Triple Berry Bars with Oatmeal Shortcrust

Delicious berry crumble bars with fresh berries and crumb topping.

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Triple Berry Bars with Oatmeal Shortcrust

These easy and jammy Triple Berry Bars are made with a buttery oatmeal shortcrust, a juicy filling of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, and a crisp oat topping. They’re sweet, tart and perfect for summer baking, but can totally be made year-round. Perfect for breakfast, snack, brunch or a sweet treat.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Resting Time45

Total Time2

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, Seasonal

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: Bars

Author: Luay Ghafari

Cost: $25

Equipment

8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan
Food Processor

Ingredients

For the Base

1¾ cup All-purpose flour - 218 grams
½ cup Sugar - 100 grams
¼ cup Oats - 23 grams
1 tsp Lemon zest
½ tsp Kosher salt
¼ tsp Baking soda
10 tbsp Butter (cold and cubed) - 141 grams

For the Berry Mixture

1 cup Blueberries - 150 grams
1 cup Raspberries - 125 grams
1 cup Strawberries (roughly chopped) - 150 grams
¼ cup Sugar - 50 grams
1 tsp Lemon zest
2 tbsp Corn starch - 16 grams

For the Topping

¼ cup All-purpose flour - 30 grams
¼ cup Oats - 23 grams
2 tbsp Sugar - 25 grams
¼ tsp Kosher salt
4 tbsp Butter - 56 grams

Instructions

Preheat Oven and Prep Baking Pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Assemble Shortcrust. To a food processor, add the all-purpose flour, sugar, lemon zest, oats, salt, baking soda and cubed butter.
Process. Pulse the mixture until crumbs form. The mixture shouldn’t be too dry, and should come together when pressed with your fingers. If the mix is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water and pulse again. Note: You could make the crust in a large mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter.
Transfer, Press and Par-Bake. Transfer the short crust dough to the prepared pan. Using your fingertips, a spatula or the bottom of a measuring cup, press down evenly, making sure the mixture goes all the way to the edges and is as even as possible. Bake the crust for 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
Make Berry Mixture. While the crust par-bakes, combine the berries, sugar, lemon zest and cornstarch in a medium bowl.
Make Topping. In a small bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, salt and butter. Using your fingers, press and squeeze the butter with the other ingredients to create marble-sized crumbs. There shouldn’t be any loose pockets of flour remaining.
Add Fruit and Topping. Remove the crust from the oven. Scatter the triple berry filling mixture and then the topping. Try to be as even as possible, but don’t worry about getting perfect coverage with the topping.
Bake Until Bubbling. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit bubbles. That bubbling is important because the filling needs to get hot enough for the cornstarch to properly thicken the fruit juices.
Rest and Slice. Once baked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for at least 45-60 minutes. Then carefully remove the slab and cut into squares on a cutting board. You can sprinkle powdered sugar before serving if you wish.

Notes

Refer to the post above for step-by-step recipe photos.

Key Ingredient Notes:

Oats: Used in the crust and topping. They give the shortcrust and topping a hearty texture and subtle nutty flavor. Rolled or quick oats will work, but I prefer rolled oats myself.
Sugar: So I totally think white sugar works best here. The white sugar won’t overpower the fruit like brown sugar would. But if you really want to use brown sugar, you can.
Butter: Keep the butter cold and cut it into cubes before using in both the base and the topping. Cold butter helps create a tender shortcrust and those delicious crumbly clusters on top. I recommend using unsalted here, since there is salt added to the recipe, but if you only have salted butter, go ahead and use it; just omit the salt from the rest of the recipe.
Berries: I am using a combination of fresh blueberries, fresh raspberries and fresh strawberries here. But you can mix it up, use another berry like blackberries, or just keep the recipe simple with one single berry. I recommend cutting your strawberries up so they are a similar size to the rest of the smaller berries.
Cornstarch: This is what thickens all those delicious berry juices into a jammy filling as the bars bake. Don't omit!

Tips for Success:

Use a metal baking dish. For best results, I highly recommend using a square metal pan here, with straight edges to give you the best-looking finished bars.
Keep the butter cold. Cold butter is important for both the shortcrust and topping. It helps give the base its short, crumbly texture and creates distinct buttery clusters in the topping rather than one solid layer.
Don't overprocess the crust. Pulse just until you have moist crumbs that hold together when pressed. You aren't trying to create a smooth ball of dough.
Look for bubbling fruit, not just a brown topping. The cornstarch needs sufficient heat to thicken the berry juices properly. You want to see the filling bubbling before removing the pan from the oven for that jammy consistency.
Give the bars time to cool. The filling continues to set as it cools. Cutting too early can leave you with delicious but messy squares. Use a large, sharp knife and wipe the blade between cuts if you want especially tidy bars.

Nutrition