Breakfast oatmeal jam bars filled with homemade berry chia jam or your favorite store-bought jam. Sweetened with only a hint of coconut sugar and maple syrup. These cozy berry crumble bars are made with whole grain oat flour, mildly sweet sorghum flour, and rolled oats!
This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill, a year-long partner of Snixy Kitchen
Zoella starts preschool next week and she can barely contain her excitement. Once a day for a couple of weeks this summer, she asked me to measure how tall she was on the wall. A week into this routine, she inquired, "Am I big enough yet?"
Me: "For what?"
Zo: "To go to my big girl school."
She'd been checking. Every single day for two weeks. She can't wait to grow up.
Breakfast Oat Bars
Over the past two weeks Zoella's also naturally transitioned from waking up early to sleeping in (I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY!). The problem is, her preschool has a hard start time earlier than she ever goes to daycare. Yesterday. Lucas tried to wake her by abruptly opening the black out curtains and pulling off the covers, with a full volume "time to get up!" Guess how that went? She was grumpy and late, that's how.
She's fully taken after me in the morning: we need slow gentle wake-ups, preferably with our morning drink ready (steamed milk for her, matcha for me). Best not talk to either of us for at least 20 minutes. But let's be real: I have two kids under 4, that's not how mornings go. Usually there's lots of rushing and short tempers (for both of us).
So I'm on a mission to make wake-ups as smooth as possible, and my plan starts with these gluten-free breakfast oatmeal jam bars with homemade berry chia jam. She perked right up when woken with, "do you want a fruit cookie bar for breakfast?" Mom: 1, Grumpy Morning Monster: 0.
These gluten-free breakfast oatmeal jam bars are the fifth recipe in a year-long partnership with Bob’s Red Mill to mark the beginning of back-to-school season!
Gluten-Free Breakfast Bars
As tempting as it is to fold chopped nuts into the crumble, I've made these berry crumble bars nut-free so I can send them as a treat in Zoella's lunchbox. Her new preschool is nut-free, so I've been working on developing some hearty breakfast and snack recipes.
The base and crumble for these gluten-free breakfast bars uses a combination of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oat flour, sorghum flour, and gluten-free rolled oats. As a pair, oat and sorghum give the bars a lightly sweetened wholesome cookie flavor with a bit of depth.
Sorghum is a new-to-me flour in gluten-free baking, recommended to me by my friend Amanda who uses it often in gluten-free baking. She describes it as slightly sweet with a fine texture that's a little bit cakey. I've now gone through three bags, working it into various recipes over the past two weeks.
Sorghum flour pairs beautifully with breakfast treats, offering warmth and cozy sweetness to your baked goods. Use interchangeably with millet flour or to sub it in for ⅓ of your oat flour in a favorite recipe.
Refined Sugar-Free
Without any refined sugar, I feel good about serving these berry crumble bars to my kids for breakfast. I've only lightly sweetened the bars with a combination of coconut sugar and maple syrup. The natural sugars in the berries and subtle sweetness of sorghum and oat flour drive the flavor.
For these bars, I used a homemade berry chia jam, but I also tested them with store-bought jam. If you're opting for store-bought jam, look for a jam without added refined sugar.
How to Make Chia Jam
Homemade berry chia jam is so easy to make. Cook berries - fresh or frozen - with a splash of maple syrup until they thicken and break down. Then add chia seeds and a splash of lemon juice. The jam will thicken up as it cools, but you can spread it onto these bars warm off the stove. Here I've used a combination of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, but the method will work with just a single favorite berry type.
If you don't love the slightly crunchy texture of chia seeds, you can also opt to grind up the chia seeds in a coffee grinder before adding them to the berry compote.
Oatmeal Jam Bars
With the combination of oat and sorghum flour, these oatmeal jam bars are soft and crumbly, while the berry jam adds a subtle chewiness. When warmed up, the jammy berries add more softness and chew to the crumble. Served cold, the crumble firms up like snappy shortbread.
However you prefer to eat them, these breakfast oatmeal jam bars are the perfect way to perk up your morning.
