Recipe: Jam Bars

Jam bars hit the sweet — and crumbly — spot. They’re a crowd pleaser at picnics, potlucks and tea parties. But they are also great for lunchboxes or office snacks.

At the Lenexa Farmers Market, you can get locally milled flour from Fyler Farms, vanilla extract from Miner’s Garden Market, and a variety of jams and preserves from The Bean Patch or Next to Nature Farm. Or you could even make your own strawberry jam.

Recipe credit: Sue Moran, The View From Great Island

Yield: 15 servings

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup strawberry jam (or other fruit preserves)
1/4 cup rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 7 x 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and set aside. (You can also use a 9-inch square baking pan or a round 9-inch tart pan.)

2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and vanilla extract.

3. Pulse until the ingredients are combined, and continue to pulse until the dough comes together into a single clump.

4. Reserve about 1 cup of the shortbread dough for topping the crumble bars, and crumble the rest into your prepared baking pan.

5. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan with your fingers.

6. Spread the strawberry jam evenly over the dough.

7. Mix the reserved dough with the rolled oats and crumble evenly over the jam layer. Some of the strawberry filling will show through, and that's good.

8. Bake for about 35–40 minutes until just starting to turn golden brown on the edges.

9. Allow to cool before removing from the pan and slicing. Note: Shortbread is quite soft right out of the oven. It will firm up as it cools.