Friday, March 1, 2013

Raspberry Crumble Bars

Way back in November, after my last post (what a long time ago!), my lovely best friend Fern came to my place for her belated birthday lunch, which included these treats to go with our coffee.  I warned Fern in advance that she was going to be my first tester for this recipe and I'm happy to say that she loved them.


Image courtesy BarefootContessa.com

When I got Ina's latest cookbook "Foolproof" in October, I knew this was the first recipe I wanted to try.  My first attempt went pretty well and I know that the men in Fern's life enjoyed the extra bars too, so I knew I had a hit on my hands.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 10 to 12 ounces good raspberry jam
  • 2/3 cup good granola without dried fruit
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed just until combined. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla.
Sift the flour and salt together and, with the mixer on low, slowly add to the butter mixture, mixing until it almost comes together in a ball.

Prepare a 9" square baking pan by lining with parchment paper - this will make your life so much easier when removing the entire square, before slicing them up.  Ina's instructions call for turning out the dough onto a board before patting 2/3 of the dough evenly on the bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan and about 1/4-inch up the sides. I skipped this step and just eyeballed how much 2/3 of the dough would be and it still worked well.  Spread the dough with the jam, leaving a 1/4-inch border.

If your granola has fairly large chunks (like the Quaker Harvest Crunch I used), pour it into a small plastic bag, zip shut and then crush the granola until the pieces look fairly even.  You can use either a rolling pin or a rounded bottle to do this quickly.  This will ensure that your granola does not brown unevenly while baking.  Mix the granola into the remaining dough with your hands. Break the dough into small bits and distribute it on top of the jam, covering most of the surface. Sprinkle the almonds on top.  As usual, I patted the almonds into the mixture, also to ensure that they didn't overbake.

I baked the bars for 40 minutes until lightly browned, but depending on your oven they may need 5 more minutes.  Cool completely and cut into 9 or 12 bars.  They keep very well in a sealed container, if they last for more than a day at your house - mine didn't!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Lisa! I think you'd enjoy them. The base is really just a shortbread and they're not too sweet - perfect with coffee or tea. :)

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