Oatmeal Raspberry Peach Bars
Raspberry bars always remind me of my mom. Although she has much less of a sweet tooth than I do, she cannot resist these buttery squares of ruby goodness. So whenever I’m missing her, I whip up a batch, and wish we were munching on them together.
In addition to my mother, these bars are adored by my husband and children. Not only are they delicious, but they make a perfect grab and go sweet snack or breakfast. Given that they have ample amounts of sugar, I won’t say that they are super healthy, but I will go as far as to say that they are worlds above processed breakfast cereals, pop tarts, and bars. They have fresh fruit, lots of oats, and real butter as opposed to high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils, “fruit flavor” and preservatives. Plus they’re easy to whip up, and with no eggs or nuts, they’re fairly allergy friendly for the kids. Win, win, win!
In terms of the process, there really isn’t anything tricky about this recipe, but I will say a food processor is a must for the crust/crumble. You can’t really grind up the oats any other way, and I find the processor does the fastest and best job of cutting cold butter into the flour mixture. That being said, this recipe calls for several cups of flour and oats, so if you have a small food processor, like I do, you may need to process your crumble in two batches. First I pulse the flour and oats, then I remove half of the flour mixture to a separate bowl, and set it aside. I then pulse half the butter into the flour in my processor. Once this first batch is the right texture, I repeat with the remaining flour mixture and butter. If you already have a large food processor, no need to bother with batches.
Oatmeal Raspberry Peach Bars- Makes 16 bars
Equipment:
Food processor
9 X 13 in metal rectangular pan
Crumble Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
Fruit Filling Ingredients:
12 oz. (about 2 1/2 cups) fresh raspberries
3 TBS. brown sugar
2 TBS. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
2/3 cups raspberry preserves (I love Bonne Maman)
1-2 ripe but firm peaches, thinly sliced
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and butter and line the pan with parchment paper.
Make the crumble. Combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in the food processor. Process until the oats are mostly ground then gradually pulse in the cubed butter. Pulse until a crumbly dough forms and there are no large clumps of butter. Depending on the size of your processor, you may need to work in two batches. Also, if your dough seems a bit dry, add a tablespoon of water and process again.
Once you’re happy with your dough, transfer 1/3 to the prepared baking pan. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan for the crust. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned.
While the crust bakes, make the filling. Combine the raspberries, brown sugar, flour, lemon zest, vanilla, and nutmeg in a bowl, and toss to evenly coat. Spread the berries out evenly over the pre-baked crust. Then fill in with an even layer of raspberry preserves. Finally top the raspberries with the sliced peaches.
Evenly top with the remaining crumble, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the topping is lightly golden and the berries are juicy. Allow to cool completely before slicing. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest
