These Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal Bars tick all the boxes for an easy-to-make, delicious afternoon treat. The mix of sweet oatmeal shortbread-like dough with an oozing layer of sweet raspberries sprinkled with chopped dark chocolate makes this a winning treat to enjoy.
If you love bars as much as I do, then these Chocolate Cookie Brownies Bars, Easy Peach Crumble Bars, and my Small-batch Strawberry Rhubarb Bars are worth checking out. Bars are great to bake because they can serve a crowd, are versatile suiting the office potluck, dessert at the inlaws, or an afternoon picnic, and can be made ahead.
The base and topping for these Raspberry Oatmeal Bars are made with the same oat shortbread mixture. Its buttery, crumbly, and hearty oats create the perfect contrast. The raspberry filling has the perfect sweetness and the addition of chocolate is unbelievable. No fancy method, just a simple sprinkling of it all over the filling so that it melts into chocolate puddles.
The oatmeal bars are simple yet so packed full of flavour. When baking, the smells through your house are unbelievable. So enticing!! I truly hope that you have a chance to bake these. You will fall in love with them!
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Chocolate and fruit combo. I mean, what's not to love about the raspberry-chocolate pairing? It's a match made in heaven!
- Super straightforward to make. Like seriously easy to make. You only need two bowls, no fancy stand mixer, and the hands-on prep time only takes a max of 10-15 minutes.
- Hard to stop at one. Like seriously, it's a problem!! Eat the bar warm from the oven or cold from the fridge, either way, you'll be looking at that second serving whilst finishing your first!!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
The ingredients are pretty standard, but there are a couple of notes regarding them below.
Oatmeal Crumble Mixture
- Plain flour - Use plain flour (all-purpose) rather than self-raising flour. Using a digital scale provides the most accurate way to measure the flour.
- Rolled Oats - Go for Scottish oats or rolled oats for this recipe. They'll hold their shape perfectly so that you can feel and taste the oats when you bite into them. Definitely don't go for the instant, quick-cook version of oats.
- Baking powder - This ensures the crumble is soft yet has a crisp exterior once baked.
- Salt - A must so that the crumble doesn't taste bland. It's always a good idea to season your sweet food.
- Unsalted butter - Cold, cubed unsalted butter is added to the crumble mixture to help create those large crumble bits we all love!
- Egg - 1 large egg, lightly beaten is enough to bind the crumbled ingredients together and form a solid base for the bars when baked.
Chocolate Raspberry Filling
- Frozen raspberries - Yes, you read right. Go the frozen fruit route. And here's why: You need quite a few raspberries for this recipe and this can tend to get pricey. Also once baked into the bar- you really can't taste the difference between frozen or fresh raspberries, so why not use the ones from your freezer? In the method, I do say to thaw the frozen raspberry in a colander set over a bowl before using them in the recipe. This gets rid of excess moisture. If you run them under hot water for a minute, this can speed up the thawing process.
- Sugar - Frozen raspberries, and fresh raspberries for that matter, can be fairly tart, so the sugar balances it out. You may need to adjust the sugar for your raspberries.
- Cornflour - The raspberry mixture can be fairly loose, so the cornflour when mixed through the raspberry mixture, activates in the oven when heated and thickens the mixture up enough so that it isn't a soupy mess when you pull the raspberry oatmeal bars from the oven.
- Chocolate - I prefer to use dark chocolate as I love how it balances the sweetness of the crumble and tartness of the raspberries. But milk or white chocolate would work equally well here too. I also prefer to use chocolate bars and chop them up so that they can melt into puddles. If you prefer, then use chocolate chips.
📖 Variations
- Raspberry almond oatmeal bars: Don't fancy the decadence of chocolate within these bars? No problem. Leave it out. Mix 45g /1/2 cup of slivered almonds into the crumble mixture for a nutty addition. Almonds pair superbly with raspberry.
- Keep it simple for the kids: If you want to create these bars and want to keep it simple for the kids, then replace the raspberry filling with 1 cup of raspberry jam. In fact, you could replace it with any type of jam!
- Change up the fruit. You can be totally versatile with the fruit that you use. I mean, my freezer is always packed full of frozen fruit to make smoothies with, so swapping out the raspberries is totally doable. I'm thinking a blueberry-white chocolate combination for the summer would be amazing!
👩🏻🍳 How to Make
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
With only two components, the oatmeal mixture and the raspberry filling, these Raspberry Oatmeal Bars are simple bars to pull together, and they take no time at all!
