These Raspberry Oat Bars are a wonderful treat. They have a tangy raspberry flavor mixed with the brown sugary sweetness of an oat bar. Most raspberry bars use jam as the filling; I wanted to take it a step further and make the raspberry filling from scratch. I really liked a raspberry compote that I have previous made and posted for filling for a penguin-shaped birthday cake. I decided to make this compote and add cream cheese to thicken it. It was delicious.
I was inspired by Starbucks Cherry Oat Bars to make these raspberry oat bars. My favorite berry is the raspberry, so I decided to make try this flavor instead of cherry. In my opinion, raspberry are the perfect combination of sweetness and tartness. They add great flavor to smoothies, cakes and ice-cream. When I lived in Canada and had easy access to local farms, I loved raspberry picking season. I would pick several ice-cream gallon (4 Liter) buckets full and eat or freeze them for later use. It is so fun to self-pick fruit with kids. It is amazing how many berries they can eat, spread on their face and mash into their clothes. mmmm….so good and so fun.
Step 1: Raspberry Compote and Cream Cheese Mixture
Make the compote on the stove. Let it cool.
Then combine it with 4 oz of cream cheese in the mixer. It will not combine smoothly. It is okay if you can still see bits of cream cheese in the mixture.
Step 2: The Raspberry Oat Bars
Notes:
- For a thicker bar, double the oat mixture and cook the bars 15 min longer. This give the bar a sweater taste. The very top photo on this page of the bars is a double oat version.
- Bake the bars on parchment paper for easier removal from the pan.
- Bake until the top layer is golden brown.
This Oat Bar is very versatile. It could be used for various fruit flavors. A lemon cream filling would be amazing. The Oat Bar portion was inspired by an amazing Peaches’n Cream Bar recipe that I made last summer and will make again during peach season.
Enjoy!
