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My selected cookbook for this month,
Home Baked Comfort is one of my favourite baking books. The chapters are divided into Breakfast, Breads, Cookies & Bars, Cakes & Cupcakes, Pies & Tarts, Custards & Souffles. I have baked a number of recipes from it, and the ones that I've tried are very good. I especially like the
Cranberry Bread and
Buttery Flaky Rolls.
I've made Oatmeal Jammy Bars, because I wanted to use up my opened jars of jam which are cluttering my refrigerator. I was looking for recipes to use up all that jam, and found this simple, easy bar snack that can be made in a jiffy, though the baking takes about 40 minutes.
The base and topping is the same, an oat mixture using rolled oats, flour, butter, brown sugar, orange zest, ground cinnamon and vanilla extract. The oat mixture is a little crumbly and a little dry, but according to the author, it is supposed to be like that, and it will work out fine. Press about two thirds of the crumbly oat mixture to the bottom of the pan, and it does work out fine after all! The mixture sort of bind together even though they are very crumbly.
For the filling on top, I have used opened jars of jam which I wanted to clear. I've used raspberry jam, apricot jam and my homemade orange jelly which I've made a while back and they have set rather thick, so it is perfect for bakes like this. Spread the jam over the oat mixture evenly, then scatter the top with the remaining oat mixture. I press the oat mixture lightly into the jam. Bake for 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the jam are bubbling.
What a relief that these are gone, in a delicious way, of course!
Cut into bars or slices to serve.
Oatmeal Jammy Bars with three different jam fillings, raspberry jam at the bottom slice, apricot jam in the centre slice and my homemade orange jelly right on top.
Makes quite a nice bar to snack on with a cup of warm tea. The oat mixture crust is very chewy from the oats, and it smells really "cinnamony-vanilla" nice.
Oatmeal Jammy Bars
(adapted from "Home Baked Comfort", Kim Laidlaw)
Makes about 18 bars
1-2/3 cups (8-1/2 oz/265gm) all-purpose flour
1 cup (7oz/220gm) firmly packed light brown sugar (I use 120gm)
1/2 tsp kosher salt (scant 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 small orange
3/4 cup (6oz/185gm) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1-2/3 cups (5oz/155gm) old-fashioned rolled oats
1-1/2 cups (15oz/470gm) of your favourite jam, such as apricot, raspberry or a mixture
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F (180C). Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33cm) baking dish.
In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, orange zest, and butter. Pulse until the mixture looks like chunky crumbs. Add the oats and pulse a few times to mix. Press about two-thirds of the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. The dough will be super crumbly, and you might wonder if it will ever bake together, but press it down firmly so it all squishes together. I assure you that it will work. Spread the jam evenly over the top, then sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the pan.
Bake until the top is golden brown and you can see the jam bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the dish, then cut into bars.
