Monday, April 27: Jam Crumble Bars

Matt made a PB&J the other day and the smell of the raspberry jam made me crave these oat bars so much! So here we are. It’s a layer of jam sandwiched between the butteriest, crumbliest toastiest dough. Kind of like pie in bar form. Super simple and short ingredient list, easy to make, and perfect for breakfast OR dessert. Make them! (See original recipe by The Pioneer Woman here, or my slightly adapted version below.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x13 baking dish. To a large bowl add 1 1/2 cups AP flour, 1 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark since it’s all I had, but light would work too!), 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt; stir until combined and no clumps of sugar remain. To the flour and oat mixture, add 2 sticks (1 cup) of cold, salted butter cut into small cubes. Use your fingers to press the butter into the flour mixture, squishing it into small pieces and occasionally tossing everything together, until the butter is evenly dispersed and incorporated into the dry ingredients, and the mixture is the texture of crumbly, damp sand with some larger pieces of squished butter. (You can also use a pastry cutter to do this, but I think it just goes faster when you get in there with your hands!)

Press half of the oat crumble mixture into the prepared pan in an even layer. Spread with 10-12 ounces of your favorite jam or preserves (I love it with raspberry jam!). Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture evenly over the top and pat into a layer that covers the jam as much as possible — it doesn’t have to be perfect, and some jam can peak out! Bake until light brown and set, 30 to 40 minutes (mine may have went more like 45 minutes). Let cool completely, and then cut into squares. I think they taste better the longer they cool and set up — we had to eat our first squares with a fork, but the next day we could easily eat them with our hands like granola bars.