Raspberry Crumble Jam Bars* — the jeri cerutti

1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 - 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
10 to 12 ounces good raspberry jam
2/3 cup good granola without dried fruit
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed just until combined. With the mixer on low, add the vanilla.

Sift the flour and salt together and, with the mixer on low, slowly add to the butter mixture, mixing until it almost comes together in a ball. Turn the dough out on a board. Lightly pat two-thirds of the dough evenly on the bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan and about 1/4-inch up the sides. Spread with the jam, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Mix the granola into the remaining dough with your hands. Break the dough into small bits and distribute it on top of the jam, covering most of the surface. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Bake the bars for 45 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cool completely and cut into 9 or 12 bars.

*This Ina Garten recipe can be found on barefootcontessa.com and foodnetwork.com - the FoodNetwork includes a video of Ina throwing this together. I omitted the brand of jam - Hero, because I’d never heard of it and didn’t see it in my store - and the confectioners’ sugar, which although nice for a photo op, seemed like gilding the lily.

tjc notes : I had never made shortbread before, so obviously waited until it was in the oven before doing any research. Just as well, because I found a lot of conflicting information. I followed Ina’s instructions, and though my dough did not stick together the way hers did, I pressed on.

I didn’t love them the day I made them and thought I’d never make them again.

I changed my mind after testing the two freezer specimens the following day. The first bar was a delicious frozen treat, the other was a testament to my self control - I waited until it had not only thawed, but reached room temperature before consuming. I wished I had frozen more.

I called my mother-in-law to let her know that they freeze well, but she assured me that was not going to be an issue at her house.

Here’s are things I did…and what I’ll do differently next time:

Ina did not include instructions for prepping the pan, I lined mine with parchment paper.
Next time I’ll get myself a 9” square pan. The additional 17 square inches over my 8” pan would have made a thinner shortbread layer.
Next time, I’ll save time by picking up some ready made granola. Although I have so much from the batch I made I’m not likely to need it for a couple of years.
I didn’t use sliced almonds because I needed chopped almonds for the granola - the aesthetics of a sliced almond weren’t worth a bag of them. I bought whole almonds thinking I’d chop them in my mini food processor. My mini food processor thought otherwise. I chopped the old fashioned way and got some aggression out.
I was getting nervous about the baking time and took the pan out after 35 minutes - not Ina’s recommended 45. My edges were browned just as Ina’s were - but it was too brown for me, and they were hard - I trimmed them off. If I get the 9” pan, I will take them out when the jam is bubbling and the shortbread edges are lightly browned, probably about 30 minutes.

platter of jam bars package of cookies with photo labels — raspberry crumble jam bars

*the ninety cookie club, week ten*