Baked Raspberry and White Chocolate Oat Bars
Chewy baked oat bars layered with tart raspberries and melting white chocolate, finished with a pinch of salt to keep the sweetness in check. A dense, satisfying sweet snack straight from the oven.
- Total
- 81 min
- Prep 15 · Cook 46 · Rest 20
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Folding · Seasoning in layers
- Sweet
- Oven
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 180°C. Line a 20 cm square baking tin with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides so you can lift the bars out later.
~10 min
-
Put 150 g butter and 120 g white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place it in the oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until both are fully melted. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth, then let it cool for 5 minutes so it does not scramble the mixture.
~13 min
Gentle oven heat melts chocolate without scorching, and cooling prevents the warm mix from cooking the eggs or flour into lumps.
-
While step 2 cooks
While the butter and white chocolate melt, combine 250 g oats, 80 g flour, 0.5 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper in a large bowl.
~3 min
A pinch of black pepper in the oat base is barely detectable but sharpens the white chocolate and raspberry flavours.
Seasoning in layers Season the oat base and layer the tart raspberries evenly so every bite balances sweet white chocolate with a pinch of salt and fruit.
-
Pour the melted butter and white chocolate into the dry ingredients along with 60 ml water. Stir until no dry oats remain and the mixture is thick and evenly moist.
~3 min
Water hydrates the oats and flour so the bars bake up moist and chewy rather than dry and crumbly.
Folding Fold the wet mix into the dry with a wooden spoon just until no dry oats remain; overmixing makes the bars tough and dense.
-
Spread half the oat mixture firmly into the lined tin. Scatter 200 g frozen raspberries straight from frozen over the top, then cover with the remaining oat mixture and press down gently. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden and the centre feels set when pressed.
~35 min
Frozen berries release juice as they bake, keeping the bars moist and creating tart pockets against the sweet oat layers.
Frozen raspberries release juice as they bake, which keeps these bars moist; if you prefer a firmer bar, let them cool completely before cutting.
Seasoning in layers Season the oat base and layer the tart raspberries evenly so every bite balances sweet white chocolate with a pinch of salt and fruit.
-
Leave the bars in the tin on a cooling rack for 20 minutes, then lift them out using the parchment overhang and cut into 9 squares.
~20 min
Cooling lets the melted white chocolate set, so the bars firm up and cut into clean squares instead of crumbling.