My dear friend Julia made pans of these Raspberry Crumble Bars for me before we departed Chicago on a 30-hour car trip to Idaho, and I can tell you that it meant the world to me (and my family).
I don’t think the cookies lasted past Iowa – they are irresistible!
Now, whenever I taste these amazing cookies, I think of Julia. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Ingredients:
For the crust:
– 2 ½ cups flour
– 2/3 cup sugar
– ½ tsp salt
– 1 cup unsalted butter cut into small pieces
For the crumble:
– 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces
– ¼ cup brown sugar
– ½ cup rolled oats (not instant)
– ½ cup almonds or pecans, finely chopped
For the fruit:
– ¼ cup raspberry preserves
– 3 ½ cups fresh raspberries or a combination of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries
– ¼ cup sugar
– 4 tsps flour
– 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions:
Heat the oven to 375. Use a 13 x 9-inch pan. Line it with a good length of foil so that it hangs over the edges (you’ll be using it like handles to lift out the bars once they are baked.) Butter the foil lightly. Put the flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter pieces and pulse again until the mixture is the texture of cornmeal. Take out 1¼ cups of the mixture and put it into a separate bowl. This is will be part of the crumble topping. Pour the rest into the pan and press it evenly and firmly into a crust. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden. While the crust bakes, toss the brown sugar, oats, and nuts into the reserved 1¼ cups of the flour mixture.
Toss in the 2 tablespoons of butter pieces and rub them into the mixture with your fingertips. Set aside. For the filling, stir together the preserves, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Add the berries and toss well, crushing some. Pour into the crust (it’s okay if the crust is still hot from the oven) and distribute evenly. Pinch together small clumps of the crumble topping and scatter on top of the fruit. Put the pan back into the oven and bake until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is lightly browning, about 25 minutes or so. Cool completely (or you will burn your mouth because the fruit gets so hot!) and cut into squares.
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