Snowy and cold (and will soon be colder!) weekend in Maine visiting my mom, so I decided to raid the pantry to see what type of combination that I would bake with and as usual, I ended up with a crumble bar combo. As you know, they are my “go to” treat. This time with hazelnuts and apricot jam… a little bit of sunshine with the golden color and tartness of the apricots.
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
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 ground hazelnut meal
1 1/2 cups apricot jam
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
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 butter, sugar, salt, egg yolks and vanilla extract with a spoon until smooth. Add in flour, almond meal and cinnamon and mix until just combined. Remove 3/4 cup of the crust mixture (to be sprinkled on later) and press remainder into the lined pan. Set aside the remaining 3/4 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 pear jam on top on the crust, sprinkle the left-over crust dough and chopped walnuts 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.
