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Home » Desserts » Oatmeal Bars

Published: Feb 28, 2020 · Modified: Jan 26, 2021 by Kathy · This post may contain affiliate links

Oatmeal Bars

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Four oat bars stacked with a piece of parchment paper between each bar.

Oatmeal Bars with an applesauce filling are easy to make and delicious for snacking. These bars are always a hit with even the pickiest of eaters! Made with an oatmeal crust and an oatmeal crumb topping. 

A white plate with a stack of oat dessert bars and fresh apples behind the plate.

I started cleaning out my pantry last weekend. I found several jars of homemade applesauce I canned two years ago.

My kids don't eat nearly the amount of applesauce they used to eat. I decided to make  applesauce oatmeal bars to use up some of that extra applesauce. 

A glass baking dish filled with an oatmeal dessert.

These easy oatmeal bars were a huge hit in my house. They disappeared before I even knew it! I think I'm going to have to start hiding my creations so they last a bit longer. Three teenagers can go through food like crazy! 

Another recipe I make using applesauce is this Applesauce Cake!

Table of Contents show
Key ingredients
Steps to make
What if I don't have a food processor?
Tips for making
Other great dessert recipes
Oatmeal Bars

Key ingredients

  • Butter
  • Brown Sugar
  • Flour
  • Cinnamon
  • Oats
  • Applesauce
Small bowls filled with brown sugar, oatmeal, cinnamon and butter.

You can use any type of oatmeal you have on hand. I prefer to use old fashioned oats in these bars rather than instant or one-minute oats. The old fashioned variety is thicker and adds great texture to the bars.  

A stack of oatmeal bars filled with applesauce on a turquoise board.

You don't need to have homemade applesauce to make these oatmeal bars. Any type of applesauce will work. You just need two cups for the recipe.

Another version of these bars are Raspberry Jam Bars and these Blueberry Bars. They are super delicious too! The raspberry jam bars use jam as the filling and are just as easy and as delicious as these applesauce bars. The blueberry bars use fresh or frozen blueberries in the filling! 

Steps to make

A complete list of instructions is available below! Just scroll to the bottom!

  • Place butter, flour and brown sugar into a food processor. Pulse until mixture becomes coarse crumbs.
  • Add oats and cinnamon. Pulse just until mixed. The mixture will be dry and crumbly.
  • Add half the mixture to the bottom of a greased pan. Press down firmly with your hands
  • Mix additional cinnamon with applesauce. Add on top of flour mixture in pan
  • Sprinkle on remaining flour mixture.
  • Bake in a 325 degree oven for 40-45 minutes
  • Allow bars to fully cool before slicing
  • Butter and flour in a food processor bowl.
  • Oatmeal added to a food processor bowl.
  • A flour mixture in the bottom of a glass casserole dish.
  • Applesauce topped with a crumbly mixture in a glass baking dish.

What if I don't have a food processor?

I mixed this crust in a food processor, but if you don't have one I have a few options for you. First, you can place the crust ingredients in a bowl and mix using a mixer with beaters. Make certain the butter is very soft, but not melted.

Second you could mix with your hands. Place ingredients in a bowl and use your hands or your fingers to mix. This may be a bit messy, but your hands are really a great kitchen tool. Simply use your fingers to mash butter into the flour and oat mixture. 

A plate with crumble oat bars.

Tips for making

  • Use salted butter that is softened. The butter should be soft enough to spread easily on a slice of bread
  • Use old fashioned oats, which are a bit thicker than a quick oat. 
  • Allow bars to cool before slicing
  • Store any leftover bars in a covered container

Other great dessert recipes

  • Peach Crumb Bars
  • Apple Bundt Cake
  • Chocolate Cupcakes
  • Chocolate Mousse

Don't forget to PIN for later!

A stack of oat bars with an applesauce filling.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop

Check out all my baking recipes!

A stack of oat bars on a blue board.

Oatmeal Bars

Kathy
Delicious layers of oats with an applesauce filling. 
4.92 from 67 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 people
Calories 324 kcal

Equipment

  • Food Processor
  • 9 x 13" Baking Dish
  • Measuring Cups
  • Measuring Spoons
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup butter (cut into small pieces)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 cup oats

Filling

  • 1½ - 2 cups applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9 x 13" baking dish with a non-stick spray .
  • In a food processor bowl, add butter, brown sugar and flour. Pulse until mixture forms small, pea sized crumbs. 
  • Add cinnamon and oats. Pulse just until incorporated. 
  • Place half the oat mixture into prepared baking dish. Press mixture down with your hands. 

Filling

  • In a small mixing bowl combine applesauce and cinnamon.
  • Pour filling on top of oat mixture. Spread evenly over oat mixture.
  • Sprinkle remaining oat mixture over applesauce. 
  • Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 40 - 45 minutes.
  • Allow bars to fully cool before slicing into 12 equal pieces.

Notes

Tips for making
  • Use salted butter that is softened. The butter should be soft enough to spread easily on a slice of bread
  • Use old fashioned oats, which are a bit thicker than a quick oat. 
  • Some people prefer not quite as much applesauce filling. You can use 1 ½ cups instead of the 2 cups.
  • Allow bars to cool before slicing
  • Store any leftover bars in a covered container
If you don't have a food processor:
  • First, you can place the crust ingredients in a bowl and mix using a mixer with beaters. Make certain the butter is very soft, but not melted.
  • Second you could mix with your hands. Place ingredients in a bowl and use your hands or your fingers to mix. This may be a bit messy, but your hands are really a great kitchen tool. Simply use your fingers to mash butter into the flour and oat mixture.

