Yesterday, I got home from work and decided that I was going to play housewife. I made a full dinner with everything from scratch (except I cheated and used frozen chicken breasts…ain’t nobody got time for that), and yet somehow I was not satisfied. Then it occurred to me – bars! Yes, bars. One of my favorite things to make because they’re so simple and almost always so impressive – it’s easy to feel smug because streusel makes everything fancy. This is one of the first recipes I’ve figured out on my own (100 baker points to me!) and it is so, so easy. To quote one of my favorite old commercials, “so easy even a caveman could do it”. Onward!
Raspberry Streusel Bars
- 1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/3 c. granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 stick (1/2 c.) + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened, divided
- 1/4 c. old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 c. seedless raspberry jam
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with a foil OR parchment sling (I used this premade one because lazy) and then grease the foil (have the foil over hang the edges so that you can remove the bars to cut and serve). If you’re using parchment paper, you do not need to grease it – with my sling I used a cooking spray on the sides of the pan as they were not all covered by paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, and salt together. Add 1 cup of butter pieces (1 stick’s worth). Use an electric mixer (or a stand mixer) and beat on low until the mixture starts to resemble wet sand, about 2 minutes. Set aside 1/4 of the mixture in a medium sized bowl to use for the topping..
Place the rest of the butter and flour mixture in the baking pan and press it into an even layer with the bottom of a measuring cup (or your hands!). Bake the crust until it starts to make your kitchen smell like heaven and the edges begin to brown, 14 to 18 minutes, rotating halfway through.
While the crust is cooking, mix the reserved crust mixture, oats, and brown sugar together. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and pinch the mixture between your fingers to make large pea to hazelnut sized streusel. As you can see from the picture, some will be bigger and some will be smaller. That’s okay!
Spread the jam evenly over the hot crust, and cover liberally with the streusel topping. Bake until filling is bubbling and the topping is a deep golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. You may see the topping and filling “rolling” as the jam heats – this is okay, and actually pretty \m/ metal.
Let the bars cool completely in the pan on a wire rack for 2 hours. Remove from the pan using the sling and then cut into squares and serve. Try your hardest not to eat them all at once, but if you do I promise I won’t tell anyone.
– Nicole
The War On Fondant 