Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
3.4.3177

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars 12

You can definitely change these up by using a different variety of jelly or jam. I think apricot would be awesome in these, or strawberry, or peach…

If they last long enough, you can freeze them: Allow them to cool completely, then wrap individually for a quick grab and go snack. Place individually wrapped bars in a large freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to two months.

Here are some pictures to show more specifically how to put these bars together. They are really so easy!

First,  mix together the dry ingredients. Then pour in the melted butter.

raspberry-bars_1

 Stir until the mixture resembles buttery crumbs.
raspberry_bars_2

Press half of the crumbs into an 8×8 inch baking dish.

raspberry_bars_3
Spread the jam over the first layer of oat mixture. Spoon the remaining oat mixture over the jam and press down to cover.
raspberry_bars_4

Bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes. Cut them while they are warm, or allow them to cool first.

raspberry_bars_7

Try to remember to share them with others.

raspberry_bars_8

Not only will I be making these frequently for snacks in the future, I think they will be wonderful for breakfast. And I’ll even try to remember to serve them to my children. ;)

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Filed Under: Make Ahead Meals, Recipes, Side Dishes and Snacks Tagged With: easy recipes, healthy snacks, kid friendly, raspberry bars

Comments

  1. Rachel E. says

    October 31, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    These look wonderful! I will most definitely need to try them. I’m glad there are people out there who know how to try out recipes on their own. :)

    Reply
  2. Rachel says

    November 1, 2013 at 12:09 am

    My son LOVES cereal bars and eats at least one every day, and I think this would be an awesome alternative. You said they can be frozen for longer-term storage, but about how long would they last otherwise and would you store them in the fridge or at room-temp?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 1, 2013 at 6:06 am

      I’d store them in the fridge for probably about a week. :)

      Reply
      • Rachel says

        November 1, 2013 at 8:34 am

        Perfect! Was hoping I could make a batch on the weekend and serve them all week, now we’ll just have to see if we can stop ourselves from eating them all the first day!

        Reply
  3. Karen says

    November 1, 2013 at 5:24 am

    We make something like this on a very regular basis at our house. But sometimes we don’t want to use up our jam. So instead I thaw some fruit from the freezer and drain it well. Mash, sprinkle with 2 Tbsp wheat flour, and mix with a little sweetener of choice. It makes a simple and quick fruit filling.

    Reply
    • Marie B. says

      November 1, 2013 at 8:46 am

      Great idea! I’ll try that because I have raspberries in the fridge I’d like to use.

      Reply
    • Emily says

      November 23, 2013 at 6:57 pm

      Tried this tonight with frozen blackberries and it is amazing. Thanks for the tip!

      Reply
  4. Lynnette says

    November 1, 2013 at 6:04 am

    Exactly how much is a half a sea salt? :)

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 1, 2013 at 6:07 am

      Hahaha, it’s very, very enormous! Thanks for pointing that out. Got ‘er fixed. :P

      Reply
  5. Joy says

    November 1, 2013 at 6:41 am

    That jam looks so good! What brand do you use? I’ve been looking for some that is all fruit but still has enough of the original fruit it(instead of just tasting like apple juice) Can’t wait to try these bars! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Amber Thompson says

      November 1, 2013 at 8:27 am

      Smuckers has spreadable fruit. It is 100 percent fruit. They also have organic and an all natural non-organic and a non-organic natural fruit jam now as well. It is reasonable in price and the only ingredients are the fruit, sugar, pectin, and citric acid. My local Publix has all of these available.

