Buttery brown sugar Oatmeal Bars with a fruity jam filling. This simple recipe comes together in minutes, with the crust and topping made from the same mixture. Use your favorite flavor of jam.
Hi, friends. Let’s cut right to the chase. Buttery brown sugar oatmeal cookie bars sandwiching a thick layer of jam. Are you in? Yep, me too.
There’s so much to love about this simple recipe. It comes together in just a few minutes, it can be enjoyed for breakfast or dessert, it can be served warm, chilled or room temp, and it can be made with any flavor of jam. Choose your favorite flavor of jam or preserves (I’m currently obsessed with Bonne Maman Four Fruits Preserves).
You might also like our Almond Jam Bars or Raspberry Crumb Bars.
This is a super simple recipe, with the crust and topping made from the same mixture. Here’s how to do it.
How to Make Oatmeal Bars
- Crust/topping mixture: Whisk melted butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Add flour, oats, salt, and baking soda. Stir it up until you have an oatmeal cookie dough.
- Press it in the pan: Dump a little more than half of the mixture into a 8×8 pan and flatten it into an even layer. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
- Add the jam and topping: Top the warm crust with jam, spreading it all the way to the corners. Crumble the reserved oatmeal mixture over the jam and return to the oven for about 15 more minutes.
Recipe tip
Line your 8×8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving a little overhang on two opposite sides. Once the bars are cool you can lift them right out of the pan and cut them easily.
Serving and storage
After baking, allow the bars to cool, and you’ll be able to cut them into clean slices. I often serve these bars at room temperature or chilled so they’re firm enough to be held easily.
If you’d prefer to eat them warm, you can! They will be a bit less stable and need to be eaten with a fork or spoon (see photo below). When serving these warm I like to top them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s like eating a fruit crisp that is heavy on the topping, with jam instead of fruit. Swoon.
Store leftover tightly covered at room temperature or the refrigerator for 3 days.
What’s not to love about a dessert that can feed a crowd, travel well, and maybe also be served for breakfast (there are oats in there!). I mean, yes, technically this is a dessert, but if you wanted to cut yourself a square to nibble on along with your morning coffee I would pass zero judgment. I only ask that you invite me over to join you.
Try the Nutella, chocolate, or lemon version of these bars: Nutella Stuffed Oatmeal Cookie Bars, Oatmeal Fudge Bars, Lemon Crumb Bars
Related recipes
WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE BARS
Recipe
Jam Filled Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups (157g) all purpose flour, see note
- 1 cup (90g) old fashioned oats
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 10 tablespoons (141g) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (110g) light brown sugar, packed (it should be soft and fresh)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- generous ¾ cup (250g) jam or preserves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 pan with foil or parchment paper (leaving overhang on two sides for easy removal). Lightly spray with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine, flour, oats, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large bowl, whisk butter, brown sugar and vanilla until well combined (this will take at least one full minute). Add dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.
- Pull out about ¾ cup (a little less than half) of the cookie dough and place it in the refrigerator (it will be the topping). Dump the remaining dough into the prepared pan and press it down into a flat even layer (it will seem quite buttery). Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully spread the jam on top of the cookie base. Take the reserved cookie dough from the fridge and crumble it over the top of the jam layer. Return to the oven and bake for 15-18 more minutes, until the topping is light golden brown. They might still look a little wobbly but they will firm up as they cool. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- These bars are soft when they are warm or at room temperature. If you refrigerate them they will firm up and be more sturdy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Seesa
Made this last night two batches. One with blueberry jam the other strawberry. Not only are these super quick and easy to make, they’re absolutely delicious!
Will definitely make these again!
Kelli
Huge hit and so easy. My new “go to” to take to parties
Allison
I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Trudi
Hi. Have frozen these?
Allison
I have not, but I would assume that you could freeze them.
Debbie
Love this so quick and easy
Sarah
Could you sub olive oil for butter?
Allison
Hi, Sarah. No, you cannot. The butter solidifies once it cools which helps to hold the bars to together. They will be too wet and messy if you use olive oil.
Julie
I’ve made these tons of times! I work for a jam company so I always have many jars of jam on hand. They are a huge hit with my coworkers! I’ve used blueberry, peach and cherry jams and all are delicious! I always make a double batch and bake in a 9×13 baking dish. I have made a tweak or two, mainly adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the dry ingredients. So delicious!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Mike Sloan
So, I made this last night with peach preserves we put up this summer.
Recently I bought some Jam Bars at the orchard we bought the peaches. They were great, but clearly came from a local bakery (not using the local produce). I wanted to try some myself.
I stumbled on this recipe and though I would try. My gosh they were incredible – and were way better than the bakery model. With the relatively few ingredients, it was quick to assemble and quick to bake. I recommend letting them cool to get solid, eating them out of the oven is too messy!
Loved the recipe.
Allison
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Beverly
Would quick oats be ok to use?
Allison
I have only made the recipe as written so I can’t say for sure. Best of luck playing around with it. 🙂
GmaDoob
I made these last night with quick oats. They were good but think the old fashioned oats would have made them better…. These are wonderful bars!
Naseem
Curious if you’ve ever tried these with Nutella and jam? I may do so myself and will report back!
Allison
I have a Nutella version but it does not also include jam. Nutella Stuffed Oatmeal Cookie Bars
Allison Pierce
These bars are simply delicious! I’ve made them several times and people love them. They are easy and come together quickly without even using a mixer. I agree about using a sweet/tart jam and may even try cutting the sugar slightly sometime. Thank you for the recipe!
Allison
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Lyndsay
These are so awesome! I had some Pineapple preserves in the fridge so I used that! So so good! Thanks for the perfect recipe!
Allison
You’re welcome. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Kerry
Fab recipe. Enjoyed by the whole family with a bit of ice cream or custard. Will be making these more often. I actually made these today and substituted the Jam with sugar free Jam and the sugar with sweetener and were just as delicious 😊
Allison
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