Diane Morrisey’s Strawberry-Oat Bars

My Grandma Murphy was a tea drinker and had a wicked sweet tooth. Every afternoon she asked for her “cuppa,” and we always knew that she had to have a “little something” to accompany it. Mom and I were usually the ones to oblige her, and this is the exact type of homemade treat that she was happiest to get. This is a variation of the oat bar recipe that Mom always made. They are super versatile because you can make them with any combination of jam and berries that you want. I’m pretty darn confident that these bars could pass for breakfast (because, oats), but they’re equally delicious as a lunchbox treat, cut up for a potluck or a picnic, or served warm with ice cream for dessert as a sort of cobbler moment. —Diane Morrisey

Strawberry-Oat Bars

Makes 20 bars

Ingredients

For the filling

2 cups coarsely chopped hulled fresh strawberries

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 12-ounce jar strawberry jam

Finely grated zest and juice of half a lemon

For the dough

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom and two short sides of the pan with parchment paper, letting the excess parchment hang over the ends as handles.

Make the filling: In a medium bowl, sprinkle the strawberries with the flour and mix well. Add the strawberry jam, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix again.

Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture for the topping. Press the remaining dough firmly and evenly into the pan.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread the filling evenly over the crust. Sprinkle evenly with the reserved oat mixture. Return to the oven and bake until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes longer.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Run a knife around the sides of the pastry to loosen it from the pan. Lift up with the parchment handles to remove the pastry in one piece. Using a large knife, cut the pastry lengthwise into 4 strips and then crosswise into 5 rows to make 20 bars. (The bars can be stored in an airtight container, separating the layers with parchment or waxed paper, for up to 3 days.)

Excerpted from You Got This! Recipes Anyone Can Make and Everyone Will Love. Copyright @ 2025 by Diane Morrisey. Photography Copyright © 2025 by Dane Tashima. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.