      Reply
  6. jean says

    November 1, 2013 at 7:54 am

    Laura,these look great. You are lucky that you stayed under the radar as long as you did. lol. Here it would of been hearing the baking dishes coming out and then whatcha making? The noses work very well also. I am going to try and make these this weekend. Thanks.
    Jean

    Reply
  7. Malisa suarez says

    November 1, 2013 at 8:15 am

    I first received this recipe the day before we were to be leaving for a weekend family camping trip. We intended to make muffins (or something like that) for our Sunday morning breakfast, so as not to have to cook while packing up. When I opened my email the original recipe was shining like a beacon! My daughter and I decided this was what we wanted to make for our to go breakfast. We decided we wanted to add some fruit or something to it. We only had apples so we cored them and sliced them thinly and put half of the oatmeal mixture in the pan made a layer of apples, sprinkled over some cinnamon and brown sugar and topped with the rest of the oatmeal mixture. They were amazing hot out of the oven and four days later!! We have since used homemade peach preserves in them and homemade triple berry preserves. They are just yummy. Oh and by the way they are freeze able in individual servings and make a great on the go breakfast!!! Yippie yippie!!! Thank you for this great recipe!!! Oh and next I’m going to try them with pumpkin inside!!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 12, 2013 at 12:55 pm

      I would love to gear how the recipe works with pumpkin!

      Reply
    • Michele says

      February 5, 2014 at 12:54 pm

      I have made a version of this for several years. We tend to get homemade jams and jellies as gifts over the holidays and if they are a flavor that doesn’t get eaten fast….I use it in this recipe instead and it always gets eaten up in a snap. Great use for those jams/jellies that you simply made too much of. Will have to try the apples like you did next time.

      Reply
  8. Amber Thompson says

    November 1, 2013 at 8:29 am

    Thank you for this! Been wanting a recipe like this for us. I will try it with strawberry jam this weekend.

    Reply
  9. Marie B. says

    November 1, 2013 at 8:48 am

    Oh My!!! I am going to make these now! And so easy too! I’ve always loved raspberry bars but didn’t have any idea how to make them. Thank you! (Can you tell I’m excited about this one? I tend to use too many !!! when I’m excited about something.)

    Reply
  10. Kristin says

    November 1, 2013 at 9:14 am

    My mom used to make these with homemade raspberry jam growing up, though with full sugar jam, they were definitely more dessert then snack. I now make a similar recipe called fruit filled oatmeal bars. The recipe has the butter cut in, so it has a shortbread like crust, yum! However, it calls for an all fruit apple filling which would probably work equally well in your bar recipe.

    Peel core and finely chop 2 medium apples(about 10 oz)(I prefer a sweet apple like golden delicious). In a medium saucepan combine apples, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and a dash of ground cloves. bring apple mixture to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer covered, for 8 to 10 minutes or till apples are tender. (I make a batch and a half)

    Reply
  11. Jennifer says

    November 1, 2013 at 11:17 am

    Thanks for this Laura… You cured my baking blues!!! We are
    Gluten free, and even though I have GF flour mix all ready in my cupboard, I have pouted and feared and avoided baking for 3 months now!! Well I woke up, read this post, ad headed into the kitchen and made these bars first thing. (Subbed out my GF flour mix for your whole wear- turned out delicious!) Not only that- I turned the ugly brown bananas on my counter into a scrumptious loaf of gf banana bread while I was at it… :-) thanks so much for the great and easy recipe:-)

    Reply
  12. Charlotte Moore says

    November 1, 2013 at 11:52 am

    These look so yummy. I think peach and strawberry would be awesome too. Got to do these.

    THANKS!!! BLESSINGS!!

    Reply
  13. Melinda says

    November 1, 2013 at 12:36 pm

    I have been anxiously awaiting this recipe. Thanks!

    Reply
  14. shelby says

    November 1, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    These look yummy! Is there any easy way to print the recipe without the pictures?

    Reply
    • Amy says

      February 7, 2014 at 7:25 am

      I know it’s been awhile since you commented, but when you are in the printer friendly box click on anything you want to delete :)

      Reply
      • Shelby says

        February 7, 2014 at 8:41 am

        Thank you! I didn’t know that you could do that :)

        Reply
  15. chris says

    November 1, 2013 at 12:59 pm

    What could I sub for the wheat to make it gluten free?

