Gluten-Free Raspberry Coconut Oat Bars

Easy raspberry oat bars with toasted coconut are an easy dessert for any time.

Almost every time I go to a gathering, I’m asked to bring something sweet. Sometimes I bring pie. If it’s fancy, I might bring a decadent chocolate tart.

But there are times when it’s not fancy, and it’s I also don’t have time to make something super complicated. In those cases, these raspberry oat bars are perfect. They’re gluten-free but you would never know it, so they fit a range of diets. If you are strictly gluten-free, you’ll need to make sure your oats are marked as such. Not all are.

The beauty of these is that they use the same base on top and bottom, so one bowl is all you need. And the center is filled with raspberry jam.

I also added the addition of toasted coconut for no other reason than I like coconut. You can leave it out if you like.

For the jam, use your favorite jam. You can use whatever type you want. Strawberry, apricot, or blackberry would be good here. If you’re up for making your own, that would work as well. You just want to make sure the jam is not too loose or it will add too much moisture to your bars and they may not set up quite as well.

You can make these vegan by swapping the butter for coconut oil or vegan butter.

These are great for parties, but they’re also great for those mornings when you want something sweet with your coffee. I make a batch, cut into squares and freeze them for just such an occasion. You can also store them in the fridge if you want them to be more firm. They’re kind of crumbly otherwise, but in a good way.