Recipe
Gluten-Free Breakfast Oatmeal Jam Bars
Ingredients
- ¾ cup + 2½ tablespoons (98 g) Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoons (88 g) Bob's Red Mill sorghum flour
- 1 cup (100 g) Bob's Red Mill gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¼ cup Bob's Red Mill coconut sugar
- 1¾ teaspoon baking power
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup berry chia jam or store-bought jam
- 2 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen (I used a combination of raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry, but feel free to use a single berry if you prefer!)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line an 8x8 metal baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together oat flour, sorghum flour, oats, coconut sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Pour melted butter, maple syrup, and vanilla over the top and mix it together with a rubber spatula until evenly moistened and the shaggy dough sticks together when pinched. Dump ⅔ of the crumble into the prepared baking pan and press down flat and even. Reserve remaining crumble for topping
- Bake crust for 13-15 minutes until it begins to turn golden brown.
- Meanwhile, prepare the chia jam. Combine the berries and maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to bubble. Reduce heat to medium low, and cook, breaking up the berries on the side of the pan with your wooden spoon as you stir. Cook for an additional 10-12 minutes until it's thickened quite a bit.
- Add chia seeds and lemon juice and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- When the crust base is ready, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes while you finish the jam.
- Pour the warm jam over the par-baked crust and spread it into an even layer.
- Sprinkle remaining crumble in an even layer over the top of the jam, crumbling it into small pieces as you go.
- Bake for an additional 20 minutes, until topping turns golden brown.
- Let cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before using the parchment paper to slice and serve (speed up this cooling by popping it in the fridge on a wire rack!). Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week and serve cold, room temperature, or warm them in the microwave.
JSH -
Do I need to purchase a metal baking pan for this or will it work fine in my Pyrex?
Sarah Menanix -
You should be able to bake it in your pyrex, but note that the glass tends to retain heat more, so you may find uneven baking and/or over-browning with glass, so pay close attention to your bake time - you may need to shorten it with a glass pan!
Bee -
I followed the recipe exactly using gram measurements
The dough was way too crumbly like it needed less flour or more butter. Those who subbed in almond flour had the benefit of extra fat in the flour.
Sarah Menanix -
They definitely shouldn't be crumbly! I make these every month for my son's preschool. Did you use Bob's Red Mill brand flours? I notice that different brands can behave differently in baked goods, so that could be one of the reasons?
Sarah -
These are delicious! I used almond flour in place of sorghum, and regular brown sugar instead of coconut sugar, because that's what I had on hand. I had to use a 9x9 tho because I don't own an 8x8. Still good..but thinner. Will be making again!!
Amy Popham -
Can these bars be made and frozen?
Sarah Menanix -
Yes! Slice them and freeze them on a baking sheet before transferring them to an airtight container or bag. Defrost at room temperature or in the microwave before eating.
Lisa Feller -
We love this bars so much and this is the second year we have baked them for Christmas Eve brunch! Even those in our family who are not gluten free or vegan enjoy them. I have used fresh berries and a combo or fresh/frozen, and the jam always turns out delicious. Thank you so much for this keeper of a recipe!
Tina -
This was awesome for my husband with multiple allergies. I used almond flour and regular sugar. Thank you for this delicious recipe 😊
Charlynn -
Look good! Is there a good substitute for the sorghum flour? I'd love to not buy yet another kind of flour.
Sarah Menanix -
While I haven't tested it, I think you could make the bars substituting the sorghum flour with additional oat flour. It might get a bit softer/fluffier, but that's what I would do. I also think it might work to substitute with almond flour or Bob's Red Mill's 1-to-1 GF flour. I haven't tried any of these substitutions, so I can't say whether you'd have to adjust other ingredients, but bars are pretty forgiving (unlike cookies or cake), so I think they'd work!
Gwen Matthewson -
Hi definitely going to try your recipes they look delicious. My sister and myself are gluten sensitive so would love to try your recipes especially the oatmeal jam bars.
Kelly -
Hi, this looks wonderful. My son can't take dairy though and vegan butter is not easily available where I am. Can u advise on the amount to substitute with maybe olive oil? Thanks!
Sarah Menanix -
Hm - I don't think olive oil will work, but I might try replacing with the same amount of refined coconut oil, firm but room temperature. Hope this helps!
Nancy Stern -
Beyond delicious. I could eat these every morning and truth be known............noon and night as well!