I like Kirkland’s Strawberry Organic Fruit Spread, made with organic strawberries and yes, a bit of organic sugar (available at Costco). If you can’t find no-sugar-added fruit spread, this is a good substitute.
Author:Charity Curley Mathews, founder of foodlets.com
Ingredients
Scale
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax seed, ground
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) cut into cubes
2 tablespoons ice water
3/4 – 1 cup strawberry fruit spread (with little or no sugar added)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prep the pan. I used a quarter sheet pan (a small cookie sheet measuring 13″ x 9.6″) with a Silpat liner. You could use any pan with those approximate dimensions and if you don’t have a non-stick liner for it, butter the pan, add a sheet of parchment then butter the parchment.
Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to a food processor: flour, flax, oats, sugar and salt. Pulse a few times to mix. Add honey, butter and ice water then plus until the mixture looks uniform and almost starts to clump. (Mine didn’t reach a clumping stage but definitely held together when I took off the lid and touched it.)
Assemble the bars. Sprinkle half the mixture in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Push down with clean hands (little ones love this step) and make sure there are no holes or gaps. Spread a thick layer of fruit spread over the top. Sprinkle the second half of the oat mixture on top, like you’re making a fruit crisp. A few windows peeking into the fruit spread are fine. Press down gently so it won’t get too crumbly.
Bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp.