Berry Breakfast Bars
I recently had a sweet craving, but didn’t want to dive into a huge, messy, involved project, so I scanned my recipes for something simple and easy. I came across a recipe in Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone” called “Jam Bars.”
Now, I expected these to be like the buttery, sugary, crumble-top, berry-filled bars that you see in bakeries. But they turned out to be less sweet and with a granola bar-like flavor. Perhaps it was the oats or the nuts that made it taste so, but whatever the case, I determined that these bars are more of a breakfast or snack rather than a dessert (unless of course they are served crumbled over vanilla ice cream- which I tried and enjoyed very much). These bars are not too sweet, but are flavorful and chewy. I made mine with homemade blackberry jam (courtesy of Rachel and Susan) and cut them into 9 large bars.
For the Bars:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cups jam or preserves
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup chopped almonds
To Make the Bars:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl, set aside.
- Cream the butter, powdered sugar, and brown sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
- Measure 3/4 cup of the dough and set it aside.
- Press the rest of the dough evenly into an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.
- Spread the jam over the dough.
- Mix the remaining dough with the nuts and oats.
- Crumble the dough over the top of the jam.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
- Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, then cut.
December 9th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Yay! Glad to hear that the blackberry mud came in handy!!