Make the Oatmeal Crumble Base and Topping
STEP 1. Prepare the pan. Grease and line with parchment paper a 23x23cm (9x9inch) baking pan. It's important to line the pan with paper so that once the bars are baked, it's easy to remove them from the pan and slice them up. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
TIP: Leave an overhang with the parchment paper so that it forms a sling that can be easily lifted (Image 1).
STEP 2. In a bowl add dry ingredients. Add the flour, oats, sugars, baking powder, and salt and mix together (Image 2).
STEP 3. Add cold butter. Add the cold cubed butter and rub the mixture and butter together between your fingertips. You want to achieve a mixture that resembles fine breadcrumbs but also has some large clumped pieces (Images 3 & 4).
Note: Chop the butter into small cubes, or even go so far as to grate the butter instead of chopping it. Use your fingertips as noted above or use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter.
STEP 4. Add in the beaten egg. Pop the lightly beaten egg into the bowl and mix in with a spoon. Then use your fingers to start squeezing the mixture together (Image 5). Make sure to get right to the bottom of the bowl and scrape up the dry bits.
STEP 5. Add half to the baking pan. With the oatmeal crumble mixture, we now get to create the base of the crumble bar. Pour half the mix into the prepared pan (Image 6). Use your fingertips to level it off and press flat into the base of the pan. See the TIP below to get a super flat base. (Image 7).
TIP: Use the base of a glass or measuring cup to create a super neat flat base.
Chocolate Raspberry Filling
The raspberries should be thawed before making the raspberry filling. To do this quickly, you can place them in a fine mesh sieve and run them under hot water for a minute or so. Then place the sieve over a bowl and let them continue to thaw completely.
All the excess moisture will drip through into the bowl (you can discard this) and then you can continue to use the thawed raspberries.
STEP 6. Mix raspberry filling ingredients together. Add the thawed raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornflour into a bowl and stir until totally mixed together (Image 8).
To Assemble and Bake
STEP 7. Layer fruit onto the base. Spoon the raspberry filling onto the crumble base in the pan and level with the back of the spoon (Image 9).
STEP 8. Sprinkle over chocolate. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate all over the raspberry filling (Image 10). Set aside about a quarter of the chopped chocolate so that it can be sprinkled over the oatmeal topping. Oozing chocolate puddles within a crumble mixture is my idea of heaven. But if you want to add all the chocolate onto the raspberry filling then that is totally cool too.
STEP 9. Add the remaining oatmeal crumble and bake. Sprinkle the remaining crumble onto the top of the chocolate and raspberry filling (Image 11). Squeeze some clumps together so that you get big crumbly bits on the top. If you set aside any of the chopped chocolate, then now is the time to sprinkle it over the top.
Bake. Pop the pan into the oven and bake for 35 minutes until lovely and golden. You'll be able to hear the raspberries bubbling away and the chocolate will have melted into oozing puddles.
🥣 How To Serve
To serve. Now for your test of patience! Leave the bars to cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then use the paper sling to lift them out and onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature. Slice into 16 bars. If wanting super neat slices then refrigerate the bars for a couple of hours so that the filling can firm up before slicing with a knife.
💭 Recipe Pro Tips
- Paper sling. Leaving an overhang with the parchment paper helps to lift the bars out of the pan when they are cooled.
- Use a cup or glass to flatten the oatmeal crumble base. To get that super flat crumble base to your bars, the base of a glass or measuring cup pressed firmly onto it helps give the professional finish.
- Crumble chunks. Who doesn't love some gnarly crunchy crumbs on the top of the bar? Just squeeze some of the mixtures together when layering the crumble mix over the raspberry filling.
📋 Recipe FAQs
Add frozen raspberries into a sieve set over a bowl and leave at room temperature to thaw. As they thaw, the excess moisture will drip into the bowl below. Discard the liquid and carry on with the recipe as stated. Alternatively, if you want to do it quickly then run the raspberries in the sieve under hot water for a minute or so and then set over the bowl.
The most likely cause of this is if there was too much flour added to the shortbread crumble mixture. This can happen if you use measuring cups to measure out the flour. It's very easy to pack in more flour into the cup than is needed and this will add dryness to the crumble. The best way to measure out all your ingredients is to weigh them on a digital set of scales. They can be found at most kitchen stores or online for minimal cost.
Absolutely. That's what makes these so brilliant. You can make and bake the whole tray, then let it cool and store it overnight. It will taste just as delicious the next day.
