Oatmeal Jam Bars Recipe
I’ve been making these oatmeal jam bars for many years. Not only are they tasty and easy to make, you can use almost any flavor of jam in them too. I love that they’re a frugal and handy way to put what’s left of a jar of jam to good use.
Now if you have a larger family, or a family with younger children, then “using up a jar of jam” probably isn’t one of your worries. But over in our empty-nester house, partially used jars of jam can sometimes linger. It’s nice to have some jam around during summer babysitting for PB&J sandwiches for grandkids, or sometimes we eat a bit of jam on our toast, but we sure don’t go through it very fast. That’s when it’s time to make some Oatmeal Jam Bars!
My original recipe called for raspberry jam and I’ve used that flavor several times. But here’s the great part about this recipe – other flavors of jam work just as well too. For instance . . .
Orange Marmalade – After buying orange marmalade to use in a chicken recipe (that we didn’t like much), and then only using it a couple times on toast, I used up the rest of the jar making these bars. I added some chocolate chips too and it was yummy!
Fig Jam – I received a jar of fig jam during the holidays as a gift. We enjoyed it a few times on bread and then I used the rest of the fig jam in these bars. Once again, yummy!
Strawberry Jam – My favorite brand of jam is the Smuckers Simply Fruit that’s a bit healthier with no high fructose corn syrup or sugar. Usually I can only find the strawberry flavor in my local store so that’s what often ends up in this recipe.
My original recipe was larger and made a 9×13 pan, but now I’ve updated my recipe to make a slightly smaller batch which helps me out when I’ve got smaller amounts of jam I want to use up too.
Steps To Make Oatmeal Jam Bars
This recipe begins by mixing all your dry ingredients together: Oats, Flour, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, Salt, Brown Sugar, and some Walnut pieces.
Next, you’ll add a stick of melted butter to your dry ingredients.
Then you’ll stir the butter into the dry ingredients until everything is well mixed and has a crumbly texture.
You’ll want to reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture for the topping. The rest of the mixture gets patted into a greased 8×8 pan.
And now comes the part where you use up your jam! Use whatever flavor sounds good, or use up what you have, and spread it over the mixture in the pan. You’ll need about 3/4 cup, but you can make these bars with a little more or a little less.
Once the jam is all spread around, sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the top.
Bake your bars for 25 minutes at 350 degrees, and then enjoy the oaty-fruity goodness!
I’ve always liked this recipe because it’s been a frugal way to use up assorted jars of jam in my refrigerator and put them to good use. BUT – I also keep making this recipe because I know the bars will always taste good! One of these bars in a bowl, with a bit of vanilla ice cream on top, well let’s just say that’s comforting goodness right there.
More Homemade Goodies:
Oatmeal Jam Bars
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup Quick Oats
- 1 cup Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar (lightly packed)
- 1/2 cup Walnut Pieces
- 8 Tbl Butter – Melted (1/2 cup)
- 3/4 cup Jam (see notes)
- 1/4 cup Chocolate Chips – Optional
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, brown sugar, and walnuts).
- Add the melted butter and stir together until the mixture has a crumbly texture.
- Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture for the topping. Pat the rest of the mixture into a greased 8×8 baking pan.
- Spread the jam over the layer already in the pan. You can also sprinkle on a few chocolate chips at this point if you wish.
- Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup of crumbs over top of the jam.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the jam is a little bubbly around the edges.
Notes:
These oatmeal jam bars sound absolutely delicious, Beverly! I love recipes that are both tasty and practical, especially ones that help use up ingredients like the last bit of jam in a jar. I can’t wait to try them!
These look great!I have a large jar of smuckers blackberry jam that will probably go bad before we use it all. Are quick oats a smaller cut of rolled oats? I’m sure Aldi propably has some. Thanks for the recipe.
Yes, the quick oats are a little more processed and therefore a bit smaller which helps them stir into the dry ingredients a little better (and yes, Aldi has quick oats!) The blackberry jam sounds like it would be yummy too!
I made this using pomegranate jam and it turned out exceptional. I was also very impressed with the amounts specified – there was just enough of the mixture to completely cover the top without any excess. I love it when recipes are economical with the ingredients.
Yes, I always try to be economical with my ingredients – and the pomegranate jam sounds yummy too!