These strawberry oatmeal bars are a delicious combination of fresh and fruity with a decadent yet wholesome, naturally gluten-free oat-based crust and crumb topping. Best of all, this strawberry crumble cake is dairy-free, low-fat, can be made oil and butter-free, and uses unrefined sugars only!
Healthy & Vegan Strawberry Crumble Cake
Strawberry oatmeal bars are decadent enough to be served as a dessert while remaining fresh and healthy enough to enjoy as a grab n’ go breakfast – that’s enough to consider me hooked. Combine that with the fact that this recipe ditches all the fat, dairy, and regular flour found in most strawberry crumb bars (including the ones my mother made for me as a child that I loved!) – I’m obsessed!
They’re now a usual in my breakfast rotation alongside gluten-free carrot cake bars, chocolate granola bars, and vegan coffee cake (with a streusel topping!) – because who says you can’t have cake for breakfast?!
These healthy strawberry oatmeal bars combine oats and almonds to create a naturally gluten-free cookie-style dough as a crust and crumb topping, filled with a fresh strawberry, chia, and maple syrup-based filling. Not only are these bars perfect for enjoying during strawberry season, but you can also use frozen strawberries any other time of the year! The result is a treat that is soft, tender, chewy, fruity, and delicious!
Plus, all you need is just ten ingredients and 20 minutes to prepare this healthy strawberry crumble cake – no food processor/blender needed! Just one bowl, one pan, and a baking tray!
Best of all, this recipe is also ridiculously versatile. You can easily use different fruits based on what’s in season (and in your kitchen), substitute the flours, starch, chia, binding ingredient, etc. – this truly is a pantry-friendly vegan strawberry dessert/ breakfast!
The Ingredients and Substitutions
For the dough:
- Oats: I use a combination of oats and oat flour (ground oats) for this recipe. Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats if necessary.
- Almond flour: You can buy this or make it at home by grinding blanched almonds into a fine floury consistency. Substitute this with any ground nut/seed of your choice (e.g., hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.) You could even use unsweetened shredded coconut instead.
- Banana: Use an overripe banana or applesauce. For a flakier/buttery crust, you could use a combination of 40 g banana/applesauce and 40 g vegan butter (or margarine). 2 flax/chia eggs should also work.
- Maple Syrup: Or another liquid sweetener.
- Coconut Milk: I use canned coconut milk as it’s thick and creamy. Alternatively, you could use oat cream or soy cream. If you use dairy-free milk, you’d need to add 2-3 tablespoons of oil to make up for the fat and moisture.
- Baking Powder: This will help leaven and provide a little lift to the oatmeal bars crust.
For the strawberry filling:
- Strawberries: Find the ripest, juiciest strawberries that you can. I love to buy strawberries in season and store them in the freezer. Fresh or frozen strawberries will work.
- Maple syrup: Or the liquid sweetener of your choice, i.e., agave or a sugar-free option.
- Citrus: You can use lemon or lime juice based on what you have.
- Chia seeds: Chia seeds will thicken and help make a jam-like consistency with the strawberries (as well as add protein!). You could alternatively use flaxseed.
- Starch: Potato starch or cornstarch will work for this recipe and is needed to help thicken the strawberry filling. Arrowroot or rice starch may also work.
For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, please read the recipe card below.
How To Make Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Step 1: Prepare the strawberry filling
- First, clean and dice the strawberries.
- Then, add all the ingredients for the strawberry filling to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow it to cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once ready, set it aside for a few minutes to cool while you prepare the crust.
Step 2: Prepare the almond oatmeal crust
- If you’re using a banana, first mash that well.
- Then, combine all the dough ingredients in a bowl and mix well either with a hand mixer or spoon.
If the dough looks pretty crumbly still, add a little additional vegan butter or banana; if it seems a little too ‘wet,’ then add a little extra oat flour (just 1 tsp at a time).
Step 3: Assemble the strawberry crumble cake
- Use 2/3 of the crust dough to press into a greased baking dish and smooth down with the back of a spoon or something similar. I used one that’s 7×11-inches (18x28cm) – a 9×9-inch square dish would also work.
