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!
Deb Goldsmith
Delicious! I used homemade strawberry jam.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Betty
Made a half recipe in a loaf pan with raspberry jam. Excellent.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Judy G
Your description of 3/4 cup is wrong.
It is not less than half…… 3/4 cup would be more than half.
Just FYI
Allison
I’m referring to the total amount of dough not a one-cup measurement. You are to remove 3/4 cup or a little less than half of the total amount of dough. Hope that clears it up. Thanks for stopping by!
Claudia Hite
This is bakery quality. My husband is a tough customer and really enjoyed these. Very glad I tried this one first when I wanted jam bars!
Allison
I’m so glad! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Tammy
Either this was not a tested recipe or there was an error in the ingredients. 10 Tbs of butter, melted? Then press into pan. This was a very wet batter, couldn’t even remotely crumble for topping. I triple checked the ingredients and measurements. Total mess and waste of time.
Allison
Hi, Tammy. I’m confident that this recipe works as written and the 100+ comments and reviews back that up. As mentioned in the recipe card, the mixture will be quite buttery. The butter is the binder for the crust and topping (no eggs used here) so it is necessary to have more than you might think. Once the bars cool the butter holds them together. Sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you.
Jennifer
I used 1 stick (8 tbsp), just because I was running really low on butter, and the base layer and crumble came out fine. Not saying the 10 tbsp doesn’t work, but it can be reduced a bit without ruining the recipe.
Jill N
These were so easy and by far the best jam bars I’ve made! Thank you!!
Allison
You’re welcome!
Diana M
Amazing! Made it with a blueberry jam I made and it was so good!
Can I freeze these by chance? I have a ton of jam 😂
Allison
Hi! You can freeze them but I have found that they do get quite soft. I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Jennifer
These are delicious! I have to admit, I made two small changes to the recipe, which I generally don’t do the first time I try something…
I only used 8 tbsp of butter, because I was running really low on butter. It still worked out fine – the base set nicely, and the crumble was really good. I also added a very thin schmear of peanut butter on top of the base before baking it. I used concord grape jelly, and it added just enough flavor for a perfect PB&J combo!
I’ve got a second batch in the oven now, and will comment on that later…
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Ryana
I doubled the recipe, added finely chopped pecans to the topping and used 16 tablespoons of butter. Very tasty!
Allison
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Margaret Crabtree
These turned out sooooooo wonderful! I made a triple batch for a sorority event- 1/2 the recommended four berry and 1/2 apricot. Delicious! My husband has requested an encore batch… (he got the off sized cuts!) the apricot are extra luscious!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Laura J
Really good bars! I made them with roselle jam and the whole family enjoyed them. Will make again. May make extra for freezing.
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by.
Carolyn
I made these using my brothers homemade blackberry jam. Followed the recipe as written – so good!!!!
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed them!