Photo of strawberry cereal bars by Maggie Heyn Richardson.
April is the perfect time to get creative with Louisiana strawberries. They’re plentiful, plump and flavorful and the price has started to fall. Over the next few weeks, they’ll be in good supply, but after Mother’s Day the annual crop starts to fade.
I love to use local strawberries in homemade sorbet, on spinach salads with bacon and feta and with farmers market teacakes topped with fresh whipped cream. I also love to make strawberry oatmeal bars to serve for breakfast or as an after school snack.
My version of strawberry oatmeal bars uses fresh berries in a quick filling rather than strawberry preserves. I also like to top them with sliced almonds, and I use white whole wheat flour and less butter than many recipes so that they’re a little healthier.
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This is an easy and tasty use of the season’s bounty. Enjoy!
Almond-Topped Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Makes 24
For crust
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats
- 1 ½ cup white whole wheat flour (such as King Arthur)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes
For strawberry filling
- 16 ounces (2 cups) fresh Louisiana strawberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
Topping
- ½ cup almond slices
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the crust by combining all crust ingredients in a food processor and pulsing until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Alternative: combine first six dry crust ingredients in a large bowl and cut in the butter evenly with a pastry blender. Set aside.
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Next, prepare filling by washing and coring strawberries. Combine berries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Butter a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. Into the bottom, pour half the crust mixture and spread evenly. Pour strawberry filling on top. Pour remainder of the crust mixture on top of the berry filling, covering it entirely. Top evenly with almond slices. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Refrigerate.
Maggie Heyn Richardson is a regular 225 contributor and author of the just-released book about eight Louisiana foods, Hungry for Louisiana, An Omnivore’s Journey (LSU Press, 2015). Reach her at hungryforlouisiana.com or follow her on Twitter @mhrwriter.