More strawberries! And more crumble bars. These really are my “go to” thing when I need something quick and delicious, minimal effort, maximum output. And it helps if you just went strawberry picking an have homemade jam. This variety also has a bit of lemon zest in the shortbread and believe it or not, a little bit of thyme. No, it doesn’t taste “herby” though. 🙂
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
1 teaspoon very finely minced fresh lemon thyme
1 teaspoon very finely minced lemon zest
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
2 cups strawberry jam
2 tablespoons lemon juice
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, thyme, lemon zest and rolled oats 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. Mix together the lemon juice and jam, and spread the strawberry jam mixture on top on the crust, and sprinkle the left-over crust dough 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.
