Friday, January 8, 2010

Jammy Oatmeal Crumb Bars




I must apologize if you are getting tired of seeing this little bird plate. I found this wonderful artist on Etsy a while back and received a few of her pieces for Christmas, and I can't stop using them!

Anyway, on to the bars! I was trying to figure out a kid-friendly - meaning sugar-free in my house - cookie to make this morning, when I thought I should make some kind of crumb bar. I love crumb bars. Crumb anything, really. I didn't want to search for a recipe, so I figured I'd wing it. I really hit the nail on the head! These bars are wonderful!

They are relatively healthy, containing as much oats as flour, they use sugar-free (fruit only) jam, and are sweetened with palm sugar. They were enormously popular with both of my kids, as well as a friend of mine and her daughter who sampled them. I baked an 8x8 pan of them this morning, and only 4 little squares remain, if that gives you an idea of how yummy they are.

These bars are very sturdy though soft, they are dense and chewy and have a little crunch from the topping. Oh, and they take about 2 1/2 minutes to throw together.

Jammy Oatmeal Crumb Bars

1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unbleached white flour (or any other flour, really)
1 cup whole oats (please don't use quick oats...)
1 9oz jar fruit spread such as this (I used the sour cherry flavor from the same company, highly recommend!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Cream butter with palm sugar and salt. Add flour and mix until just combined. Stir in oats. It is okay if the mixture is crumbly. Press about 2/3 of mixture into prepared pan, firmly and evenly. Place jam in small saucepan and cook over lowest heat until it becomes pourable. Pour jam over dough layer in pan. Sprinkle remaining dough over jam. Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then lift out by edges of parchment and cool completely on rack before cutting.




14 comments:

  1. oooh, these look so delicious and you know these bars are right up my alley I'd love a chance to use 9 oz of jam in one recipe!! Kudos for creating such a fab recipe.

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  2. yum! and i LOVE the bird plate--who wouldn't?!

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  3. hmmmmm - the sound amazing. and i can't believe how easily they came together.

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  4. Oh my word! those look so delicious! I can't believe how easy that is to make!

    ps I am new to your blog... you added me on foodbuzz & thought I would visit your blog :]

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  5. This a nice recipe you created! I like it! I want to try it as soon as I have my free time.

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  6. These look wonderful. I can't wait to give them a try.

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  7. Harika görünüyor!
    Turkish food...

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  8. Those bars look fabulous. I love any and all jam bars -- I can't wait to try these. Nice work, Sarah. Oh, and I love the bird plate. :)

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  9. I just made these. The pan was empty within hours--only because I exercised a fair bit of restraint. They are awesome awesome awesome, and easy, quick, and absolutely delicious. I used one of the eight jars of carrot marm that have been looking at me for a year and a half (eight of twenty four) and my first thought was, "I need to make more jam. I can only make this seven more times."

    This is my new go-to recipe. Thanks so much!

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  10. Carla,

    I'm so glad to hear that! Carrot marm sounds intriguing, I'm sure it was delicious in these. Thanks so much for letting me know how they turned out, you just made my day!

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  11. I made these the other day, substituting 1/4 of the butter for almond butter, used 3/4 whole wheat flour and 1/4 almond flour, added some chopped pecans (plus more on the top), and used a 5 grain cereal (oats, barley, flax seed...) instead of plain oats. With a generous helping of raspberry jam! They were DELICIOUS! Thanks for the recipe!

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  12. oh, and brown sugar in place of palm. (Although I am intrigued... why palm sugar?) My new favorite recipe!

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  13. I'm so glad you enjoyed them! I use palm sugar in all of the baking that I do for my kids - they are 2 and 4 and have never had refined sugar - because it has an incredibly low glycemic index and is simply the dried nectar from the flower of the coconut palm. Your body doesn't metabolize it the same way it does cane sugar, so you never get the sugar highs and lows. Plus, it is delicious!

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  14. oooh yum! will definite try it out! thanks for the tip :)

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