Vegan Raspberry Oat Bars

I made my first attempt at vegan baking this week. I also tweaked the recipe a little bit and used xylitol instead of sugar for the crust. I think they turned out pretty good, no weird after-taste, and they looked pretty normal. 

Crumb Mixture:

2 1/4 cups flour 

1 cup sugar or xylitol

1 cup oats

1 cup vegan butter, room temp

1 egg replacer (I used 1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water, heated and let sit until gooey)

Filling:

3/4 cup raspberry preserves (or whatever flavor you like)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crumb mixture ingredients in large bowl. Beat with mixer on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Grease an 8"x8"x2" pan.
2. Set aside about 2 cups of the crumb mixture. Press the remaining mixture on the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Spread the preserves over the mixture, leaving about 1/4 to 1/2" uncovered on the edges. Crumble the 2 cups reserved crumb mixture that was set aside over the preserves
4. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until lightly browned. When completely cool, cut into bars.

*Recipe from vegweb.com