When my freezer defrosted this week, I created a compote with several kinds of semi defrosted fruit as a kind of “quick save”. Although I’ve been eating a lot of it just mixed in to my morning yogurt, some of it went into these yummy Oatmeal Fruit Bars.
With only 5 ingredients (sans the fruit filling), all of which are pantry staples, these bars are quick and frugal!
1C Flour
1C Oats (original recipe stated quick cook, but I use reg & it’s fine)
2/3C Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2C Butter
Fruit filling
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Cut in butter. I have never like that whole “use two knives to cut in” thing, so I just get in there with my hands and keep mushing & mixing until it is combined
Reserve out 1/2C of mixture. Press the rest firmly into an 8X8 pan.
Layer on fruit filling & sprinkle reserved oat mixture on top.
Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
Let cool & cut into bars.
Fruit Filling:
You have several options here. You can use a 10oz jar of preserves (homemade or store bought) or you can cook up some. If you are a confident cook, just cook some fruit, water & sugar to the consistency of pie filling. If you need a recipe, try one of these below:
Raisin Filling: Cook till thick and bubbly 1C raisins with 1/2C water, 2TBS sugar and 2TBS Cornstarch (remember to dissolve cornstarch in a bit of the cold water first)
Apple Filling: Cook 2 apples (peeled & chopped) with 2TBS Sugar, 2TBS water, a dash of lemon juice and any spices (1/2 tsp cinnamon is good). Boil, then reduce heat and simmer till thick, approx 8 min.
Enjoy
Together We Save says
Sounds yummy.
Martie says
Sounds great. I was so inspired with how you saved all of your food. I am sure you were tired at the end of that day. Question: Did you grease your pan before pressing in the oat mix?
rmlrhonda says
Oh, I can’t wait to try this! I have one last bag of last year’s frozen rhubarb in the freezer and have been trying to decide what to make. This sounds perfect!
Steph at Problem Solvin' Mom says
Yum! I stumbled this to try later this week, thanks! š
mortgage says
i even haven’t been thinking about making something like that, but now-im running to the kitchen
Carrie says
Awesome, and so easy to adapt. Made these, sans fruit since my guys don’t eat fruit unless it’s cobbler with ice cream! I added about 3/4 c. chopped pecans and about 1/2 to 3/4 c. Sugar Free maple syrup (I wasn’t measuring, just squirching the last bit out of the bottle, and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon to oatmeal mixture, put in pan and baked according to directions. Yummy. Oh, and used gluten-free flour, too, and Splenda brown sugar. Very tasty…got the hubs seal of approval.
Thanks Jenn. I’ll bet it’s great with fruit, too!
Jenn says
TWS-they are yummy!
Martie-No, you don’t have to grease the pan. There is enough butter in these that it isn’t a problem š
rmlrhonda-they would be great w/rhubarb. I can’t wait till next year when I’m allowed to pick my rhubarb-I just transplated some from a friend last year, and you are supposed to let it grow the first year to help the roots š
Steph-thanks for the stumble!
Mortgage-Ahh, I hoe yours came out well.
Carrie-so glad you were able to adapt the recipe so easily to your family’s needs. Gotta love a recipe that works that way!
Susan says
I’ve made these with both strawberry & prune fillings and they worked out great! Thanks for the wonderful recipes!
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Glad you enjoyed them. I just made them again myself today. I used nectarines that had a bunch of over ripe spots (cut out of course) and apples that had gone all wrinkly. . . Came out yum all mixed together and cooked down w/a bit of sugar.
Alice says
Will definitely give these a try — sounds great with all those apples (and maybe even pears) that are coming up this fall. And I’m looking for some yummy alternatives for my son’s lunchbox this school year.