You can measure the amount by weighing the dough if you want accuracy. However, I usually just do this by-eye, shaping all the dough into a ball and pulling away around 1/3.
- Pour the strawberry filling over the crust and smooth it out with a spoon.
- Finally, crumble the remaining 1/3 of the crust dough over the strawberry filling to create the strawberry crumble topping.
Step 4: Bake the strawberry crumble cake
- Bake the strawberry streusel bars in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 360F/180C until golden brown on top.
- Once baked, allow it to cool (the strawberry filling will thicken up as it cools). Then slice the strawberry oatmeal bars and enjoy immediately or save for later.
Enjoy a bar alone as a breakfast, snack, or dessert. You could also serve them warm or cold with a bit of cashew or coconut whipped cream, some vegan yogurt, or even a scoop of ice cream.
How to Store?
Store: The leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze: Allow the strawberry oat bars to cool completely before transferring the bars to an airtight container and freezing for up to three months. To avoid the bars sticking together as one, you can freeze them laid out on a tray with space in-between, then transfer them to a container/bag once solid.
Reheat: Reheat the strawberry breakfast bars individually in the microwave for 30-40 seconds until warmed through.
Recipe Notes & FAQs
- Omit the chia seeds: If you have no chia seeds, you can omit them and increase the starch by around 1 tsp to thicken the strawberry filling.
- Using other fruits: If you don’t have enough strawberries, you can combine or substitute them with other fruits like raspberries, blueberries, cherries, apples, etc.
- Can you use coconut flour instead of almond flour? Unfortunately not as coconut flour absorbs so much moisture and so it will dry out the strawberry bars.
- Make a glaze: To serve the strawberry crumb cake bars as dessert, you could make a quick glaze with powdered sugar (or Erythritol) with a little dairy-free milk and optionally some vanilla extract.
Other Healthy Strawberry Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe for strawberry crumble cake/bars, you might also enjoy these other vegan strawberry recipes.
- Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake
- Simple Strawberry Mousse
- Strawberry Compote Or Sauce
- Strawberry Sheet Cake With Pudding
- Strawberry Coconut Cheesecake Bars
Other Oatmeal Desserts and Breakfast
- Vegan Baked Banana Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars
- Vegan Apple Muffins With Streusel
- Homemade Nut-Free Granola
- Breakfast Granola Cups
- Oat Breakfast Bars With Chocolate
If you try this strawberry oatmeal bars recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan and #elavegan – I love seeing them.
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 cups (205 g) oats gluten-free if needed
- 1 cup (120 g) almond flour (see notes)
- 1 cup (90 g) oat flour (ground oats) gluten-free if needed
- 1 small (80 g) banana mashed (see notes)
- 1/4 cup (80 g) maple syrup or agave syrup
- 1/4 cup (60 g) coconut milk canned (see notes)
- 2 tsp baking powder
Strawberry Filling:
- 3 cups (450 g) diced strawberries
- 1/3 cup (105 g) maple syrup or agave syrup
- 2-3 tsp lime or lemon juice
- 5 tsp chia seeds
- 3 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
Instructions
- I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe and measuring the ingredients in grams. The recipe has a video for visual instructions.Preheat the oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
- Put the ingredients for the strawberry filling in a saucepan, bring to a boil, let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, and stir occasionally.
- Mix all ingredients for the dough in a bowl by either using your hands or a hand mixer.
- Press 2/3 of the dough evenly into a greased or lined baking dish. My pan measures 7 x 11 inches (18 x 28 cm).
- Pour the strawberry filling over the crust.
- Crumble the remaining 1/3 dough on top.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Banana: Use banana or applesauce for a low-fat version. If you prefer a flaky/buttery soft crust, I would recommend using 40 grams banana (or applesauce) and 40 grams vegan butter (margarine).
- Almond flour: You can use any ground nuts/seeds of choice (e.g. hazelnuts, shredded unsweetened coconut) instead of almond flour.
- Coconut milk: You could use oat cream or soy cream instead of canned coconut milk.
- The recipe serves 10. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Simple and Delicious Vegan Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!
