Gluten-free fruit crisp bars

Classic dessert topping now the star of the show!

I don’t know about you, but whenever I eat fruit crisp (or crumble), my favourite part is the topping. Crunchy oats, sweet brown sugar and all that buttery goodness….what’s not to love? I decided to transform traditional crisp or crumble topping into a new delight and I have to say, these bars are phenomenally tasty. Alternatively, spread a layer of very thinly sliced apples dusted with sugar and cinnamon for another variation but the seedless jam was just so easy I couldn’t resist making the bars this way. You can easily make your own oat flour by pulsing rolled oats in a blender or food processor. If you don’t wish to make these bars gluten-free, substitute with all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

• 2 cups (500 mL) rolled oats
• 2/3 cup (160 mL) oat flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) salt
• 1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) vanilla
• 3/4 cup (185 mL) seedless raspberry jam

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line an 8×8 inch (20×20 cm) baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, oat flour baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Stir to blend well. Drizzle in the melted butter and vanilla and stir until completely incorporated.
• Spread half the oats mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan and pat down.
• Heat the jam in the microwave until it is slightly thinned; stir and drizzle over oats mixture in pan.
• Sprinkle remaining oats mixture over the jam and press down lightly with your fingertips.
• Bake in preheated oven until top is uniformly golden brown and jam is bubbling, about 25 minutes.
• Let stand at least 10 minutes, then slice into bars. Leftovers may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.

Makes sixteen one inch (2.5 cm) square bars.