Strawberry Jam Bars with Oat Crumble Topping
These strawberry bars have a buttery base topped with a layer of sweet strawberry jam and a crumble topping with the right amount of crisp. They come together fairly quickly and disappear just as fast.
Every year, I preserve homemade strawberry jam with pectin when I find strawberries on sale. We love having homemade jam on our shelves! However, now that my kids have outgrown the PB&J phase, we don’t go through it as quickly as we used to. While we still love to drizzle some on pancakes and spread it on toast, I wanted a dessert using the jam.
Recipe Development Notes:
In my first test with this recipe, the crumble was lacking the crumble factor, and the base was way too sweet. With the jam being so sweet, I wanted the crumble and base to complement and not overwhelm you with sweetness. In the second test, I dialed back the sweetness of the base, but the crumble was still not perfect. The third time was a charm with the crumble! I added more oats and used room temperature butter instead of cold, and I loved how much better the crumble came together.
What you’ll love about this recipe:
• Whether you have a jam hidden in the back of your fridge or hanging out on your pantry shelf, these Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars are a great option to use up some of it!
• Nothing fancy! Just simple ingredients you more than likely have on hand!
• They are a crowd pleaser! I’ve shared them with my husband’s co-workers, family, and friends, and they’ve all loved them! The buttery base, sweet jam, and crumbly topping are hard to resist, and have quickly become one of our favorite desserts!
What You Will Need to Make This Recipe:
Ingredients:
- All-purpose flour
- Dark brown sugar: light will work too!
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup cold and cubed for the base, and 1/4 cup at room temperature for your crumble.
- Old-fashioned oats
- Ground cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Strawberry jam: You can use any jam, store-bought or homemade! We love our Homemade Strawberry Jam with Pectin, but any fruity jam will work!
Supplies:
- 8×8 non-stick cake pan: If you use a glass baking dish, you may need to increase the baking time.
- Parchment paper for lining the pan
- Large mixing bowl
- Mixing and measuring utensils
- Pastry cutter, potato masher, or fork to cut in the butter.
How to Make Strawberry Jam Bars
Base Layer
- Take out ¼ cup unsalted butter, and let it come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350ºF, and line an 8×8 non-stick cake pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the cold cubed butter to the dry ingredients and cut it in with a fork, pastry cutter, or potato masher until it forms a coarse crumb. The mixture will look dry, but don’t worry—the butter will melt, and everything will come together nicely after it bakes.
- Add the mixture to the prepared square pan. Use your hands to spread the mixture into an even layer—I just used my hands. Partially bake at 350ºF for 12-13 minutes to set the crust.
Oat Crumble
- While the base bakes, use the same mixing bowl to make your crumble. Whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the bowl.
- Add room-temperature butter and vanilla to the mixture and incorporate the ingredients with a fork. I will use the fork to get it somewhat mixed, and then use my hands to finish integrating it fully. When you’re finished, you should have crumbles of varying sizes.
Layer
The base of the bars won’t be fully cooked yet, so you want your jam to spread easily to avoid ruining it. I find that when I use store-bought jam, it’s thicker and harder to spread. To help with this, I stir it well to soften it up. When you put it on the hot cookie base, the heat will also help.
After about 13 minutes in the oven, remove the cookie base and carefully spread the softened jam evenly over the partially baked bottom crust.
Sprinkle crumbles evenly over the jam. Bake for an additional 17-18 minutes until crumbles are slightly golden brown.
When done baking, let the bars cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes before trying to remove them. The jam will stick to the sides of the pan where the parchment paper wasn’t. Slide a butter knife down the edges to release them from the pan.
Let the bars cool completely before cutting them into squares. This recipe yields 16, 2–inch squares.
How to Store Strawberry Jam Bars
Store on a plate or in a container and loosely cover to prevent the bars from softening too much. They will stay good on your counter for 3-4 days. I’d be shocked if they lasted that long, though!
Variations
- Add about 1/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts to the crumble for an added crunch.
- Change up the kind of jam you use. Apple jelly, or raspberry, would be excellent too.
Recipe Card
Strawberry Jam Bars with Oat Crumble Topping
Ingredients
Base
- 1 ⅓ cups (177 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup dark brown sugar packed (light will work too)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter cubed
- 1 cup strawberry jam (½ pint home canned jam)
Crumble Topping
- ½ cup (67 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup old-fashioned oats rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar packed
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Instructions
Base
- Take out ¼ cup unsalted butter, and let it come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350ºF, and line an 8×8 non-stick cake pan with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the cold cubed butter to the dry ingredients and cut it in with a fork, pastry cutter, or potato masher until it forms a coarse crumb. The mixture will look dry, but don’t worry—the butter will melt, and everything will come together nicely after it bakes.
- Add the mixture to the prepared square pan. Use your hands to spread the mixture into an even layer—I just used my hands. Partially bake at 350ºF for 12-13 minutes to set the crust.
Oat Crumble Topping
- While the base bakes, use the same mixing bowl to make your crumble. Whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the bowl.
- Add room-temperature butter and vanilla to the mixture and incorporate the ingredients with a fork. I will use the fork to get the it somewhat mixed, and then use my hands to finish integrating it fully. When you’re finished, you should have crumbles of varying sizes.
Layer
- The base of the bars won’t be fully cooked yet, so you want your jam to spread easily to avoid ruining it. I find that when I use store-bought jam, it’s thicker and harder to spread. To help with this, I stir it well to soften it up. When you put it on the hot cookie base, the heat will also help.
- After about 13 minutes in the oven, remove the cookie base and carefully spread the softened jam evenly over the partially baked bottom crust.
- Sprinkle crumbles evenly over the jam. Bake for an additional 17-18 minutes until crumbles are slightly golden brown.
- When done baking, let the bars cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes before trying to remove them. The jam will stick to the sides of the pan where the parchment paper wasn’t. Slide a butter knife down the edges to release them from the pan.
- Let bars completely cool before cutting them into squares. Recipe makes 16, 2–inch squares.
