Raspberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars

Raspberry preserves are sandwiched between an oatmeal and brown sugar crust for a delicious treat with the taste of summer berries.

Happy Tuesday everyone- back with another Tuesday treat for you! I hope all of you in the states had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and got to show your gratitude for living in this beautiful country of ours! This weekend really was a perfect mix of busy and relaxed, family time and date time with MJD. My sister graduated from college on Saturday in NY so we spent the first part of the weekend celebrating her and with family in the Hudson Valley area of NY. The weather was perfect and between the delicious food and drink at her graduation party, it was the perfect kickoff to summer. When we got back into town, MJD and I spent Monday golfing and getting ready for the week ahead. Speaking of the week ahead… I have an even shorter week this week as I’m headed to Hilton Head on Thursday for a girls’ trip with my mom and sister! I can’t wait! If you have any Hilton Head recommendations, I’d love to hear them- leave me a comment below 🙂 .

Back to my sister’s graduation party… as my mom started to plan for the party, I knew I wanted to make some sort of dessert for it. I wanted to stay away from cookies as my mom was making her addicting chocolate chip cookies. I also wanted to make something that would show off some summer flavors and that would travel well for a 3- plus hour car ride.

My Raspberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars were the perfect dessert to satisfy all my requirements! No cookie here, just delicious flavors of sweet, summery raspberry preserves with oatmeal and brown sugar. The bars travel well and an added plus, they come together pretty quickly which made them great for weeknight baking. The bars that weren’t devoured during the party made for a sweet breakfast treat the next morning too as we packed my sister up to move out. Oatmeal makes them an acceptable breakfast right?

By the way, just in case you love it as much as me, I can’t help but share the details on my adorable berry bowl. I’ve seen these before and when I saw this one at Anthropologie during their 20% off sale, I couldn’t resist picking this up. I have a feeling you’ll be seeing it a bunch this summer 🙂

How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend?

xoxo, Jenna

You’ll Need:

Makes 16 bars

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 of a teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 of a teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 of a cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 of a cup raspberry preserves

To Make:

Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees F. Prepare a 8 x 11 inch baking dish by covering in parchment paper and spraying parchment paper with non-stick spray.

In microwave, slightly melt the butter in microwave safe small bowl (approximately 20 seconds). Butter should be slightly melted but still have part of it’s shape.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

Gradually add in oats and brown sugar , mixing well.

Mix in the butter to the oat-flour mixture to form crumble.

Place half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and spread evenly to create bottom layer.

Top crumble mixture with raspberry preserves, spreading so it covers majority of crumble, leaving a small border around the edge.

Place second half of crumble mixture on top of layer of raspberry. Gently press down.

Bake for 35-38 minutes.

Allow to cool and remove from baking dish before cutting into bars.