These Raspberry Crumble Bars are THE BEST! So soft, buttery, and delicious. My favorite summer dessert.
Raspberry Crumble Bars
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I have made this recipe 3 times now and this last time I used raspberries, blueberries and bananas! They were amazing!!!!
Sweet, soft, wonderfully juicy raspberry crumble bars.
With a soft oat-brown-sugar-butter cookie-like base, and a thick, sweet, and tart but not overwhelming layer of raspberries in the middle, tucked in by a light dusting of those subtle streusel-like crumbs on top.
You’re gonna need to be making these.
I have strong opinions about fruit bars. I like them to be soft, not crunchy. I like them to be fruity, but not overloaded with fruit. I like them to taste kind of like cookies, but not a crunchy cookie and definitely not anything resembling the flavor of almond extract. I just… that’s not for me. I’ve eaten enough bars in church basements in my life to know what I like.
And what I like is THIS ONE.
The crust is soft and delicious and mostly made from our four usual suspects:
- oats
- flour
- brown sugar
- butter
And yes, you will want to eat it. I know you’re not supposed to eat raw flour and all that, but really? Not even a few little crumble chunks? I mean, good luck with that.
On to the raspberry filling. This is also eat-with-a-spoon-able delicious. I like this real raspberry filling better than a jam filling layer because the jam ones just get so sweet sometimes, know what I mean?
We’re talking about primarily:
- Raspberries
- Lemon juice
- Sugar
There’s also a little flour and cornstarch ditty going on in there to help this not become a total puddle.
The goal here is that you will pull the bars out of the oven and see the jam filling looking like a barely-bubbling hot lava. That’s your ticket. That’s when you know it’s going to hold and you’re about to slice into some REAL NICE BARS.
When they cool, you have the big decision to make about whether to cut them in reasonably sized bars or extra large bars. I always vote extra large.
Okay, let’s brainstorm a list of reasons (excuses) to make these.
- You have friends coming over to watch the Bachelorette.
- You love raspberries.
- You had a bad day.
- You had a good day.
- Your neighbors are craving treats.
- You need to win someone over at work.
- You’re hosting a dinner party.
- It’s summer / Tuesday / rainy / sunny / YOUR LIFE.
- You love yourself.
Does that help?
How To Make Our Raspberry Crumble Bars (1 Min):
More Summery Desserts
- Best Peach Cobbler (seriously the best)
- Mocha Peanut Butter Pie (chocolate lovers, unite!)
- Fruit Pizza (a Midwestern retro favorite)
Raspberry Crumble Bars
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12–18 bars 1x
Description
These Raspberry Crumble Bars are THE BEST! So soft, buttery, and delicious. My favorite summer dessert.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Raspberry Filling
- two 12-ounce bags of frozen raspberries (see notes)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (more depending on tartness of your berries)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- juice of one lemon
Crumble Layer
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups brown sugar (loosely packed)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups melted butter (I prefer salted)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prep Raspberries: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place raspberries in a large colander. Run warm water over them for a minute, and then let the liquid drain out for about an hour until softened and thoroughly drained (see notes). Mix raspberries with sugar, flour, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
- Soft Delicious Crust: Mix the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, and salt together into a crumble-like mixture. Press two thirds of the crumble into the bottom of a 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Bake: Arrange the raspberry layer on top of the baked bottom layer. Sprinkle with remaining crumble. Bake for another 25-30 minutes.
- Finish: Remove from oven. They will need a little time to set up into “bar” formation, so chill them for a few hours to get them really solid. Orrrr… cut into it right away and eat it like a soft fruit crisp! You should be able to remove them from the pan easily by pulling up on the edges of the parchment paper.
Notes
Thawing and draining the raspberries is important for getting the bars to firm up. When thawing the raspberries in the colander, you can gently squeeze them with your hands or press lightly with a spoon to get more liquid out. They will probably still be a little wet and mushy, which is fine. You just don’t want to have tons of excess water seeping out.
If you’d rather not mess with thawing, you can also use fresh raspberries! However, this is usually more expensive because it requires A LOT of fresh raspberries. And I found my fresh raspberry version to be very, very juicy. Like, kind of hard to eat.
I highly recommend the chill time! It helps them set up into bars that hold their shape really well. Also because I am weirdly obsessed with cold dessert bars and I think they taste so good.
Also, nothing against raspberries, but I’m inclined to believe that you could kinda put anything in between two layers of that crumbly cookie-like crust and be very happy with yourself.
I recommend using old fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: raspberry crumble bars, raspberry bars, berry bars
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of easy dessert recipes. Check it out!
June 8, 2018
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Yes!!!! I love fruit bars but cannot do the almond flavor.
What type of oats are needed here?
Just old fashioned oats!
I’m just wondering what the difference is between old fashioned and quick oats in this recipe?
Quick oats cook a lot faster than old fashioned oats – it’s possible that wouldn’t matter in a recipe like this, but we haven’t tried it!
Can these be frozen after cooking?
Yes!
Would semi sweet chocolate chips go good in your recipe?
These look SO delicious! It’s been way too long since I’ve made anything with raspberries…thanks for the tip about using frozen! Can’t get over that thick streusel crumble 🙂
Hope you enjoy them!