Nutrition

Serving: 1BarCalories: 324kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 3gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 141mgPotassium: 105mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 485IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 1.5mg
Keyword oat bars, oatmeal applesauce recipe, oatmeal bars
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @BeyondTheChickenCoop or tag #beyondthechickencoop!

This recipe was originally posted in February 2018. 

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Comments

  1. Kim says

    February 02, 2021 at 4:11 pm

    5 stars
    Great recipe, thank you for sharing! I do not think it needs 1 cup of butter, I am going to try again over the weekend with 1/2 cup. I also think the butter needs to be harder to cube and make it more like a crumb cake base ... otherwise, love the recipe ... super easy, super healthy - win win!!!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      February 02, 2021 at 8:27 pm

      Hi Kim,
      Thanks for the suggestions. Let me know how they turn out! I always like to try new tweaks with recipes.
      Thank you!
      Kathy 🙂

      Reply
  2. Lisa says

    January 25, 2021 at 11:59 pm

    4 stars
    The only substitute I made was using vegan butter to make this a vegan recipe and pumpkin spice in the crust/topping in place of cinnamon; Everything else I left the same. After 40 minutes, mine was very soft, more like a mushy apple pie than any slice-able bars. I ended up baking it another 30 minutes before it was done. The flavor is amazing and i'll definitely make again but next time I will reduce the amount of applesauce to 1 cup or 1 1/2 cups!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      January 26, 2021 at 4:52 am

      Hi Lisa,
      Thank you for your comment. I have added your tip of reducing the applesauce as an option to the recipe. I have found when I make this, that the applesauce varies with the amount of liquid each time and that can add to the additional cook time. These are a softer bar, but should not be mushy.
      Thank you!
      Kathy 🙂

      Reply
  3. Melanie Adams says

    December 20, 2020 at 7:08 pm

    5 stars
    This is a great recipe but I did make a few changes for what I had on hand. I used steel cut oats, very hearty! Subbed a spice mix I had leftover from an apple cake I recently made, instead of just cinnamon. I used 4 single serve applesauce cups, 3 unsweetened and one was strawberry flavored my son brought home from school. I also had 2 snack cups of diced peach and pear so I mixed those in with the applesauce. Lastly, I dotted half the pan with leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving. They are really delicious.

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      December 21, 2020 at 5:25 am

      Sounds like a good combination!

      Reply
  4. Helen says

    December 06, 2020 at 11:16 am

    Could you use almond flour instead? If so, would be same amount (1:1 ratio)?

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      December 06, 2020 at 11:20 am

      Hi Helen,
      I have not used almond flour before. I did a quick search and read up on almond flour. It should be okay to substitute it in these bars. Sub at a 1:1 ratio. Let me know how they turn out.
      Kathy 🙂

      Reply
      • erin says

        January 09, 2021 at 11:19 am

        5 stars
        This is one of our family's favorite desserts! Simple and delicious.

      • Kathy says

        January 09, 2021 at 12:36 pm

        Thanks, Erin! I'm so glad everyone loves it. It's one of our favorites too!

  5. Celia says

    November 28, 2020 at 3:20 am

    5 stars
    Easy to make, turned out very well. I cut down the amount of sugar by half in the oatmeal mixture and it was fine. I had a lot of small apples from the tree in my garden to use up. Peeling them would have taken too long to peel them all. So I just cored them and whizzed them in the food processor and the skins weren’t noticeable.

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      November 28, 2020 at 4:33 am

      Hi Celia,
      Great idea and I loved that you were able to use up what you had on hand.
      Kathy 🙂

      Reply
  6. Katherine S says

    October 28, 2020 at 10:23 am

    I am going to make these today.i am using leftover apple puree from a spiced apple cider I made so there' will bea nice spiced flavour.

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      October 28, 2020 at 6:02 pm

      Sounds like a good use of that leftover puree! Enjoy 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sabrina says

    September 24, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    5 stars
    Very tasty! We liked that it wasn’t overly sweet. I added some chopped pecans on top and it gave a nice crunch! Already planning to bake again.

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      September 24, 2020 at 7:44 pm

      Hi Sabrina,
      Chopped pecans sounds like a great idea! I'm going to add those the next time I make these bars!

      Reply
  8. eileen lakritz says

    September 17, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    is it a 9 x12 or a 9 x 13 baking dish?

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      September 18, 2020 at 4:40 am

      Either one is fine.

      Reply
  9. Ellie says

    September 02, 2020 at 9:12 am

    Hi, do you use sweetened applesauce or unsweetened?

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      September 03, 2020 at 5:00 am

      Hi Ellie,
      Either sweetened or unsweetened applesauce works fine in this recipe.
      Enjoy!

      Reply
  10. Lauren says

    August 07, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    Could you halve this recipe and cook it in a smaller pan, maybe an 8x8? If so, how long would you bake it for?

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      August 08, 2020 at 6:07 am

      Hi Lauren,
      You could halve this recipe. I think I'd start by reducing the baking by about 25 minutes and check the bars. You are looking for some browning on the top and edges. After you check, you might cook for 5 more minutes if needed.
      Let me know how they turn out.

      Reply
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I'm Kathy, a busy working mom who loves to cook from scratch, grow a garden, and raise farm animals. Take a look around and find all my recipes, gardening tips, and country living antics..

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