Raspberry Lemon jam Oatmeal Bars

In addition to working on Sunday and getting ready to host friends for a Rioja tasting, I also squeezed in a batch of Oatmeal Cookie Bars. As my baking adventures tend to end, the result of my efforts was delicious but a mess, stuck to the very foil that the recipe told me to grease.

I first started thinking about some sort of jam-filled treat when I received a jar of homemade raspberry lemon jam from Chef Dandro at ArtBar’s recent menu tasting.

I did a quick search online and found this recipe for Delicious Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars. I grabbed my giant tub of store-brand oats. My husband is on a big oatmeal kick, so we decided to stock up this weekend.

I mixed up my flour, brown sugar, oats, baking soda, and butter to create a nice crumble.

And then layered the crumble and jam into a baking dish lined with greased foil.

I ended up baking these cookie bars for the full 40 minutes plus some extra time, and the top never browned. Also, they REALLY stuck to the foil so getting them out was a huge ordeal. I decided to not serve them to our friends.

They tasted delicious though. The jam was perfect and cooked down to a nice gooey consistency when baked and the crumble tasted like brown butter. These were definitely a nice little treat when I took a break from everything on Sunday. I’ll definitely make them again and mix up the type of jam I use, though the ArtBar jam will be hard to beat!

From AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch square pan, and line with greased foil.
2. Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.
3. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.