Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars Recipe

Blueberry Breakfast Bars — Photo: Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Loren Wood; Prop Styling: Christine Keely

Active Time:

15 mins

Bake Time:

45 mins

Cool Time:

2 hrs

Total Time:

3 hrs

Servings:

Blueberry breakfast bars with a nutty oatmeal crumble are a delicious homemade alternative to all those stale breakfast bars you see at your local café or market. They're made with fresh ingredients and warm from the oven.

These blueberry breakfast bars are fruity and sweet thanks to the jammy middle but have added nutty texture thanks to the toasty oat crunch on top. With rich flavors of butter, brown sugar, and blueberries, these delicious breakfast bars are better for you, but they feel like a guilty pleasure.

This recipe can easily be modified by swapping out the blueberry jam for blackberry or raspberry jam. Try starting your day with a blueberry breakfast bar and a warm cup of coffee.

Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bar Ingredients

All-purpose flour: Flour forms the bulk of the bars' crust and give body to the oat crumble on top.
Old-fashioned rolled oats: Oats help to give this bar a "healthy" feel and texture, but they also give a fun crumbly taste and add to the nutty flavor provided by the pecans.
Light brown sugar: Dark brown sugar is known to have a richer flavor, which could be too dominant an ingredient with the blueberries and jam. The light brown sugar is a more subtle sweetness and texture that will play well in this recipe.
Toasted pecans: Adding pecans to this recipe will pile on the flavor and texture, and toasting makes their flavor even better.
Salted butter: The salt in butter will help to balance the sweetness of the sugar and jam in this recipe.
Blueberry jam and fresh blueberries: The blend of both blueberry jam and fresh blueberries ensures a rich blueberry flavor.

How To Choose Blueberries

The beauty of this recipe is that you can utilize fresh blueberries at the height of their season. Look for blueberries that are plump and round. Any shriveling is a sign they may have been picked a while.

If fresh blueberries are not available, frozen will work great, too. Just defrost first so as to not add extra moisture to the bars and make them soggy.

How To Make Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

The full recipe for blueberry breakfast bars is below, but here's a brief outline:

As the oven preheats, grease a baking pan, and line it with parchment paper that is itself greased. Then, grab a bowl and start to mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda. As a last step, stir in pecans and melted butter until everything is combined.

Now, press this oat mixture into the prepared pan, but remember to reserve some for later. Grab a jar of blueberry jam, and heat it up before stirring in the fresh blueberries. Spread that over the oat mixture, and then top the jam mix with the rest of the oat mixture.

That goes in the oven to bake—remember to rotate halfway through so it cooks evenly.

How To Serve Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

After the pan comes out of the oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely before cutting into 16 squares. If you're eating this as a dessert (we fully support this), add a sprinkle of powdered sugar or even a scoop of ice cream.

Making Ahead

These bars are a great make-ahead breakfast or snack for the week, but it is also fun to make a fresh batch to serve at brunch on the weekend. Once made, the bars can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Editorial contributions by Aly Walansky.

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups uncooked old-fashioned regular rolled oats
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
3/4 cup salted butter, melted
6 tablespoons blueberry, blackberry, or raspberry jam
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions

Prepare pan:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray, and line bottom and sides with parchment paper; lightly grease parchment paper with cooking spray.
Make crust and topping:

Whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; stir in pecans. Stir in melted butter until oat mixture is thoroughly combined. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture. Press remaining 2 1/2 cups oat mixture in an even layer on bottom of prepared pan.
Make blueberry filling:

Place jam in a medium microwaveable bowl; microwave on HIGH (100%) power 15 to 20 seconds, just until it begins to melt. Stir in blueberries. Spread blueberry mixture evenly over oat mixture in prepared pan. Sprinkle top of blueberry mixture with reserved 1 1/2 cups oat mixture.
Bake, cool, and cut:

Bake in preheated oven, rotating halfway through cook time, until top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cool completely at room temperature, about 2 hours. Cut into 16 squares; serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container up to 3 to 4 days.