Healthier Strawberry Crumble Bars { GLUTEN-FREE, Low FODMAP, DIABETIC FRIENDLY }

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Marhaba - Welcome!  If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed, check out the Recipe Index. Or follow me on the social network Facebook. Thanks for visiting!

It's been a while hasn't it? I know! Sorry it's not my fault. Algérie Telecom hasn't been so cooperative. Days, weeks without a decent Interent signal almost impossible to get online I took an involuntarily pause from blogging. But machAllah the connection is good enough today I could open Blogger so I'm thrilled to share this really summery treat using seasonal strawberries. I've swapped healthier ingredients for the usual "white" unhealthy ingredients and lower the sugar content making this crumble bar more healthier and nourishing. And in the Kitchen Tips you can find more tips and subsitutions. The base and the topping are almost the same with the exception of the addition of the sliced almonds on the top. You can easily combine the two amounts and simply top the bars with almonds before baking.

Warning: these are highly addictive and way too easy to make. I’ve been meaning to post these for awhile but people keep eating them before I could take a photo :( 

And just on one last side note, with the poor connection and Ramadan approaching I'll be focusing  more on getting to the nitty-gritty of recipes and information related to preparing for Ramadan. So I'll saving the chit-chat, and Shining Stars for after Ramadan. Thank you for understanding! 

share this on 
    

{ Strawberry Crumble Bars }

 seasonal red ripe strawberries on a base of  crispy whole grain biscuit topped with an almond crumble  

SERVING

YIELD: 36 retangles

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 10-15 mins 

INACTIVE PREP TIME:0mins

COOK TIME: 55-60 mins

EQUIPMENT

LARGE MIXING BOXL, KNIFE, GRATER, CUTTING BOARD, HEAVY BOTTOM POT, WOODEN SPOON  

۞ = SUBSTITUTIONS

. 

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BASE

• 150g - 3/4 cup date sugar or (light brown sugar or demerara sugar) or other sweetener of choice ۞ 
• 450g - 3 cups GF oat flour or your favourite GF flour mix, sifted 3x ۞ 
• ½ tsp baking powder, sifted
• 2 tsp corn starch (maizena)
• 1 egg, beaten
• pinch of salt
• zest of one lemon
• 200g - 1 cup butter, melted ۞ 

FOR THE FILLING

• 500g - 1lb ripe strawberries, hulled and cut into slices
• 50ml - 1/3 cup honey ۞ 
• 2 TBS natural apple or orange juice (or water)
• 2 tsp cornstarch (maizena, cornflour) or arrowroot powder 
• 1 tsp vanilla

FOR THE TOPPING

• ½ of the base dough (recipe above)
• 50g - ½ cup sliced almonds

METHOD

PREHEAT the oven to 190° C - 375°F 

GREASE or line with parchment paper a 20x30cm - 8x12inch baking pan.

IN a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, corn starch, baking powder and lemon zest. With a pastry cutter or fork blend in the egg and butter. Dough should be crumbly. 

DIVIDE the dough in half. One half press into your baking dish. The other half save for the topping.

IN another, bowl mix the sugar, cornstarch, apple/orange juice and vanilla. Gentl mix in the strawberries. Spread the strawberries evenly over the base.

NOW use the remaining dough and crumble all over the top of the strawberry bars. Then top with the sliced almonds.

BAKE in the oven for 30-45 minutes until golden on top.

TO SERVE 

Slice after they have cooled. And serve these bars with a cool beverage prehaps homemade Orangina.

KITCHEN TIPS

Storage

These bars (if they last that long) will keep on the countertop for up to 3 days. And actually tastes better as the flavorings meld. If you were going to serve this at a later time, be sure to wrap them well. 

This bars freezes nicely. Just slice after they have cooled, then wrap well. To consume, just leave out on the countertop for least 2hours. 

Substitute
۞ You can easily swap out ingredients to suit your taste or dietary needs. Don't have barley flour on hand? Use wheat or even white flour. Looking for wheat-free option? Use barley flour (as in the recipe) or use spelt flour. Or opt for a gluten-free option by using GF oat flour here.

۞ You can swap out the butter for 3/4 cup olive oil or 1 cup coconut oil.

۞  Another option is to swap out the honey for equal amounts date sugar, coconut sugar or even 3/4 cup maple syrup.

Variation

You can easily use any in-season fruit here. Apricots, cherries or figs are really nice right now (June) In the winter months, you could easily use apples, pears or even homemade jam. 

Vegan

You can easily make this  vegan by omitting the butter and using coconut oil or olive oil.

Gluten-Free
You can prepare these bars gluten -free by using GF oat flour or your favorite GF flour blend instead of the barley flour.

SAHA F'TOURKOUM! 

 CATEGORIES:  spring, summer, strawberries, bars and cookies

SOURCE:  adapted from Manu's Menu

©  All recipes, content, and images, including any not yet watermarked, are copyright of THE TEAL TADJINE, unless noted otherwise. You are free to print recipes for personal use, but you may not republish (i.e., copy and paste) anything from this site at other blogs, websites, forums, Facebook pages, and other sites that are available to search engines, without prior written and specific permission. All rights reserved.

You May Also Like

• Looking for other a*bar cookies to add to your repetoire? Check out all we have here.
• Bar cookies not your thing right now? Craving something more fresh and Summery? Try this out this strawberry yoghurt sorbet. Or this upside-down fig cake.
• Or prehaps looking to enjoy these ripe summer in the morning? Try these flax-strawberry pancakes.
• Or try this unsual and delightful Emirati coconut semolina dessert.
• Or browse through the recipe index to get inspired.

HOW DO YOU LIKE TO USE EXTRA OVER-RIPE SUMMER FRUITS?