Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars

Labor Day weekend and the last real weekend of summer and Liam starts his program on Tuesday. We have been building toward this Tuesday for six weeks and now it is four days away and Liam has told every adult he has encountered in August that he starts school on Tuesday. The adults have responded with appropriate enthusiasm. Liam has accepted their enthusiasm as the correct and only reasonable response.

The school supplies list included a nap mat. He has a nap mat. He is not interested in the nap mat as nap equipment -- he is interested in it as equipment generally. He carried it around the apartment on Friday in a way that suggests he considers it load-bearing to his identity as a student. The backpack with the fire truck. The nap mat. He is ready. He has been ready since March.

We looked at two more houses this weekend because the market has new listings with the end of summer. Neither was right. One was promising enough that Sean asked for the disclosure documents. We will see. I am not naming it.

Made apple cake on Saturday with the orchard apples -- the dense olive oil cake with cinnamon and the apples folded in, the one that smells like September while it bakes. The apartment smelled like fall coming. The summer has been good. The fall will be good. I am going to believe this and let the believing be part of what makes it true.

The apple cake I made Saturday was really about having something to do with my hands while I waited for Tuesday to arrive — that particular kind of baking where the act of it matters as much as the result. These Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars live in the same category for me: straightforward, honest, the kind of thing that smells right while it bakes and asks very little of you while giving a lot back. If you find yourself in a threshold week, a Tuesday-is-coming week, I recommend a pan of something crumbly and golden and made with fruit.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 16 bars

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 10 oz)
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
Make the oat mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour in the melted butter and stir until everything is evenly moistened and clumps form when pressed together.
Press the base layer. Transfer about two-thirds of the oat mixture into the prepared pan. Press it firmly and evenly into the bottom using your hands or the flat bottom of a measuring cup.
Make the strawberry filling. In a medium bowl, toss the sliced strawberries with the granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice until the berries are evenly coated and the cornstarch is dissolved.
Layer and top. Spread the strawberry filling in an even layer over the pressed oat base. Crumble the remaining oat mixture evenly over the top, covering the berries as fully as possible.
Bake. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the strawberry filling is bubbling at the edges.
Cool completely before cutting. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour. Use the parchment overhang to lift the bars out of the pan, then cut into 16 squares. Bars firm up as they cool — do not rush this step.

Nutrition (per serving)

Strawberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars — Baking Through the In-Between