It’s been a while since I made crumble bars. For a long time now, they have been my “go to” thing to make, to eat “out of hand” (meaning cookie or brownie-sized). They are so versitile: pick a fruit flavor, pick a nut or chocolate type and voila! Crumble bars just waiting to be taken to your next pot-luck!
Ingredients
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to just warm
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups strawberry jam
1 cup white chocolate chips
Directions
Create a foil or parchment sling for your 9 x 11-inch baking pan and spray generously with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks and vanilla extract with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour and mix until just combined. Remove 2 1/2 cups of the crust mixture and press into the lined pan and set aside the remaining, 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 strawberry jam on top, and sprinkle the left-over crust and white chocolate chips 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.
