Apple-Raspberry Crumble Bars

 

I had the best day off for the Fourth of July.  In short, it involved friends, food, and fireworks:) it was nice to take a break in the middle of the week for a little r and r.  also, i got a chance to make this apple-raspberry crumble to celebrate our lovely Independence Day.  

 

A few days before I came up with this recipe, I started thinking about how i wanted to structure my crumble bars. I wanted to bring together the best parts of a fruit crumble (the warm, gooey fruit and the buttery brown sugar topping) with the best part of a bar (the soft yet sturdy crust).  Martha Stewart's cookie book helped me out with the crust, and i kind of just tossed together some fruit, oats, butter, and brown sugar for the crumble part.  The one regret I have about these bars was that I didn't have any vanilla ice cream to go with it! I feel like my friends and I would have really appreciated something cold to go with the crumble on a hot summer's day.  but oh well, you win some and you lose some, right?

the schematic: crust then fruit then brown sugar crumble. noms:)

The best part of making these crumble bars was serving them to my friends, and watching them come back for seconds.  It sounds cheesy, but I've truly come to believe that food brings people together, and I can't imagine what I would do without these friends in my life. (not to mention their role as food critics in all of my cooking shenanigans) So that's that. i'm just a girl that likes to feed people! I hope you like the recipe:)

Apple-Raspberry Crumble Bars:

The crust, adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies:

 3/4 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt

The filling:

3 1/2 to 4 medium-sized apples (any variety), peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch thick pieces
1 to 1 1/2 cup raspberries, frozen or fresh
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour

The crumble topping:

1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup uncooked instant oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 x 13 glass baking dish and set aside. For the crust, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt.  Grate the butter into the flour mixture, and use a fork to combine until the mixture is crumbly.  Add the mixture into the baking dish, fashioning a crust by evenly pressing the mixture into the bottom of the dish.  Freeze the crust for 15 minutes, and then bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until golden.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, cinnamon and flour to make the filling.  Toss in the fruit, making sure that the sugar coats the fruit evenly.  To make the topping, combine the brown sugar, flour, and oats.  Grate in the butter and mix with a fork until the mixture is crumbly.

When the crust is ready, layer in the fruit and crumble, making sure that they are distributed evenly over the dish.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Allow the dish to cool for 10 minutes before serving the crumble bars.

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!