Jam Crumble Squares
We’ve had a lot of jam this summer. Cherry to start, and peach and apricot, moving on to blackberry and combinations of such. Blackberries haven’t been in season early enough for the past ten years or so we’ve been spending a chunk of middle summer in Tofino, but this year and last we’ve been spending a chunk of every day picking them. My typical routine involves walking down the road for a (locally-roasted) coffee, drinking it on the log out front, and then filling my empty cup to the brim with ripe blackberries on the way home.
My favourite jams are made with berries and stone fruits, all of which get along splendidly together in whatever ratio you happen to have attracting fruit flies on your countertop. The beauty of jam is that you can toss all that fruit into your pot, or slice it, or squish it, and add half or so as much sugar as there is fruit (a more typical ratio is 1:1, but I like mine more fruity than sweet), a squirt of lemon juice, then bring it to a simmer and mash it in the pot with a potato masher until it turns to jam. There really is no pressure to measure and add pectin and test for gel – if it remains runny after it cools, you can always reboil it – but after awhile you’ll be able to recognize the difference between hot fruit syrup and hot fruit jam. OK, I’ve convinced myself to do a post just about jam, and hopefully make it not so scary.
The point is, we’ve filled every spare jar in the cupboard with jam. The boys filled plastic Ball jars with blackberry jam and set up a stand out front. We came home with a box full of old peanut butter jars full. And while still out in Tofino I made a few batches of jam-filled crumble bars, for which I ladled warm jam straight from the pot over a crumble base, then topped it with a crumble topping. Essentially this is a fruit crumble in bar form – the butter-sugar-flour-oat mixture is patted into the bottom of the pan, making it sturdy enough to cut into squares, and then crumbled lightly overtop for the same crunchy lid you’d get on a baked crisp. It’s so basic – the kind of thing you can pull into service with any kind of preserves, making them taste completely different depending on whether they’re filled with sticky apricot or tangy rhubarb or summery raspberry jam. It’s summer in bar form.
They’re also, being made of butter and sugar and fruit, delicious warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (Isn’t everything?)
Jam Crumble Squares
AuthorJulie
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and blend with a fork or your fingers until the mixture is well combined and crumbly.
Press a little more than half into the bottom of a parchment-lined 8x8-inch pan, spread with the jam, and sprinkle the rest of the crumble mixture on top, squeezing a bit as you go to create larger clumps.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until pale golden and the jam is bubbling around the edges. Cool before cutting or serve them warm, with vanilla ice cream. Makes 9-16 squares.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and blend with a fork or your fingers until the mixture is well combined and crumbly.
Press a little more than half into the bottom of a parchment-lined 8x8-inch pan, spread with the jam, and sprinkle the rest of the crumble mixture on top, squeezing a bit as you go to create larger clumps.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until pale golden and the jam is bubbling around the edges. Cool before cutting or serve them warm, with vanilla ice cream. Makes 9-16 squares.
Can I just say how much I love this recipe? It is so quick and easy but tastes amazing.
It has become my go to recipe when I want a quick and easy dessert. It is delicious warm from the oven with a scoop of ice cream. It is also a wonderful way to use up all those jars of jam that I make every year ( but forget that we are not really a toast and jam kind of family). So far, strawberry-rhubarb is the hands down favorite here.
I have even packed this along on family camping trips as a sweet treat.
This is so great to hear! I love finding those recipes that become go-to recipes!