I’ve been wanting to make homemade oatmeal bars for a while now, and finally stumbled upon Erin’s blog, Well Plated. Since finding her blog late last week I now have a huge list of new recipes I want to try!

And with summer officially here, I’ve been wanting all. the. berries! I even got started a little early and created a semi-homemade blueberry pie last week.

I absolutely love our kitchen gadgets, here’s what’s featured in the images above: Measuring Cups: Sur La Table  //  Measuring Spoons: Sur La Table  //  Storage Containers: Bed bath and Beyond  //  Appetizer Plates: Bed Bath and Beyond  // Silverware: Kate Spade

Ingredients

Strawberry Bars:

• 1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
• 2 cups, small-diced strawberries

Vanilla Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. I didn’t have any in the house, so I greased the pan with Pam spray. I def. recommend using the parchment paper, it would have made it so much easier!
3. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients of the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt.
4. Pour the melted butter into the medium bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until it forms clumps and the dry ingredients are evenly covered.
5. Add half of the crust into the greased or lined pan and press into the bottom of the pan to create an even layer.
6. Take the cut up strawberries and add a layer over the crust, once the layer of strawberries is in the pan, sprinkle the lemon juice and 1/2 tablespoon sugar over the berries.
7. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the top, the fruit will still be showing once the crumbs are added.
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the crumb topping is golden brown.
9. Place the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely.
10. While bars are cooling, mix together the vanilla glaze ingredients in a bowl until smooth. To achieve a thinner consistency, add more milk.
11. Drizzle with glaze, slice and serve!

Now that we have most of our items unpacked in the new house, we’ve been busy cooking and baking more! Here are some of my favorite items for the kitchen

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. What are you cooking up this summer?