Going back to an old stand-by as I am often doing. Here is yet another recipe for crumble bars, this time with gooseberries and pistachios. Just goes to show you that you can really use any fruit and nut combination. If you’ve never had a gooseberry, it’s a greenish or light pink (although there are also dark purple just not around here) berry. Quite tart. In German, they are called Stachelbeeren …. thorn berries …. because the vines have thorns on them. They are a member of the ribe family (as are currants) so they were banned in parts of the US for a long time and are just making a comeback (though there are still quite a few laws on the books outlawing mass growing of them). Anyway, delicious combo with the pistachios.
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 gooseberry jam
1/2 cup toasted pistachios (unsalted)
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 pistachio pieces and 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.
