These vegan strawberry jam oatmeal almond squares are gluten-free and refined-sugar free. Healthy enough for breakfast and snacks, yet indulgent enough for dessert- especially when served warm with a scoop of ice cream.

I’m a chocoholic through and through, but I do love a good jammy oat square as a sweet treat from time to time. I developed these vegan strawberry jam oatmeal almond squares with my dad in mind, though. They’re his absolute favourite, and I feel as though I owe him a chocolate-free dessert recipe for a change.

These squares are most certainly breakfast-appropriate, especially if you use homemade chia seed jam. They also make a fabulous snack or dessert. Try serving one warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and tell me that isn’t heavenly!

The crust is a variation on the crust in my vegan pecan caramel squares, with a few additions: almonds, chia seeds, and shredded coconut for more volume and heft to stand up to the jam filling!

ingredients you’ll need for vegan strawberry jam oatmeal almond squares

These squares are made with rolled oats, almonds, medjool dates, cinnamon, sea salt, coconut oil, shredded coconut, chia, water, and strawberry jam.

how to make this recipe

Line a 8×8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving overhang so that the square can be lifted out later. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the rolled oats to a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade. Process until a coarse flour forms. Add the almonds and process until coarsely ground.
Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor: Dates, cinnamon, salt, coconut oil, shredded coconut, chia, and water. Process until a dough that sticks together when pressed between your fingers forms.
Reserve 1 cup of the dough for topping. (Just crumble the dough into a 1 cup measuring cup.)
Crumble the remaining oat almond dough into the prepared baking pan. Lightly wet your hands and press the dough firmly down into an even layer in the dish. Poke several holes in it with a fork. Parbake this crust for 10 minutes.
Spoon the jam over top of the pre-baked crust and spread into an even layer.
Crumble the reserved 1 cup of dough over top of the jam.
Place back in the oven and bake for 15 more minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow the square to cool before slicing into 9-12 squares. Enjoy immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days, or in the refrigerator for at least a week.

a few final thoughts

You can make this square nut-free by using sunflower seeds in place of the almonds.
You might be able to make this square oil-free by using almond or sunflower seed butter in place of the coconut oil.
If you choose to make jam from scratch, you can find a chia seed jam recipe here.
If you don’t like strawberry jam, any type of jam will work just fine. I also love raspberry, cherry, and blueberry versions!

more vegan squares

I hope that you love these vegan strawberry jam oatmeal almond squares! If you make them, let me know how you enjoyed them by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made!

Enjoy!