Raspberry Crumble Bars

Easy to Bake Easy to Make recipe cards

1-1/4c all purpose flour
1c quick cooking or old fashioned rolled oats
1/2c firmly packed light brown sugar we used dark brown sugar
1/4t baking soda
1/2c butter, softened
1 jar (12 oz) raspberry jam or preserves we used about 2/3 of an 18oz jar

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat an 8" square baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Reserve 1-1/2 c crumb mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Spread jam on crust to within 1/2 inch of edges.
4. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture evenly on top; press gently. Bake until crumb mixture is light brown 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; cut into bars.

This was my husband's idea. He looked at my cookbook collection and then looked at my box of recipe cards... you know, those ones that come in the mail and they try to get you to sign up... it sounds like a great deal and the ones they send you are just fantastic. Well, once upon a time, they suckered me into it.

This recipe gets marks because we had everything in the cupboard. But, the bars weren't that good. I can't tell you what exactly was not so great about them, but I just wasn't thrilled. In fact, I told him to bring them into work, not only because I didn't want them around for the sake of my waistline, but also because I hoped they would get eaten rather than just thrown in the trash.