Can I use rice flour instead of almond
Hey Brittany! No, I wouldn’t recommend using rice flour since it contains no fat at all and the bars will turn out dry. Almond flour is high in fat since it’s 100% ground almonds which makes the bars soft and tasty. You can use any other ground nuts or seeds instead. Hope this helps.
This looks so nice. Can I replace almomd flour with anything else ?
Hello, you can use any other ground nuts or seeds instead of almond flour. If you replace the almond flour with e.g. regular flour or more oat flour the bars will end up too dry. So I would definitely suggest using any other ground nuts/seeds of choice. 🙂
Hi how long and how can i preserve them? can I freeze them ?
Im going to make them soon 😀
You can store them in the fridge. In the freezer (wrapped in freezer bags) should be fine too but I haven’t tried it out yet. 🙂
Hi. I would love to make these, but am allergic to banana. What would you recommend as a replacement? Maybe flax egg?
Yes, 2 flax eggs or chia eggs should work fine 🙂
Thank you!
Hey Ela,
meinst du ich kann statt Mandelmehl auch einen glutenfreien Mehlmix benutzen?
Lg, Franzi
Hallo Franzi, nein das würde ich nicht empfehlen. Du kannst statt Mandelmehl (gemahlene Mandeln) alle anderen gemahlenen Nüsse und/oder Samen/Kerne verwenden. PS: Hast du gesehen, dass mein Blog auch auf Deutsch ist? https://elavegan.com/de
LG, Ela
These are amazing! I rarely ever leave comments but always rely on other people’s reviews when choosing what to make so I figured with this being the second time making them I should definitely leave one. I added in blueberries and still nothing but deliciousness. This recipe is also very forgiving for people like me who don’t measure precisely. Love the addition of canned coconut milk as well!
That’s so kind of you to leave a comment on my blog! Thank you very much, I really appreciate it. I am glad you liked my recipe
I am always trying to figure out a good way to make a vegan crumble and I believe you just taught me! Crumble the crust dough, that is seriously genius! Thank you my good friend! Dee xx
Awwww, thank you, Dee! You are such a sweetheart. I am really glad my recipe was helpful 🙂
Hi Ela…have you tried freezing these? Do you think they would freeze well? Thanks
Hi Donna, no I never tried it. But I would guess they freeze well, just make sure to put them in freezer bags 🙂
seriously even better than the ones from starbucks!
Such a wonderful feedback!! Thank you very much, Sierra 🙂
Hallo liebe Ela,
ich hätte ein paar Fragen und zwar welche oats nimmst du? Zarte oder Grobe? Und bei dem almond flour – da gibt es ja naturbelassenes (gemahlene Mandeln), entöltes, teilentöltes Mandelmehl, was ist da am besten? Und dann noch bei der Coconut milk , ich habe jetzt einige Rezepte gesehen wo nur der feste Teil der Milch genommen wird und nicht der flüssige, bei dir nimmt man aber den mix oder? Also nochmal aufwärmen wenn sie nicht miteinander verbunden ist? Ich hoffe das sind nicht zu viele Fragen 🙂
Vielen Dank auf jeden Fall für das Rezept 🙂 Liebe Grüße Kati
Hallo liebe Kati, ich habe zarte Haferflocken verwendet und Mandelmehl welches naturbelassen ist (nicht entölt). Bei der Kokosmilch habe ich die Dose geschüttelt, also nicht nur den festen Teil genommen. Ich hoffe das hilft dir weiter. 🙂 PS: Hast du gesehen, dass meine Rezepte alle auch auf Deutsch sind? Ich wollte nur darauf hinweisen, da du auf der englischen Seite einen Kommentar hinterlassen hast. 🙂
Super ich danke dir 🙂 Dann werde ich das dieses Wochenende gleich mal ausprobieren 🙂 Ja ja das weiß ich – hätte den Kommentar auch auf Englisch schreiben können 😀 Ich bin eigentlich immer nur auf englischen Seiten unterwegs und deine ist sehr gut gemacht 🙂 Aber danke für den Hinweis!
Nichts zu danken Kati! Ich wünsche dir viel Spaß beim Nachbacken und hoffe du wirst den Streuselkuchen mögen. 🙂
Heute habe ich den Erdbeer-Streuselkuchen gebacken! Super lecker & schnell zubereitet!LG
Danke liebe Simone, das freut mich wirklich sehr. Vielen Dank für dein Feedback 🙂
Hi ela, would love to make these bars but I’m allergic to coconut milk, what could I use a substitute.
You can use any other plant based milk like almond milk or cream like oat cream. Hope this helps 🙂
Very helpful,, sounds great, I’ll give them a go. Thanks ????
Great, I hope you will like them 🙂
Hello Ela, Thanks for ahring this recipe. I was looking for an alternative to the traditional crumble recipe with butter and your blog just came to my hands.
I made the receipe and it was delicioous.
Thank you so much for leaving a comment on my blog, Noa. I am really happy that you liked my vegan strawberry crumb bars. 🙂
Danke!;-)<3
Ich ernähre mich Gluten und Zucker frei und bin froh wenn ich solceh tollen Blogs mit einer so tollen Persönlichkeit dahinter finde!<3
Aber: Kannst du mir sagen, wieso man sich Vegan ernähren sollte??
Alles Liebe, Ellie
Hi Elli, die Gründe dafür beschreibe ich auf meinem Blog. Schau mal hier: https://elavegan.com/de/gruende-vegan-zu-werden/
Made these last night, and oh my goodness they are delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, but did halve it since I only had 1.5 cups of strawberries on hand, and just used a smaller baking dish. I ate 3 bars before they even cooled down (and my house smelled AMAZING!) Love finding plant based dessert recipes that don’t use refined sugar. Going to try these with blackberries once they’re in season! Thank you for your recipe!
Hey Melody, thanks so much for your great feedback. I am very happy you enjoyed my Strawberry crumb bars. And I am also super excited to make these with blackberries or other fruits (apple cinnamon). Have a great day 🙂
How gorgeous! I’d love to make these bars but I am allergic to bananas. Do you think there is anything I could successfully use instead? Thank you!
Hey Lena! I am sure you can sub the banana with 1/3 cup of applesauce. Please report back if you try it out 🙂
Kirschen solltest du auch mal probieren, das schmeckt unglaublich gut.;)
Ja das stelle ich mir auch sehr lecker vor. 🙂
These came out stunning, Ela! Your photography is so sharp and beautiful. And of course, these bars sound fabulous!
Thanks so much for your sweet compliment Nisha
Hi Ela. I have made your recipe with plums & poppy seeds filling and it was fantastic! Even I forgot to put oat flour, it turned out super good. I have baked it to my boyfriend as he was coming back from US, but I have eaten 1/3 of it myself while still warm as it was so good! :)) My mom have used to do me this kind of crumb pie as a kid but of course it was full of refined sugar, butter and wheat flour and I was just recently looking for more healthy alternative! And here it is. Thanks for sharing and keep the good work, I am your big supporter! 😉
Hi Ingrid, I am so glad you liked my recipe. My mom used to make crumb pie for me as well but same as yours with lots of butter, milk, eggs, sugar and regular flour. That’s why I had to veganize it and make it gluten- and refined sugar free. Thanks so much for your positive feedback 🙂
Das Rezept ist wunderbar Ela! Ich bin sicher, dass ich es ganz bald mal ausprobieren werden ???? Es freut mich ganz besonders, dass es Erdbeere geworden und falls du irgendwann nochmal Mohn ausprobierst, bin ich auch ganz gespannt, wie die Bars geworden sind ????
Ganz liebe Grüße, ein tolles Wochenende und weiter so!!
xx Jana
Oh wie lieb von dir Jana, ich habe mich total über deinen Kommentar gefreut! Ich hoffe du wirst diesen Erdbeer-Streussel-Kuchen genauso sehr lieben wie ich. Mohn probiere ich sicherlich bald aus, denn ich liebe Mohn abgöttisch. LG Ela 🙂
Hy !könntest du das Rezept mir auf deutsch schreiben?das wäre sehr lieb.Es sieht sontollnund lecker aus!????????lg Doris
Danke Doris! Ja das mache ich sobald ich Zeit habe 🙂