Vegan Strawberry Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

With these Vegan Strawberry Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars, your taste buds will enjoy a bold balance between the sweetness and tartness of the strawberries tied with a nice crunch from the rolled oats and soft, nutty flavored body from the peanut butter, oatmeal, and almond flour. The perfect sweet treat the Spring and Summer! All vegan and gluten-free.

These Vegan Strawberry Peanut Butter Oatmeal bars are the next best thing for a sweet indulge moment during the sunny days ahead.

I recently decided to remake and re-shoot these oatmeal bars because it's always great to re-test and tweak your recipes after awhile in my opinion. I believe that I originally made these 2-3 years ago, however, since recently making them again, I found amazing ways to adjust a few ingredients and even substitute others.

So much BETTER this time around.

So, I'm a HUGE fan of PB + J sandwiches, especially growing up. Of course, I HAD to make something that plays well on my love for such a simply yet classic childhood fave!

Previously, I made these amazing Crunchy ‘PB + Jelly’ Energy Bites, which were an awesome rendition of a PB + J sandwich, while exploring a fruity apricot flavor.

However, these oatmeal bars are the perfect rendition of a traditional PB + J Sandwich, bursting with strawberry flavor.

The best thing about making this during the summer?

For one, they are totally accessible and easy to pack and carry around with you, regardless of where you travel.

Secondly, they are super easy to make, only requires your staple ingredients, and they're just SO DAMN GOOD! Haha.

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OK, so back to these bars.

If you have a little one like I do, then this is an awesome way to incorporate fruits into their diet on a daily without going through the fight of them not wanting to really eat healthier foods.

With parenting, I've learned that you definitely have to be creative with your strategy. Who else can relate?

When it comes to these bars, I used my favorite vegan-friendly brand of peanut butter from Earth Balance. I really enjoy many of their products, including their butters, buttery sticks, vegan mayo, and more.

What Ingredients Will You Need?

Gluten-free Almond Flour: You can also use Oat Flour or regular flour if you choose!

Gluten-free Rolled Oats: I love using the thick cut oats.

Strawberries: I used frozen strawberries to make my own jam, which is super easy.

Brown Sugar: I love using organic brown sugar because it gives a nice amount of sweetness and texture.

Cinnamon: Because you always need a nice spice flavor.

Baking Soda

Sea Salt

Vanilla

Peanut Butter: I love how it adds such a softness to these bars and a delicious nutty flavor. You can substitute with Almond butter or Pecan Butter for a different bold flavor.

Vegan Butter

Arrowroot strach

Lemon Juice

Pure Cane Sugar

Now let's dig right into this recipe, shall we?

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a regular 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.

To Make Strawberry Jam:

Combine strawberries,  pure cane sugar, lemon juice, water, and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer until the strawberries are soft.

Now in a small bowl, mix together arrowroot starch with warm water until well combined and lump-free. Add mixture to saucepan with strawberries and stir until syrup thickens and reduced slightly, approximately 8-10 minutes, Continue to stir occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

In a medium bowl, combine the rolled oats, almond flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt, whisking ingredients together. Add in melted butter, vanilla, and softened peanut butter and using a spatula, stir everything together until fully incorporated and evenly moistened. **NOTE: Your batter will look a bit crumbly and wet; that's fine!**

Assembly:

Scooping only half of the ingredients into the prepared pan, press down evenly until nicely evened. Now, add cooled strawberry jam atop even layer. Now, sprinkle the remaining ½ of the crumble mixture, until everything is evenly coated and gently press everything on top for an even top layer.

Bake the bars for 30-35 minutes, until the strawberries are bubbling through and the tops look golden brown and crisp.

Once done, remove from the oven and let it cool completely, about 30 minutes or so before lifting the parchment paper on the sides from the baking pan and cooling them completely on a cooling rack. **NOTE: For a better 'second cool', you can place the bars in the refrigerator for an hour or so.**

To serve, cut everything into square bars and enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

MADE OUR RECIPE(S)?

If you choose to make these Vegan Strawberry Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars or any other recipe from us, be sure to tag us on Instagram at #Orchidsandsweettea so that we can share the love, rate, comment below, + share!

Vegan Strawberry Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars.

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