Just to prove — once again — that you can actually make my shortbread crumble bars in almost any flavor, I decided to go for three more unique ones: Jostaberry (a cross between a gooseberry and a black currant), Cloud Berry (golden blond raspberries) and Lingonberries (loosely related to cranberries). Over time, I had either made or bought jams of all three and decided to make bars from them. As always super easy to make and are delicious.
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
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups of any of the berry jams: jostaberry, cloud berries and lingonberry
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 and coconut extracts with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour, and mix until just combined. Remove 1/2 cup of the crust mixture (to be sprinkled on later) and press remainder into the lined pan. Set aside the remaining 1/2 cup, covered with plastic wrap, but do not put 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 jam on top on the crust, sprinkle on the left-over crust dough on top. Bake another 25-30 minutes, or until the crumble 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.