“Soft, buttery, delicious”… no need to say more!
Love bars like this. Yum! Can’t wait to try it…
These look amazing! And I love your idea of using them as a work bribe, lol. So with you that fruit dessert can’t just be a big ol’ pile of cooked fruit – -they need to be layered. Can’t wait to try!
These look so delicious! I love raspberries, but rarely make fruit bars. Need to try these. Might have to try with blue berries too!
for an easier raspberry jam recipe for the raspberry crumble have you ever tried chia see raspberry jam recipe? I love how easy it is and it is sweetened with maple syrup!
Should the pan be lined with parchment or foil? From the picture in the post, it looks like parchment.
Yes, we like to use parchment!
SOLD! I’m on my way to get some raspberries!
Raspberry jam works well too
Delicious!
What kind of oats?
Old Fashioned Oats!
These bars are the best! I raise raspberries and harvest them all summer for winter treats. I immediately wash, drain and freeze the berries in the recipe quantity (usually 4-8 cups) I find most useful. I use tapioca instead of flour/cornstarch to thicken the filling because we like that taste and texture better.
Awesome! Thanks for the comment, Helen!
These look sooo good! Crumble bars are always delicious! I have a fridge full of strawberries, so I may just have to try these with some strawberries instead. 🙂
That crust though!! Have you tried them with blackberries or blueberries? So many possibilities!
We haven’t, but think it would turn out great as well!
I made them with blackberries tonight. They are excellent.
Sounds delicious, Nicholas!
How much butter in grams?
Looks like 340 grams, according to this link! https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Hi, can’t you just thaw the raspberries by leaving them out? Do they need to be rinsed and drained?
Can you substitute a gluten-free flour? If so, which one would you suggest? Thank you!
We haven’t tried before, but would love to hear how it goes!
Hi joy! Did you ever try it with a GF flour?
I made these bars 2 days ago with gluten free ingredients and I’m so happy with the results. They are fantastic.
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten free flour. I added about half again as much baking powder than called for in the recipe because GF flour doesn’t always rise well. I also used Bobs Red Mill gluten free quick Oats, since not all oats are completely wheat free.
The bars turned out SO well and I’m definitely going to make these again.
Oh, and I used fresh raspberries and strawberries as the filling since my husband inexplicably came home from Costco with 36 oz of raspberries and 2 lb of strawberries the other day. Hahah
Hi, Im CRAVING these so badly, but only have raspberry preserves/raspberry jam. Could I sub that for the frozen raspberries, and still get a similar turn out? Thank you in advance! 🤞🏻
I love your raspberry crumble bars, they are indeed delicious. Many thanks for sharing!
These are so delicious and looked lovely too 🙂
Has anyone made these gluten free with success?
Yes! I used a gluten free measure for measure flour and they turned out great!
Glad to hear that, Lauren!
Yes! I made these bars 2 days ago with gluten free ingredients and I’m so happy with the results. They are fantastic.
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten free flour. I added about half again as much baking powder than called for in the recipe because GF flour doesn’t always rise well. I also used Bobs Red Mill gluten free quick Oats, since not all oats are completely wheat free.
The bars turned out SO well and I’m definitely going to make these again.
Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
Can we use raspberry jam?
We haven’t tried that before, but it’s worth a shot! Let us know how it goes, Rosario!
Made these with fresh raspberries, because I didn’t have any frozen, added more than in the recipe, but otherwise followed the recipe and it was delicious!!!! Gone in a heartbeat after dinner.
Glad to hear it, Susan!
How much more raspberries (or other fruit) should I use if using fresh, not frozen?
I’d probably use 36 ounces fresh raspberries. Let us know how it goes, Aimee!
Looks absolutely amazing! I will be making this with strawberries
Everything about this post makes me smile… bars in church basements are real good now dontcha know 🙂
Saw these and knew I had to make them. I love how easy it was. I used fresh raspberries and they are so delicious. We couldn’t wait so u can’t wait to try again chilled when they’ve firmed up. You are soeaking my food love language and getting me through the last week of school!
Glad to hear that, Lindsay!
How many cups of raspberries does that work out to be?
I made these today with a gluten free measure for measure flour (King Arthur) and they turned out great! I’m thinking I need to make them again for the fourth and I’m dying to try a mixed berry blend for the filling!
I’ve made these bars with a frozen bag of mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries and blackberries) and they are delicious!
I made these tonight with 12oz frozen rasps and 12 oz fresh blueberries and they turned out GREAT! I am assuming store in the fridge??
So glad to hear that! Yes, we’d recommend the fridge or freezer!
I just made these and they are delicious! I reduced by a stick of butter because….3 sticks of butter! Couldn’t do it. Also cut brown sugar by 1/2 a cup. Didn’t miss any of it- yummy!
Delicious! I halved the recipe, but otherwise made it exactly as written. For those of use that prefer to measure by weight, I used 197 g brown sugar, “lightly packed” is a little vague.
Thanks for sharing in grams, Nora! 🙂
I’m going strawberry picking this weekend. Would fresh strawberries work? And what would the prep work be for the berries? Do I need to smash them?
Hi Elaine! Yes, we’d recommend smashing them a bit so they’re the consistency of the raspberries pictured.