Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares with Homemade Jam
Ever since I was a young girl, I have loved strawberry oat bars. While these squares arent a nutri-grain bar, the taste is similar. I have made this popular square much healthier, cutting the sugar and butter by half, and of course, it is vegan too. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. You wont be able to stop at just one. Or three! They are delicious. I am getting excited just thinking about the possibilities.
Ever since I was a young girl, I have loved strawberry oat bars. While these squares arent a nutri-grain bar, the taste is similar. I have made this popular square much healthier, cutting the sugar and butter by half, and of course, it is vegan too. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. You wont be able to stop at just one. Or three! They are delicious. I am getting excited just thinking about the possibilities.
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- ingredients:
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- for oat base:
- 1.5 cups regular oats
- 1 cup whole-grain kamut flour (or mix of white and whole
- 1/2 cup sucanat sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds+ 4 tbsp warm water mixed)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp earth balance melted
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds (for topping only)
- for strawberry chia seed jam:
- 2 & 1/4 cups chopped strawberries chopped into 1/2 inch pieces or approx 1 cup pre-made jam
- 3-4 tbsp sugar to taste
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- Carbohydrate 126.468049994443 g
- Cholesterol 244.637499999482 mg
- Fat 104.603290621188 g
- Fiber 17.6154755671149 g
- Protein 19.4087912479147 g
- Saturated Fat 60.2179270620381 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (315g)
- Sodium 1543.97731249507 mg
- Sugar 108.852574427328 g
- Trans Fat 8.12468199974033 g
- Calories 1494 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Line a square pan (I used a 9×9) with parchment paper and oil the sides of the pan and base.
- In a medium sized pot, add the chopped strawberries and sugar.
- Heat over low until the strawberries begin to sweat and it gets a bit watery.
- Once it heats down a bit, add in the chia seeds, and stir well.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer over low to medium heat for at least 10 minutes.
- Once it has thickened a bit, remove from heat and cool for 5-10 mins.
- You may also add arrowroot powder to thicken it up more if desired, but I didn’t have any.
- In a small bowl, mix the chia or flax egg and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix the oat base dry ingredients: oats, flour, Sucanat/brown sugar, baking soda, salt.
- In a small bowl, mix the melted earth balance, maple syrup, almond milk, and chia egg.
- Stir well.
- Add the wet mixture (reserving 1/2 cup of the mixture) to the dry and mix well, using hands if necessary.
- Pour the oat mixture onto the square pan and press down with fingers.
- Use a pastry roller to smooth out if desired.
- Pour on strawberry mixture and smooth out.
- Now sprinkle on the reserved 1/2 cup oat mixture and sprinkle on.
- Now sprinkle on 1 tbsp of sesame seeds or coconut.
- Bake at 350F for approximately 30 minutes.
- Allow to fully cool for at least 30-40 minutes before gently removing from pan.
- Slice and then store in a container in the fridge to keep firm.
- Spread your delicious crumbly mixture into the pan:
- Roll it out if you are obsessed with your Dollarstore pastry roller like I am.
- Spread on your cooled jam:
- crumble on the oat mixture that you set aside…
- Sprinkle on sesame seeds or coconut to make it really pop.
- Bake for about 30 minutes at 350F.
- Slice into 16 squares.
- or you can make bars and wrap them up for lunch!
The Mechanics of Plant-Based Binders
Relying on a chia egg instead of a traditional chicken egg removes albumin proteins that normally coagulate under heat to form a rigid structural network. Chia seeds rely on soluble mucilaginous fiber that swells when hydrated at a ratio of one tablespoon of seeds to four tablespoons of warm water, creating a viscous gel that traps free moisture and holds the oat and kamut flour matrix together during the thirty-minute bake at 350°F. Without this hydration step, the dry ingredients lack the cohesive forces necessary to form sliceable squares rather than loose crumble.
Controlling Moisture in Fruit Jams
Fresh strawberries contain roughly ninety-two percent water, which presents a significant structural challenge when attempting to layer a fruit filling between baked grains. Simmering the chopped fruit with sugar draws out intracellular water via osmosis, after which adding chia seeds allows those dry seeds to absorb the remaining liquid as the mixture cools, thickening the jam without requiring refined starches like cornstarch that can clump if not properly suspended in cold water first. Letting the cooked jam rest for five to ten minutes off the heat stabilizes its viscosity before it meets the raw bottom crust.
Managing Texture Through Thermal Control
Structural integrity in these bars depends entirely on thermal management rather than immediate slicing. Freshly baked oat bases remain fragile because melted fats are fluid at 350°F and require a minimum cooling window of thirty to forty minutes at room temperature for the lipids to solidify and the starches to fully set. Transferring the cooled pan directly into the refrigerator further firms the fats, ensuring clean cuts into sixteen uniform squares without crumbling the delicate whole-grain crust.
