So you know how sometimes really crappy weather makes you want to hunker down and hibernate just a little while? Well, it’s April and New England is getting a Nor’Easter (which actually doesn’t mean snow necessarily, just wind direction, but the precipitation is still supposed to be yucky). So the bad weather got me thinking of wanting to be in the tropics, which got me thinking of citrus fruits, so I dug through my bag of tricks and came up with a jar of Guava Jam. Never had a guava? Well, it tastes a lot like oranges and peaches mixed together. Add in some macadamia nuts and voila, tropical inspiration to get over the Spring Stormy blues.
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 lemon extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups guava jam
1 cup toasted macadamia nuts, chopped
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 lemon extract with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour and mix until just combined. Reserving 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to crumble on later, press dough into the lined pan. 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 Guava jam on top, and sprinkle the left-over crust and chopped macadamia nuts 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.