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      May 13, 2014 at 1:51 pm

      You could try almond flour. :)

      Reply
  16. Birdie says

    November 1, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    Sooo Yum Laura! Thanks for sharing. As I read your post and looked at your pictures I realized that anything with granola is absolutely my favorite of all foods, especially baked. It brings so many memories of ladies that are my mentors and angels.

    Reply
  17. Rhoda says

    November 1, 2013 at 7:54 pm

    These are very similar to a bar my great aunt gave my mom many, many years ago. She called them Matrimonial Bars (we think because of the “marriage” between the oats and the dates used!) My sister and I made the recipe easier (for us at the time when we were younger) by using jam as the filling, but the original recipe used 3 C chopped dates, 1/4 C sugar, and 1 1/2 C water. Cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly until dates softened and thickened. A couple years ago I tried the dates–will never go back to jam–it is soooooo much better. These are wonderful the first day and even better after sitting the night in the refrigerator the next day (if you can get them to last that long). However I do have to say that warm out of the oven with ice cream is about the best. This is my go to recipe for potlucks and picnics–a favorite just about every time.

    Reply
    • Birdie says

      November 1, 2013 at 10:44 pm

      Oh the memories for me Rhoda! Matrimonial (Bars) Cake was my grandmothers wedding cake during the depression. She prepared this and made her wedding dress (navy blue with white collar and while cuffs. She reproduce the dress for her 50th wedding anniversary. She often served the cake for company until she became to frail in her late 80’s.

      Reply
  18. Heather P. says

    November 2, 2013 at 11:36 am

    These are also great great great with Apricot preserves (100%)

    Reply
  19. Julie says

    November 4, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    I made these today with strawberry jam, and they are sooooo good! Thanks. :)

    Reply
  20. Corrie says

    November 4, 2013 at 5:51 pm

    It seems like 1 cup of butter is a lot of butter! Can I sub it for olive oil or coconut oil?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 5, 2013 at 10:23 am

      That’s what makes these so good! :) Yes, I believe subbing it would be fine, although I haven’t tried it myself. I’d go with coconut oil.

      Reply
  21. Jennifer M says

    November 5, 2013 at 7:40 am

    Hi! I can’t wait to make these! Just a quick comment – when I hit the “printer friendly” version to print it out, it did not seem very printer friendly… I got all the photos of all the “how to do this”, when what I thought I would have gotten was just the first page of ingredients and directions. My kids will color on the backsides of my extra pages but I thought I would just comment on this in case the link was not right or something. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 6, 2013 at 12:51 pm

      Grr, Print Friendly seems to only be working in Internet Explorer, not in other browsers. Not sure why??

      Reply
    • Jennifer M says

      November 6, 2013 at 3:44 pm

      I’m replying to myself, and just wanted to comment that I made these
      yesterday but used brown sugar instead of the sucanat
      (I am unfamiliar with that and while I assumed
      it was a sugar type or sugar substitute, I did not see it at my co-op the
      other day). It turned out delicious, but I think I would use less sugar
      the next time I make it. It was kind of crumbly for me until today, after
      it was refriged and set up a bit more. DELICIOUS! and I too found myself
      snacking on it all day long! Thanks!

      Reply
      • Jennifer M says

        November 6, 2013 at 3:44 pm

        oops, also meant to add that I doubled the batch and put it in a 9×13.

        Reply
  22. Joy says

    November 5, 2013 at 11:37 am

    I made these this morning. They are yummy!!! I can see how you “forgot” to share with your boys! : )

    Reply
  23. Melissa says

    November 6, 2013 at 3:23 am

    Do you mean a half a jar of jam, or a half a cup? I am making this recipe right now and a half a cup spread on only a very thin layer and in your pictures it looks like you used a lot more than just a half a cup. I am thinking one cup would be much better!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 6, 2013 at 12:51 pm

      I really just used a half cup, but you can definitely add more if you prefer.

