Line a 9×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving about an inch overhang on two sides. You could also swirl a few drops of good vanilla into the jam before adding it to the crust.įind all of the measurements and recipe instructions below.

Lemon zest: The lemon zest is optional, but I think it lends a welcome brightness to the berries and richness of the buttery crumb.

Strawberries: I like to add a handful of chopped fresh strawberries atop the jam layer for extra bursts of berry flavor.

Both homemade and store-bought will be winners here.

I think a chunkier style work best (with bonus points for pieces of actual fruit throughout). Strawberry jam: use your favorite good quality berry jam or preserve.For a vegan option, feel free to substitute with plant based butter. Butter: for lots of buttery goodness (and to hold the crust together) we’ll use two sticks of softened unsalted butter.My favorite to bake with is Diamond Crystal. Salt: to intensify all the other flavors.Cinnamon and ginger: for lots of cozy spice.Baking soda: just the right amount of lift for the perfect crumb texture.White and brown sugar: a combination of both granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds sweetness and caramel flavor to these buttery bars.You can also easily swap in gluten-free flour (see notes in FAQs below) Flour: all-purpose flour makes up the base of these crumb bars.

Oats: old-fashioned rolled oats add great flavor, texture, and a little nutritional boost to the crust and crumble topping.These jam crumb bars are a breeze to whip up with simple pantry staples – in just one bowl! Here’s what you’ll need to make them: It’s also really concentrated.Ingredients in these Strawberry Crumble Bars So that’s where the liquid stevia comes in! Stevia is a plant-based, zero-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly). So your cookie dough “crust” would turn out more like a cake! Not good.īut if you just added enough maple syrup to give your sugar cookie dough the correct consistency, it wouldn’t taste nearly sweet enough… It would taste more like bread. If you just used pure maple syrup and added enough to make your healthy sugar cookie dough taste just as sweet as traditional recipes, that would add way too much liquid to the cookie dough… It would have the same consistency as muffin batter. I know it isn’t all that fun to track down extra ingredients… But I promise there’s a reason for this! To sweeten your cookie dough, you’ll actually use a combination of pure maple syrup and liquid stevia. ← That’s the one I own and love! Too much flour will make your sugar cookie crust dry and crumbly, rather than soft and chewy.

Just remember, it’s extremely important to measure the flour (and oats-when you get there!) correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. This lets the sweet taste of your healthy raspberry crumble bars really shine! They both have the same health benefits (like extra fiber!), but white whole wheat flour has a lighter taste and texture. Instead, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. If you’ve browsed through my recipes before, then you probably know what white whole wheat flour is already! But if you don’t… It’s not a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour! You’ll add just enough baking powder to give it a lighter texture. Not too much baking powder! You don’t want your cookie dough crust to rise tall like a cake. To do that, you’ll need white whole wheat flour and just a bit of baking powder and salt.

Healthy strawberry crumble bars