Vegan Raspberry Crumble Bars (Gluten Free option)
These bars have an oat filled cinnamon & brown sugar cookie style base, a soft and crumbly topping, and a raspberry filling that is the perfect mixture of sweet and tart – what’s not to love?? Most importantly – you can swap out raspberries for any berry you want, AND this recipe gives options for using fresh berries, frozen berries, or pre-made jam or preserves!
Ingredients
Crust & Crumble Ingredients
- 1¼ cups gluten free flour can sub all-purpose if desired. This links to my favorite store bought gluten free flour blend that works best with all of my recipes, or see "Ingredients Needed" section for further info.
- 1¼ cups gluten free rolled oats
- ¾ cup + 1 packed tbsp light brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon optional
- 10 tbsp melted vegan butter
Berry Filling Ingredients – FRESH BERRY OPTION
- 2 cups fresh berries of choice plus extras to sprinkle over the top
- 1½ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup granulated sugar *if you want a sugar free option, this links to my favorite sweetener, you can substitute it 1:1 in place of regular granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Berry Filling Ingredients – FROZEN BERRY OPTION
- 2 cups frozen berries of choice
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ¼ cup granulated sugar *if you want a sugar free option, this links to my favorite sweetener, you can substitute it 1:1 in place of regular granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Berry Filling Ingredients – JAM OR PRESERVES OPTION
- ¾ cup jam or preserves of choice
Vanilla Icing Ingredients – optional
- 1 cup powdered sugar *if you want a sugar free option, this links to my favorite powdered sweetener, you can substitute it 1:1 in place of regular powdered sugar
- 5-6 tbsp non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. If you want to make this in a 9x13 pan, simply double all the ingredients.
- Note – in these instructions I will outline how to do this with either fresh berries, frozen berries, or jarred jam or preserves. If you want more in depth descriptions of anything, read the above How To Make Them section. Otherwise, make the crust/crumble as outlined, then jump to the recipe step that outlines how to handle the berries based on which option you are using.
- CRUST/CRUMBLE MIXTURE. The crust & crumble is made of the same mixture, and comes together in just one bowl. Mix together the gluten free flour, gluten free rolled oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Then add in the melted butter and mix using a fork or your fingers until it’s got a streusel like consistency. Reserve a heaping ¾ cup which will be used as the crumble topping, the rest will be used as the crust.
- FRESH BERRY OPTION. If you are using fresh berries, keep reading! Measure out 2 cups of berries (if you are using strawberries, be sure to cut them up) and mix in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients in the Fresh Berry ingredient section above. The mixture will be a little watery, and your berries will get mashed down, that’s okay. If you have more fresh berries to spare, you may want to put some whole berries on top of this mixture when you begin layering the bars together.
- FROZEN BERRY OPTION. If you are using frozen berries, keep reading! You have two options here – one is to let the berries thaw and drain FULLY, so they seem as though they are fresh berries, then use them the same as the Fresh Berry option above. But more realistically, option 2 is to make them from their frozen state. Measure out 2 cups of frozen berries and place into a small saucepan with the rest of the ingredients in the Frozen Berry ingredient section above. Heat over medium heat, and once it begins to simmer mix for another 3-5 minutes until the mixture has thickened. It will seem like jam here and not look like the fresh berry photos, that’s okay! Let it come to room temperature.
- JAM OR PRESERVES OPTION. If you are using jam or preserves, keep reading! This is the easiest section – measure out ¾ cup of your chosen jam or preserves. The end.
- PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER. Whichever version of berry filling you used, let’s all meet back here at step 7. Start by taking the crust part of your crust & crumble mixture, and pack it down into the parchment lined pan. Next, spread your chosen berry mixture on top of this crust layer. No matter which one you used, if you happen to have fresh berries around, you can add a few over the top at this point, too. Finally, take the reserved ¾ cup of crumble mixture and sprinkle generously over the top of the berry mixture. Photos of all these steps are above throughout the rest of this post.
- Put in the oven for 32-35 minutes, and when you remove the pan place directly onto a cooling rack so air circulates to the bottom of the pan as well. Let them come to room temperature for at least 45 minutes, then move to the fridge to fully cool and firm up into bars. I like to leave mine overnight, but if you only have a few hours, they should be okay to remove from the pan after 3-4 hours.
- Finally, if your berries are a bit tart and you want to add some extra sweetness, mix together the vanilla icing ingredients and drizzle over the top of the cooled bars.
- Eat and enjoy!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!