No Bake Vegan Strawberry Almond Oat Bars [GF, Oil-Free]
These hearty and delicious no bake vegan strawberry almond oat bars are so easy to make, gluten-free and oil-free!
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy almond butter needs to be drippy and soft!
- 1/3 cup + 4 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 + 1/4 tsp almond extract, divided
- 3 cups rolled oats use certified GF oats if needed
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/2 tsp pink himalayan salt note: my almond butter is NOT salted. If yours is salted, start with 1/4 tsp salt and then add to taste.
- 1 pound fresh ripe strawberries
Instructions
- First, line your 7×11 baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add all of the wet ingredients to a large bowl: almond butter, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract and (1/2 tsp) almond extract. Stir very well.
- Next, add in your rolled oats and salt. Stir until well combined.Then add your almond flour, mixing until you have a nice crumble texture.The oat mixture should resemble a crumble (see my photos) but also be moist, slightly sticky and stick together easily when squeezed. It should not look or feel dry.
- Now, assemble your oat bar base. Reserve 1 & 1/2 cups of mixture for the crumble topping and set that aside. Then add the rest of the mixture into the prepared baking dish and press down, firmly, until the mixture is in a tight even layer. Place the baking dish in the refrigerator so the base can set while you prepare your strawberries.
- Next, mash your strawberries Note: you want to make sure your strawberries are juicy and ripe so the sweet strawberry flavor shines! Rinse strawberries very well in a mesh strainer. Place them on a large plate, remove the green leafy tops with a knife, then start mashing! I use a potato masher and cut my strawberries first so they are easier to mash up. I like to leave a little texture as well.
- When the strawberries are mashed, pour everything back into the mesh strainer to strain out all the strawberry juice. Take your time doing this, shaking the strainer back and forth several times, and ensure that the majority of the liquid is gone (or the oat bars could get soggy!)Transfer the mashed strawberries to a bowl, add 1/4 tsp almond extract and mix.
- Remove the baking dish from the refrigerator, add the mashed strawberries on top of the oat base in an even layer, then top with the crumble topping. Scatter the topping so the strawberry layer shows through in some places. Press the crumble topping into the strawberry layer very gently.
- Refrigerate for about 20 minutes, slice into bars and enjoy these vegan no bake oat bars!Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Make sure your almond butter is creamy, soft and drippy so it mixes easily. The drippy almond butter also contributes to the soft chewy texture of the bars.
- These bars are not overly sweet so feel free to add an extra 1/2 - 1 tbsp maple syrup to sweeten them up a bit if necessary.
- These will soften up a bit as they sit in the fridge.