Strawberry Oat Bars

3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups steel cut oats
1 cup nuts, chopped (1/3 pistachio, 1/3 hazelnut, 1/3 almond)
~1/2 lb strawberries
dab of strawberry rhubarb jam
1/4-1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4-1/2 tsp ginger

Begin by hulling and slicing the strawberries thinly, setting them aside. Also crush the nuts (e.g. slam them a few times with a meat mallet while in a plastic bag) somewhat coarsely.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and mix in the brown sugar until fully mixed. Then, mix in the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices, mix, and finally, pour in the oats and nuts, mixing until everything is combined.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Grease a baking pan and press a fitted sheet of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan (makes removing the final result easier and less prone to breakage later). Then, spread about half of the batter evenly in the pan, pressing together.

Spread a thin layer of jam over the surface of this (or you could always just use more preserves and skip the fresh berries entirely if they’re out of season) and then arrange the strawberry slices on top of this.

Top this off with the rest of your batter, doing your best to spread it evenly and pressing it together. You might still see some strawberry through the top, but its ok. Just do the best you can.

Transfer this to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for an hour or so before you try to cut this block (with a sharp knife!) into bars of a size that appeals to you. Figure you could get somewhere around 15-18 bars (e.g. 5-6 columns, 3 rows) out of this, after which, you should set them aside in an airtight container in the fridge.

recipe resource here

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