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A magenta mix of berries blanketed with oil-free oat streusel makes these Coconut Berry Crumble Bars an easy healthy snack or dessert with ice cream on top!
Crumble bars. Streusel-ing since before it was even cool.
Actually for all I know streusel came first. But I don’t think so. I think it went pie → crumble → streusel. Oh and throw crisp in there somewhere too, but we both know that’s basically just a crumble that stayed in the oven too long.
Pies feel complicated. Between the dough rolling, crust crimping, and non-square slicing even I shy away 11 months out of the year (pumpkin pie is obviously an exception). Going from pie to crumble takes the pressure off. A crumble sounds easy and approachable, perfect presentation not required because I’m just going to shovel it out of the pan with a large utensil and smother it with ice cream anyways.
Now why did the shift from crumble to streusel happen? You ask because you are thoroughly enjoying my made-up fruit dessert history lesson. When you start with a name like crumble, you are doomed to make a mess all over your plate table self. But streusel leaves room for the belief that a tidy eating experience may be possible. For the dreamers.
But this is a crumble. Mess-haters, you’ve been warned.
It’s not neat. It’s not complicated. It’s not NOT going to rock your socks. Wait…that was confusing. What I mean is, all socks will be rocked by these chewy berry bars. It’s also not a bad idea to double check that you have vanilla ice cream or frozen bananas for ice cream-ing on hand before you even consider making this recipe. Because it’s summer, so anything that can be topped with ice cream should be.
This recipe almost feels like a throwback to the good ol’ FOF days when everything was fruit-packed to the brim and nothing was oat-free. Fruit crust + fruit filling + fruit crumble + fruit ice cream on top – that’s what’s happening here.
Crust and crumble. When it comes to crusts, I have said many a time that I really do not like using oats because they become way too chewy and dry if flaky and buttery pie crust is what I’m after. But when streusel-like crumble is the goal and “chewy” is in the title, oats are perfect. Not to mention I loaded this crust with my fave natural fruit-sweetener so there is nothing dry-as-the-crumble-desert about it.
Could we make an all oat crumble? Sure.
But could we instead add coconut because coconut + berries is a bomb combo and the texture and taste are both way better with toasty coconut shreds mixed in too? Oh yes. Yes, that can definitely be arranged.
So oats and shredded coconut make up the dry ingredients of the crust, and date paste works perfectly to sweeten and hold the whole sticky streusel mix together. I also added a pinch of salt and ground ginger for extra flavor, but cinnamon would be delicious too.
Half of this mixture will serve as the bottom crust layer while the other half is saved for chunking (such a delicate word) on top of the berry filling.
Filling. Any kind of berry will work, but berry collaboration is better than any one by itself if you ask me. I used a mix of frozen strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries blitzed in the blender briefly to create pebble-sized pieces. Yes you can use fresh berries, just don’t over blend or you will have the world’s simplest berry smoothie.
Arrowroot starch works to thicken the filling while it bakes, but feel free to sub cornstarch or tapioca starch instead. Coconut sugar is optional if you want a sweeter, less tart flavor. And a squeeze of lemon juice balances out all the berry things.
On top. Now I won’t say ice cream on top is mandatory…but it kind of is. At least it’s STRONGLY recommended. Vanilla is my personal choice, but now that I’m thinking about it chocolate wouldn’t be such a bad idea either.
With or without the creamy cold stuff on top, these bars are like a most scrumptious chewy crumble sandwich with a sweet magenta middle. Best while gooey and warm, but actually so tasty chilled the next day too.
One of my goals for this summer seems to have become consuming as many berries as possible while they are in season and super suh-weeeeeet, and these bars have definitely contributed greatly to the cause.
Chewy Coconut Berry Crumble Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 squares 1x
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Description
A magenta mix of berries blanketed with oil-free oat streusel makes these Coconut Berry Crumble Bars an easy healthy snack or dessert with ice cream on top!
Ingredients
Scale
Crust/Crumble
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup date paste
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger ((or cinnamon))
- Pinch of salt ((optional))
Berry Filling
- 2 cups frozen mixed berries
- 2 tsps arrowroot starch ((cornstarch or tapioca starch works too))
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Optional: 2 tbsp coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients for the crust. Stir to combine.
- Press half of the crust mixture into the bottom of an 8×5″ baking dish (or a loaf pan) lined with parchment paper. Save the other half for topping.
- In a blender or food processor, combine all the filling ingredients. Blend until the berries are broken down into small pebble-sized chunks.
- Pour the berry mixture on top of the crust. Press down firmly.
- Crumble the remaining half of the crust mixture on top pressing down lightly.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 350F or until the top is golden brown.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving with optional ice cream. Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
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