Cooking for Seven

Fascinating how much your photography can change in just 1.5 years. Way back in December of 2008 I blogged about a delicious recipe I had concocted: Fruit on the Bottom Baked Oatmeal. Here was my original header photo:

I was so proud that captured this image early on a Winter morning.

All of this to say, go and see my guest post on the Tasty Kitchen blog: Fruit on the Bottom Baked Oatmeal.

Have I told you about this cobbler? It is wonderful. Easy, fast, delicious. My dad likes it better than blueberry pie. The first time we made it he said, “You need to USE this recipe.” And so we have.

The construction of the topping was new to me: Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, then add boiling water. The result is a tender, tasty topping. And it’s so much easier than pie dough.

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I must admit that I used to avoid creamy salads. They were usually filled with marshmallows and candy bars. This seemed so wrong in a salad. Then, some good friends of ours introduced us to this delicious salad.

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As I looked at our nearly bare garden and spotted our healthy rhubarb plants, a sudden fancy hit me. Rhubarb upside down cake. We had made this recipe once before with success. So my sister & I quickly harvested the tenderest shoots.

Then, as we were prepping our ingredients, panic stuck. There wasn’t a stick of butter in the house. Amanda & I looked at each other and shrieked.

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One evening, when I was in one my baking moods, I felt like making something special for breakfast. I saw these over at Smitten Kitchen and decided that they needed to be made. Of course I made my usual adjustments - whole wheat flour and a natural sweetener. I also left out the lemon zest (as we had none).

To be honest, I thought these bars were a little on the tart side. However, I was overall very pleased with them, and will most likely try them again.

We served them with both liquid and whipped cream. Delicious.

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Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

For the crust and crumb:
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 cup Demerara sugar or Sucanat or rapadura
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

For the raspberry filling:
1/4 cup Demerara sugar or Sucanat or rapadura
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1 pound raspberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

Make the crust and crumb:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.

2) Put the flour, sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until combined. Add the butter and pulse until loose crumbs form.

3) Reserve 1 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands or the back of a large wooden spoon to push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. The crust should touch the sides of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool. Keep the oven on while you make the raspberry filling.

Make the raspberry filling:

4) In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated.

Assemble and bake the bars:

5) Spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the filling.

6) Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then cut into squares. Serve plane or with liquid or whipped cream. The bars can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to two days.

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