      Reply
  24. Darlene says

    November 6, 2013 at 10:37 am

    I changed up the recipe a bit because my 14 year old daughter loves anything with chocolate and peanut butter. I put homemade peanut butter as the filling instead of jam and chocolate chips on top.The result was incredible, but crumbly. Any ideas on how to fix that? Maybe half butter and half coconut oil?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 6, 2013 at 12:52 pm

      Hmm, yes you can try the butter/coconut oil combo. Not sure why yours turned out crumbly. I like the choc/pb idea!

      Reply
  25. Paula Herbstreit says

    November 7, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    I made the Raspberry bars, they where wonderful. I did use 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 butter. I’m going to make them again this weekend. Hmmm what about chocolate in the middle?

    Reply
  26. Sandie says

    November 12, 2013 at 11:44 am

    I have read that substituting brown sugar for sucanant will cause your baked goods to be more moist, and substituting white sugar for sucanant will make your baked goods drier. Maybe that has something to do with the crumbly mixture some people are experiencing?
    Thanks for the recipe! My little ones are looking forward to helping me bake these today.

    Reply
  27. Melissa says

    November 14, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    I absolutely loved this recipe, only I substituted peanut butter for the jam and added chocolate chips (because everything is better with chocolate at my house!). I wanted the extra protein for my three starving teenagers who can’t seem to get enough to eat each day. Next time I think I will try peanut butter and jelly bars. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  28. Kentucky Lady 717 says

    November 22, 2013 at 11:28 am

    Thanks Laura,
    The raspberry oat bars sound delicious…..
    I love any kind of oat bars, so will try different flavor jams.

    Can self-rising flour be used in this recipe ?

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      December 19, 2013 at 10:59 am

      That should work out fine.

      Reply
  29. melanie says

    November 23, 2013 at 11:53 am

    I grew up eating DATE bars made like these {without whole wheat flour sort of ingredients of course}. Then I met my hubby and learned his mom makes CHERRY bars that are YUMMY-licious too!

    Basically using any fruit in a pie filling or jam consistency seems to be a winner!

    Reply
  30. Tina Larson says

    November 26, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    Could I use pumpkin pie filling

    Reply
    • Laura says

      November 27, 2013 at 7:28 am

      Yes, I believe that would work!

      Reply
  31. Kelli says

    January 1, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    I have made these several times now – rasberry and blueberry. They are delicious!

    Reply
  32. Tracey says

    January 6, 2014 at 8:36 am

    Made these for breakfast today and they were delicious! (Now if I can just stay away from them until lunchtime…)

    Reply
  33. Allison Morrison says

    January 13, 2014 at 9:58 am

    Made these this weekend with homemade strawberry jam from our garden :) Mine turned out crumbly on the top as well. I did notice I should’ve pressed more of the mixture onto the bottom of the pan before adding the jam, but otherwise followed the recipe. There was enough topping on top that it didn’t matter if some crumbled off…there was still a good bit left. Going to try these again putting more of the mixture on the bottom and using some pumpkin butter I have in the fridge :)

    Reply
  34. Jenny R. says

    January 27, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    Have any of you ever used steel cut oats in any of your recipes? If so, is there anything extra you have to do to use them? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      February 3, 2014 at 7:54 pm

      I’ve never used them in a recipe, only to make a yummy breakfast cereal!

      Reply
  35. Bethany says

    January 28, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    just made these tonight, but subbed half the butter for cream cheese to use up a block I’d started for a different recipe. absolutely delicious!! I had previously tried a different recipe that was similar, but these were SO much better! thanks so much!

    Reply
  36. Devon says

    January 31, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    Looking forward to trying this recipe! Is it possible to sub honey or maple syrup for the sucanat? Not sure if it would change it without having to adjust a bunch of other ingredients.

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      February 6, 2014 at 8:32 am

      That would work fine. You shouldn’t need to switch anything else up.

      Reply
  37. Marisa B. says

    February 7, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    These look SOOO good. Question– do you grease the pan? I’m assuming not, since A) there’s so much butter in the “crust,” heehee, and B) the instructions don’t mention it?

    Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      February 7, 2014 at 10:26 pm

      No need to grease. Oh yeah, it’s definitely got plenty of butter! :)

      Reply
  38. Pebe says

    February 24, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    These sound wonderful! I think I am going to try these only using almond meal flour instead of the whole wheat. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  39. kim says

    April 13, 2014 at 1:44 pm

    I would love to make these but have a gluten allergy. I noticed someone else commented about that but it was never answered, can you sub almond and flax for the whole wheat?? If so would it be equal parts, and has someone tried it? Thanks Laura for all the wonderful meals and recipes. I use tons of them with my family. Just getting used to going gf cause of tummy problems.

    Reply
    • [email protected] says

      May 13, 2014 at 1:39 pm

      You can substitute most kinds of gf flours for this. It should turn out well. :)

      Reply
  40. BUSY MOM IN AL says

    April 14, 2014 at 9:09 am

    Made a “fig newton” version with some homemade fig preserves!! Very good! Thank you for sharing your recipe!

    Reply
  41. Jennifer Suits says

    May 1, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    How many servings do you get? When I calculated it out to 16 servings they are a hefty 235 calories each.

    Reply
  42. Jessica says

    September 12, 2014 at 4:23 pm

    I may have already commented before, but I’m looking up the recipe to make at another house where I don’t have my recipe card. This is your friendly reminder that THESE ARE AMAZING!!!

    Reply
  43. Donna says

    December 1, 2014 at 10:44 am

    Has it really been year since you posted this and I am just getting around to try it??? Where did this year go?! Anyway, just wanted to share that I made this with my homemade cranberry/orange sauce leftover from thanksgiving…….delicious!!! Thank you, I have a very happy hubby……his new favorite treat!

    Reply
  44. Pam D says

    March 13, 2015 at 2:21 pm

    Why did I wait so long to make this recipe?!? These are dee-lish!I only had blackberry jam, and that was so amazing that now I’m going to buy raspberry jam to make another batch. Maybe a double batch. Thanks so much for all your amazing ideas – keep ’em coming.

    Reply
  45. Joy says

    March 2, 2016 at 11:10 am

    WOW! I made these with 100% fruit Red Raspberry Jam, for dessert last night. My husband loved them so much that he said he would forget all of the things that he was ever upset with me about!!! ; ) Guess I better make them more often!

    Reply
  46. Stacey says

    March 20, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    Love your recipes! I make the breakfast cake muffins every week. :-) I was going to try to make the raspberry bars but realize I only have 1/2 a cup of butter. What can I substitute that will not change the taste? (I don’t have any coconut oil either.) Thank you!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      March 22, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      I’m stumped because I was going to suggest coconut oil. Palm shortening if you have it?

      Reply
  47. Janette says

    August 31, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    I made these yesterday and they turned out really yummy but crumbly. I used half butter and half palm shortening but I’m wondering if I should use less next time? I guesss I shouldn’t even be commenting since I didn’t make the recipe exactly as it is stated using the whole cup of butter. I know I don’t appreciate reading reviews which say that something didn’t turn out when they didn’t follow the recipe exactly. Sorry. I was running low on butter and didn’t want to use a whole cup. Maybe I’ll try these again another time.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      August 31, 2016 at 3:35 pm

      I think all butter would make these less crumbly, but even with full butter, they are still a little bit messy to eat. WORTH IT though, because they are so tasty, but I make everyone (including myself) use a plate and lean over the table. :) :)

      Reply
  48. Brandy says

    September 4, 2016 at 7:02 am

    I used homemade apple butter in the middle. These were tasty!

    Reply
  49. Leah says

    January 10, 2019 at 1:21 pm

    Laura! Holy smoke. I have been making your oatmeal breakfast bars for years and only this morning did I decide to give these bars a whirl. I used blackberry jam and they came out so good. My family loved them. Thank you so much!

    Reply

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    February 17, 2019 at 9:09 pm

    […] to make this week: Raspberry Oatmeal Bars/Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars/Homemade Toaster […]

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