Raspberry coconut oat bars

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Rasberry streusel bar topped with a coconut oat streusel!

Prep Time15

Cook Time18

Total Time33

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: bars

Calories: 268kcal

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper or Grease with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk together on low speed, mix the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and continue mixing until dough begins to come together. Mix in the coconut and oats.
Remove 1 cup of the crust dough. Set aside.
Transfer the remaining dough to the prepared pan. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. The crust should be golden brown around the edges. Allow the crust to cool for 10 minutes.
Spread the raspberry evenly over the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Crumble reserved dough over the top of preserves. Bake 7 minutes, or until preserves are bubbly. Cool completely in pan.
Run a knife around the edges of the bars. Place a baking sheet or cutting board on top of the pan and flip the pan over to release the bars. Remove the parchment paper. Then, place a cutting board on the bars and flip again. Cut into bars using a sharp knife.

Make sure to COLD unsalted butter. You want to cut in cold butter until it pea-sized. Making this crust is similar to making pie crust, where you want pieces of butter that not are completely absorbed into the flour. They will melt and then push apart the layers of flour, creating a flaky oatmeal chewy crust for these bars. If you don't own a pastry cutter, then just toss the butter into the flour with your fingertips. And then squish the butter into smaller and smaller pieces. Just be sure to use your fingertips only so as not to warm up the butter too much.
Use a whisk. No need to bust out the mixer for these bars. Just a simple whisk will bring the ingredients together quickly. By using a whisk, you are less likely to overwork the dough, which could result into a tough bar.
Allow the crust to cool before spreading on the jam. You will partially cook the crust for 10 minutes. Then spread the jam on using a flat edge, like a spatula.