Cherry Berry Crisp Bars
The Inspiration…
Every night, around 8 o’clock, my husband announces that it is time for a snack. His usual selection is either a bowl of ice cream or a heaping bowl of cereal. On the rare occasion that we don’t have either of those things in the house, he will look to me to save the day and find something that will satisfy his sweet tooth. After we clean-up the dinner dishes, I usually don’t feel like dirtying a whole new round of dishes to clean, so I try to come up with things that are quick, easy, and won’t create too much of a mess to clean-up. Enter my Cherry Berry Crisp Bars! You probably have the ingredients hiding in your pantry and ready to go!
These bars have three delicious layers. First there is a buttery shortbread-style crust. Then you have a sweet, jammy fruit center. Lastly, we top it off with an almond-oat crumble. The best part is that you can substitute whatever preserves or fruit you have on hand! Let’s go!
Start by mixing up the ingredients for you crust in a medium bowl. Press the mixture evenly into an 8-inch square baking pan and throw it in the oven for 15 minutes at 300 degrees. You can line your baking pan with parchment paper for easy removal of the bars, but it is not necessary. The bars will not stick to the pan.
While the crust cooks, take a small bowl and mix together your preserves and lemon juice. I like to use cherry preserves, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Raspberry or strawberry would also be delicious! You can even get a little wild and try apricot!! If you prefer not the use the lemon juice, you can skip one dirty dish!! But the lemon juice does cut the sweetness of the preserves and brightens up the flavor. Either way, these bars are delicious. I’ve made them both ways.
When the crust comes out of the oven, increase the temperature to 350 degrees. Then spread your preserves on top of the crust while it is still warm. This will help you spread the preserves evenly. Then distribute your raspberries (or blueberries would be tasty!) on top of the preserves.
In the same bowl you mixed the crust batter in, mix together your ingredients for the crumble. (See how I’m cutting down on additional dish washing!) Make sure your butter is cold and cut it into the other ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. Then sprinkle this evenly across the pan.
Pop it back in the oven (at 350) for 30 minutes. It should be golden brown and bubbling when you take it out of the oven. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Try not to eat the whole pan yourself!
Cherry Berry Crisp Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 3/4 cup Cherry Preserves
- 1/2 TBSP lemon juice (optional)
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, pakced
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
- 2 TBSP almond flour
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed and cold
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
- Stir together all of the ingredients until combined.
- Press the mixture evenly into your 8-inch square baking pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove crust from oven and turn the temperature up to 350 degrees.
- Mix together the preserves and lemon juice (if using). The lemon juice cuts the sweetness of the fruit preserves.
- Spread the mixture on top of your baked crust.
- Top the preserves mixture with the raspberries, evenly distributing over the crust.
- Mix together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a medium bowl.
- Cut in the cold, cubed butter with a pastry blender or two forks or knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Sprinkle this mixture over the fruit topping.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cook for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.