Last night I was craving something sweet, but I wasn’t in the mood for chocolate. Of course, just my luck, everything I had at home was chocolate! So today at work I was making some crumble bars similar to this and I thought they would make the perfect late night snack to keep on hand. They are also a nice treat to enjoy with your morning coffee!
SHORTBREAD CRUST
- 1 lb Butter (4 sticks)
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3 cups Flour
CRUMBLE TOPPING
- 2 oz Butter (1/2 stick)
- 3 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup Oats
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Flour
To make these yummy bars, you will need the ingredients listed above, as well as a jar of raspberry preserves (≈15 oz), or a different fruit spread of your choosing. 
Before we begin, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F.
- First we are going to make the shortbread crust, which will be the base of our crumble bars. Soften your butter slightly and cut it into cubes to make the mixing process easier. We are going to cream the butter and sugar together on the lowest speed in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until there are no butter chunks remaining. You may need to scrape down the bowl and paddle if the butter sticks to them.
- Next, add the flour and salt to your mixing bowl. Be very careful when starting your mixer back up. I recommend pulsing it a few times on the lowest speed to keep the flour from flying out into your face! If you have a bowl guard, I would use it for this step. The mixture will look very crumbly at first, but you want to continue mixing until if forms a soft dough.
- Now that you have your shortbread dough, transfer it to the baking sheet that we lined with parchment paper earlier. A bowl scraper is a great tool for working with dough of this consistency. Sprinkle flour over your dough and onto the baking sheet, and then flatten the dough slightly with your hands.
Use a small rolling pin to even out the dough and roll it to the size of the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in your 350°F oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. The top will start to get a golden brown color when it is done. - While your shortbread crust
is baking, we can
make the crumble topping. The first step is to melt the butter. Melt your butter in a medium-sized bowl, leaving room to add the rest of our crumble ingredients once the butter has melted. - Next, add the rest of the crumble ingredients to your bowl of melted butter. Mix everything together with your hands. Stop mixing when the ingredients are well incorporated, but still crumbly and loose.
- By now the shortbread
crust should be just about done. Place it on a cooling rack and get your raspberry preserves ready. While the crust is still warm, empty the jar of preserves onto the crust and spread it evenly across the whole thing using an offset spatula. - Sprinkle all of the crumble topping
onto your jam covered shortbread crust, and place it back in the oven for another 15 minutes at 350°F. The crumble topping will turn a light golden brown and the preserves will begin to bubble. - Remove your crumble bar from the oven and place it back on the cooling rack. Once it has cooled, cut it into smaller pieces and remove them from the baking sheet using an offset spatula. I cut mine into small triangles, but that part is up to you!
- These delicious crumble bars can be served warm, cold, or room temperature…I prefer mine to be warmed up a bit though. Enjoy!!!
