Slightly chewy with a sweetly tart combination, cranberry oatmeal bars are full of cranberries and apples topped with brown sugar and oatmeal crumbs.

Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes desserts are just too overpoweringly sweet. Especially during the times of the year when we are surrounded by so many rich indulgent foods. Desserts with cranberries are the perfect answer to that.

I can’t be the only one feeling that way. I know, because if I make a dessert with cranberries to take to a gathering, it guaranteed that I will come home with an empty pan. I have a feeling that these easy cranberry oatmeal bars with fresh cranberries will meet a similar fate.

Cranberry oat bars loaded with cranberries and chopped apples bring just the right amount of sweetness to any dessert or snack time. Because they have fruit and oatmeal I would argue they could be considered for breakfast as well.

The layer of fruit between the crust and easy crumb topping is thickened by the cranberries and cornstarch and sweetened by the apples with a touch of sugar. The crust is a buttery oatmeal shortbread pressed firmly into the pan.

The topping is the remainder of the crust ingredients, just crumbled and loosely spread over the fruit. When baked the topping will brown and the cranberry and apples will bubble and smell amazing.

To serve, you can even top the bars with Brown Sugar Ice Cream or Eggnog Ice Cream for an unforgettable holiday dessert.

Cranberry Desserts

Cranberries are s

Sweet fresh peaches are baked between layers of brown sugar and oats to form a chewy sweet crust for these Peach Oatmeal Bars.

Anytime I bake peaches into something it reminds me of my favorite peach breakfast. Peaches and cinnamon pair perfectly for your next family breakfast.

Peach Oatmeal Bars

Fresh, sweet and so juicy peaches are the most amazing treat when they’re perfectly ripe. A ripe peach will have a sweet peachy smell to it and the skins will slide right off when you peel them.

What I absolutely love about these oatmeal peach bars is that they do use fresh peaches. My preference when baking is to use real fruit as much as possible.

Most peach bar recipes use a preserve or jam for the filling. That is fine but it gives the bars more of a dessert-like sometimes too sweet quality in my opinion. Real fruit-filled bars I can justify enjoying for breakfast.

Peach bars travel easily to my kids’ activities and events. Bonus, they always get rave reviews when we share them.

I love how nicely they freeze as well. I highly recommend keeping some on hand for those last-minute, “hey mom I need. . . ” requests.

Peach Bars

Sweet and cinnamony peach bars are so easy to make. It only takes a few minutes to stir the crust together and press half of it into the pan.

Toss the peaches in sugar and spices and layer them over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining buttery crumbles over the peaches and pop it in the oven.

Peach Breakfast Bars

When baking with peaches I have noticed a difference in white peach and yellow peaches. I noticed that white peaches were not baking up the same as yellow peaches. They were losing their shape and really cooking down in the dish.

After some research, I learned that white peaches actually have a high sugar content, which explains why we l

Peach Crisp Ice Cream is creamy vanilla ice cream filled with chunks of peach crisp, a peach lover’s dream come true. With chunks of buttery brown sugar and oat crisp with syrupy peaches in every bite, this ice cream is irresistible.

Peach Crisp

You may have noticed that I’ve developed the habit of turning everything I possibly can into ice cream. I am a firm believer that ice cream can make almost any dessert even better.

This obsession began with this creamy and delicious apple crisp ice cream. It is the most amazing cinnamon-sweet baked apples with a crunchy, buttery streusel topping folded into homemade ice cream.

My love of ice creams with all the goodness combined in comes from those times, like right before bed when I want something sweet. But having a bowl of dessert with a scoop of ice cream on top is a bit much.

However, I feel way less guilt when I have a scoop of something like peach crisp ice cream. It is all the goodness of the fruit-filled dessert and ice cream combined and it satisfies that late-night craving.

That is, if my boys haven’t discovered it and polished off the ice cream before me. I have been known to change up which freezer and where I stash it. I can not share where that secret place is because they do occasionally read this blog now.

Ice Cream Making Tips

With over 70 ice cream recipes here to choose from, there’s sure to be an ice cream for everyone! If you’re new to making ice cream, the best and easiest vanilla ice cream is a great place to start.

Peach Crisp with fresh, sweet juicy peaches and a cinnamon, brown sugar topping served warm from the oven is a bowl of deliciousness.

Warm peach crisp is dessert perfection when topped with homemade vanilla ice cream. I am not sure there is a better combination.

Peach Crisp

Confession time – baking with peaches used to make me slightly crazy because of the way the peach flesh would attach to the pit. It was never easy to get out and I always felt like I was squishing the peach to do it.

Then I learned the difference between freestone and clingstone peaches. Now I always look for freestone whenever they’re available, which means the peach flesh is not attached to the pit and it pops out easier. I get it, it sounds silly but it was a game changer.

I have also learned that ripe peaches will smell, sweet and peachy. While that seems obvious, it wasn’t until I was able to find peaches at a local farmers’ market that were truly fresh from being picked that I really understood this difference.

Living in Ohio vs. Arizona I have really come to appreciate what we can get fresh from the farm here in Ohio. The freshness is like nothing I experienced in Arizona and I am definitely here for it!

When it comes to peeling peaches, it can be a pain if they aren’t perfectly ripe. Sometimes when baking I just don’t peel them.

If they are slightly difficult to peel and I don’t feel like letting them get a bit riper. I will go ahead and slice them skins and all and my dishes turn out just fine.

If I really want to peel them and the skins aren’t sliding off easily a quick blanch will do the trick. Just drop them in boiling water for 30 seconds and then immediately into an ice bath. The skins will literally slide right off.

Peach Crisp from Fresh Peaches

Fresh is my favorite way to make these but you can use frozen. If using frozen make sure they are thawed or adjust your cook

Fresh apricots are tossed with cinnamon sugar and then layered between a brown sugar and oat crust to make these Apricot Crisp Bars.

Served on their own or topped with Vanilla Ice Cream this is a dessert that everyone loves.

Apricot Crisp

Almost firm enough to cut into bars and still fruity enough to resemble a crisp, this is simply a fruit crisp with both a top and bottom crust layer.

There’s no need to cut in cold butter or stress the streusel topping, just pour melted butter into the oat mixture and it will form the perfect crumb crust and topping. This might be one of the easiest fruit desserts you’ll ever make!

I can not sing the praises of parchment paper enough when it comes to recipes like this one. Let the bars cool completely and then simply lift them out of the pan to easily slice them.

Apricot Bars

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the fruit in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, cinnamon, salt, cornstarch, and almond extract. Stir to combine and then let the fruit rest on the counter while preparing the crust.
2. In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the flour, oats, and brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.
3. Press half of this mixture into a well-buttered or parchment-lined 9×13 pan. Pour the fruit over the bottom crust and then sprinkle the rest of the dry mixture on top.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the crust turns golden brown. Serve warm from the oven or let cool completely and slice into servings. 

These Apricot Bars are dangerously tasty. They aren’t overly sweet and they are filled with juicy pieces of apricot and crunchy bites of streusel crust and topping.

They were so tempting that I actually had a friend come and take the rest of them off my hands because I feared how many I might eat before my husband could take them to the office the next day!

For more great fruit desserts, check out these Pineapple Coconut Bars and this Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch.

These Quinoa Fruit & Nut Bars and these Strawberry Oatmeal Bars are on my list now too. Don’t miss the rest of t