This recipe is inspired by a baked good sold at a cafe my sister worked at before the pandemic, which has since closed down. I changed a few things about them including the fruit used, but it's still a crowd favourite. Check out the details below!
Strawberry Chia Oat Bars
Difficulty: Easy Total Time: 40mins
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups fresh or frozen strawberries
2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 tsbp arrowroot flour
1 tsbp water
1 and ½ tsp chia seeds
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup vegan butter
⅔ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp Himalayan salt
Method:
In a small pot add the strawberries and the maple syrup. Cook over medium heat until a compote/jam is formed, this can take 5-7min. I also used a potato masher to help the larger strawberries break down.
In a small bowl wisk the arrowroot powder and water together. Add it to the pot and cook until the sauce thickens. Take the pan off of the heat and stir in the chia seeds. Let cool.
In a medium size bowl add the vegan butter and the sugar. Cream together until fluffy, set aside.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until crumbly (it may be easier to combine using clean hands).
Grease a pan with more butter or parchment paper and then add the crumbly oat layer to the bottom of the pan. Next, add the strawberry chia jam layer on top of the oat layer, and scatter some oats on top.
Bake for 25minutes and let cool before serving. Store in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!