You can watch the march of time in the summer through what berries are ripe. June is strawberries, followed by raspberries, blueberries and finally, as it starts to turn to autumn, then it’s blackberries. I guess you could say that it is blackberry season now, so enter stage right my crumble bars, this time with blackberry jam. Always yummy and so easy to make!
Ingredients
1 cup plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to just warm
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted and divided
2 cups blackberry jam
Directions
Create a foil or parchment sling for your 9 x 13 inch baking dish or spray generously with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks and almond extract with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour and mix until just combined. Remove 2 cups of the crust mixture and press into the lined pan. Mix the toasted almond slices in the unused portion of the crust and set aside covered with plastic wrap, but not in the refrigerator. Place the pan in the freezer for 30-60 minutes or so; the chilling of the crust prevents it from expanding and rising too much during baking.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Remove the crust from the freezer and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes, or until the sides are lightly browned. Then remove from the oven, and increase oven temperature to 350F. Spread the blackberry jam on top, and sprinkle the leftover crust and almond mixture on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the streusel is lightly browned.
Allow the pan to cool completely before taking the bars out of the pan. Remove the bars by lifting out with the sling and cut.
