Gluten-Free Lemon Berry Oatmeal Snack Bars
These Lemon Berry Oatmeal Snack Bars are the perfect mid-day treat or dessert to satisfy your hunger! These snack bars have an oatmeal crust, a tangy lemon mixed berry filling, and they’re gluten-free + vegan. Thanks to Lipton for sponsoring this post!
Let’s talk about snack time. Are you a big into snacking, or are you more of a stick-to-your-meals kind of person? I do a little of both – on the days when I’m recipe developing and testing, I’m snacking on baked treats all day and don’t even really eat real meals until dinner.
On the other days, I’m usually a stick-to-my-meals person, but there’s got to be some sort of sweet treat during the day. I’m a baking blogger after all, so it’s okay, right?!
The best is when I can get my sweet treat and snack all in one. I’m not huge on pre-made granola bars, and I prefer to make snack bars myself – like these Cherry, Almond + Dark Chocolate Granola Bars and the beautiful berry snack bars you’re looking at right now! Making my own twists on a classic granola or snack bar has always been super satisfying when it comes to snack time.
I always tend to have a homemade snack in the fridge for when hunger strikes, and it’s the best thing when I have a friend or family member come over to visit and I can grab them a homemade goodie from the fridge. Even better? When I can serve alongside some Lipton Flavored Iced Tea!
I gave up drinking coffee regularly last year and have since become an avid tea drinker. Lipton has been a tea staple for as long as anyone can remember, right? Their flavored iced teas are some of my favorites, particularly the Green Tea Citrus Flavored Iced Tea. So refreshing and delicious, and a chilled bottle of it pairs so perfectly with these Lemon Berry Oatmeal Snack Bars. It makes a mini-meal out of snack time!
The lemon in the tea totally brings out the lemony flavor in the bars. The bars have the most irresistible filling – it’s so simple, just mixed berries, lemon juice, lemon zest, and tapioca starch. Since berries aren’t exactly in season right now, I used frozen berries and it worked out deliciously. You can also pick your favorite berry if you don’t want to use a mix.
The crust is made with almond flour, rolled oats, and just a touch of coconut flour – it’s crisp, crumbly, sweet, and totally melts in your mouth. It’s lightly sweetened with coconut sugar – just enough to sweeten these bars up, but not enough to make them cloyingly sweet or detract from the tartness of the lemon and berries.
The recipe makes 16 snack bars and I definitely think they’re best straight from the fridge – the chilled berry filling is super tart and refreshing, and the crust straight from the fridge has a firm bite but just melts in your mouth because of the coconut oil. It’s irresistible! Time for a little taste of summer :) enjoy!
Gluten-Free Lemon Berry Oatmeal Snack Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These Lemon Berry Oatmeal Snack Bars are the perfect mid-day treat or dessert to satisfy your hunger! These snack bars have an oatmeal crust, a tangy lemon mixed berry filling, and they’re gluten-free + vegan.
Ingredients
- 12 oz. mixed berries, I used equal parts strawberries, raspberries + blackberries – frozen is fine
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, from 1 large lemon
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup coconut oil, solid at room temperature
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup rolled oats, gluten-free certified if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper or foil and grease lightly.
- In a medium bowl, toss together berries, lemon juice, lemon zest, and tapioca starch. Let stand while you prepare the crust.
- In separate bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, coconut oil, coconut sugar, and rolled oats. Stir until combined, working the coconut oil in with your fingers if necessary.
- Reserve about 1 cup of crumb mixture for the topping. Press remaining crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of greased pan.
- Evenly distribute the berry mixture on top, leaving any berry juice in the bottom of the bowl. Top with remaining crumb mixture.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until bubbling and lightly browned. Let cool for an hour and then place in the refrigerator to cool completely before cutting into 16 squares. Store in the fridge.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Lipton. The opinions and text are all mine.
I used to never really be a snacker, until I got older! And especially now that I’m a food blogger…I snack all day on the foods I make until dinner, not sure if that’s good or bad! :) These snack bars look gorgeous, Rachel! Love the lemon and berry combo! Perfect for a healthier snack!
Haha I feel you there with the snacking, Gayle! Thanks so much :)
These look delicious! I need an afternoon snack every day and these sound WAY more exciting than a Larabar…
They are definitely super delicious! Thanks Becky :)
I eat three meals a day but I have my fair share of snacks in addition to that. Oh, these I am pinning because I need them in my life. They look dangerously good!
I feel you there, girl! Thanks so much :)
I have wayyyyy too many snack attacks during the day in which I eat homemade granola bars and such. I love that these bars are wholesome, yet probably taste like dessert! Now that’s my kinda snack :)
Homemade granola bars are the best! These are definitely a sweet snack, but they’re pretty much as healthy as any granola bar! Can’t bear that :) Thanks, Bethany.
These look incredible. I love all the ingredients you’ve chosen, so will certainly give these a whirl sometime soon :) Thank you!
Thanks so much, Rachael! Hope you give them a try.
I made these yesterday Rachel – and they’re divine! But I think they’re even better the next day. My daughter and her friends loved sharing them at school snack time too :)
So happy to hear that you and your daughter loved them, Rachael! Thanks for sharing your feedback :)
I love snacks that double as sweet treats – but are yet not cloyingly sweet – like these bars! I’ve been on a sugar-fast (crazy me I know) and I’m thinking I could replace that coconut sugar with Splenda naturals and enjoy the heck out of these snack treats! Thanks so much for sharing these
Me too! A sugar fast sounds brutal, haha, but that would totally work! Thanks, Shashi :)
These look and sound delicious! And I hear you about coffee! I have stopped drinking coffee for almost a week now and actually I feel much better after getting rid of my addiction! These bars are great for anytime snacking so I must make them!
Hope you love them, Ami, and good luck with the coffee detox :)
I definitely am a snacker! We eat dinner pretty late based on the husband’s work schedule so I always need an afternoon snack! These bars look delicious!! Berries are the best!
I need to make my own snack bars! The prepackaged ones typically have so many additives and weird ingredients :) I love the flavors, too!
They have SO many weird ones most of the time! Thanks Medha :)
I love the burst of lemon and berries in the middle of Fall. So refreshing!!!
These look delicious! I love all the berries, too.
Oh my gosh, these bars are just STUNNERS, girl!! I’m totally freaking out over how pretty that filling looks and I love the fact that they’re so super-healthy I could practically have them for breakfast!! ;)
You could most definitely have them for breakfast! Thanks Sarah :)
I’m a HUGE snacker. I’m one of those try-to-eat-6-small-meals people… It’s a good excuse to eat lots of different things in one day ;-) These bars look and sound so delicious, Rachel! Love berry anything and adding the lemon to the filling sounds fantastic! These would disappear at my house in a heartbeat.
Love lemon and berries together! These look delicious, and yes need a dessert every day, I couldn’t survive without! Ooops!!
Are we supposed to bake the crust a little first? As the recipe say “then bake for…”
Just a typo – this recipe is baked just once. Enjoy!
These look great! I’d love to try these for my kids. Is there a substitute for the almond flour? I have kids with nut allergies.
Hi Nancy – you can use a nut-free gluten-free flour blend, or substitute with sunflower seed flour (you can make yourself by grinding sunflower seeds in a food processor or blender). Hope this helps!
Just made the lemon berry oatmeal snack bars,
amazing every one in the family liked them which is a first.
Will be making again and soon, one question should they be really crumbly or should they hold their shape.
Great recipe.
Ruth
So glad everyone in the family enjoyed them, Ruth! They are supposed to hold their shape.