The crumble can also be made in advance and frozen in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Thaw on the countertop at room temperature before using. Frozen raspberries can be used but make sure to thaw them, draining away any residual moisture before using them.
❄️ Storage and Freezer Instructions
To store: Store these Raspberry Oatmeal Bars in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
To freeze: Wrap each slice in parchment paper and plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or heat in the oven at 110C (230F) for 20 minutes or so.
🍫🍓 More Chocolate & Berry Recipes
If you tried this Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal Bars recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Oatmeal crumble base and topping
- 350 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 70 g rolled oats, don’t use quick or instant oats
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 50 g brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 220 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
Raspberry Filling
- 375 g raspberries, frozen (see notes to thaw before using)
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 15 g cornflour (corn starch)
- ½ fresh lemon juice
- 150 g dark chocolate 70%, chopped coarsely
Instructions
Crumble Base and Topping
- Prepare the baking pan. Grease and line with parchment paper a square baking pan 23x23cm (9x9inch). It's important to line the pan with paper so that once the bars are baked, it's easy to remove them from the pan and slice them up. Leave an overhang of paper to use as a sling to lift the bars out. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl. Add the flour, both sugars, rolled oats, baking powder and salt and mix together.
- Add in cold butter. Add the cold cubed butter and rub the mixture and butter together between your fingertips. You want to achieve a mixture that resembles fine breadcrumbs, but it also has some large clumped pieces.
- Add in the beaten egg. Pop the lightly beaten egg into the bowl and mix in with a spoon. Make sure all the dry bits at the bottom of the bowl are mixed in. Use your fingers to squeeze together the mixture into clumps.
- Add half of the crumble mix to the baking pan and flatten. Pour half the crumble mix into the prepared pan. Use your fingertips to level it off and press flat into the base of the pan. Or use the base of a measuring cup or glass to get a super flat base. Set aside.
Chocolate Raspberry Filling
- Mix raspberry filling ingredients together. Combine the thawed raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornflour into a medium bowl and mix until combined. (See notes below on thawing raspberries)
- Layer fruit onto the base pan. Spoon the raspberry filling onto the crumble base and in the pan and level with the back of the spoon.
- Sprinkle over chocolate. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate all over the raspberry filling. Set aside about a quarter of the chopped chocolate so that it can be sprinkled over the oatmeal topping.
- Add the remaining oatmeal crumble and bake. Scatter your remaining crumble mixture over the chocolate and raspberries, and then scatter over the remaining chocolate. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and the raspberry filling is oozing and bubbling.
- To serve. Remove from the oven and cool for a couple of hours to chill sufficiently and not fall apart when you lift them out of the baking pan. Wait until the filling has set before using the paper sling to lift the bars out of the pan onto a chopping board and slicing and serving. (Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours for nice and neat slices).
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in July 2019 but has been updated with new photos, new content, and a revised recipe.
Mairi
Hi, great recipe,,, but the SCALE element
of recipe does seem to not respond
I would very much like to multiply -treble it
Thanks
Emma
Hi Mairi,
Thanks for letting me know. I think it’s a bug with the plugin- I’ll be sure to look into it. For the moment you might need to use a calculator to multiply the recipe. Emma
Glenn
Hi
Looks amazing and can't wait to try. One question though.
Do you thaw the raspberries or not?
In one place you mention that you leave out the raspberries in room temperature to thaw and in another place you mention that you use frozen raspberries ("Add the frozen raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornflour into a bowl and stir until totally mixed together").
Thanks //Glenn
Emma
Hi Glenn, Thank you so much for your message- and apologies for any confusion. They should be thawed frozen raspberries. I have put clearer instructions in the post and recipe card. Thanks for your patience,
Emma
Glenn
Hello again,
Thanks for the quick response, much appreciated!
Regards from Sweden
//Glenn
melpomeni
Delicious bars! I made them for my husband's birthday and took them to the office, everyone loved them!
Thanks again Emma for the recipe. I've tried quiet a few of your recipes and where all tasty..success!
Karen
Just made these bars and they are delicious!!!! I added a raspberry drizzle for a little sweetness. They were so easy to make and everyone loved them! Thank you Emma!!!!
Emma
Hi Karen,
Thanks so much for your feedback; that's wonderful. So glad that you all loved them. The combination of raspberry and chocolate is incredible isn't it!
Natalie K.
Very tasty! Love the tart raspberry with the bittersweet dark chocolate.
Emma
Glad you loved the combination of chocolate and raspberry Natalie 🙂