These Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars are buttery, crisp, sweet and full of oozing jam. You don’t need any fancy ingredients or equipment to make these and they’re easy to throw together!
Hi guys, how are we all? How are we coping with staying home? Monday-Friday is pretty easy for me as I’ve worked from home for years, but I understand it must be difficult for people who are used to being out every day.
Yesterday was my husband’s first day working from home and he’s going to be home for a month. I think it’s going to be harder for him as he’s used to being out and seeing people every day, but we’re going to go for a walk together every evening, so we at least get some fresh air!
Anyway, let’s focus on something delicious like these Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars. I’m all about easy, comforting bakes at the moment and these are just the ticket. Crumbly, buttery, crisp and full of jam. It doesn’t get much better!
Although I’ve called these Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars, you can use whatever jam you have in the house. I know we’re all going through our cupboards right now and using up what we have, so any jam/preserves will be delicious.
I am glad I had a jar of strawberry jam though because it is my favourite! I’ve made bars like this many times over the years and have used all types of jam; blueberry, blackcurrant, raspberry. They always turn out amazing! I’ve also made Caramel Crumb Bars for the blog before. Now, those are insanely good!
When you marry jam together with a buttery shortbread base and crumbles on the top and you’re always onto a winner in my opinion. These Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars definitely satisfied my sweet tooth!
You only need a few ingredients for this recipe and the only “fresh” ingredient is butter. Everything else is stuff most of us have in our cupboards. I’m going to be getting through a lot of flour in the next few weeks haha! I actually baked for me for the first time in ages over the weekend. Just because I fancied something and not because I had to test recipes for the blog. That’s something positive about being stuck inside, I guess!?
Let’s go over how to make these Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars…
I found it easier to use my stand mixer, but you can use a hand mixer too. I placed butter and sugar into my stand mixer and beat it until it was light and fluffy. Then I added vanilla, flour and salt before mixing it until it came together into big lumps.
Once you have lumps of dough, put 3/4 of it in an 8×8 inch square pan and bake it for 15 minutes, spread jam all over the top of the part baked base, crumble the remaining dough on top and then bake until lightly golden and the jam is bubbling.
That’s it. Pure heaven in every bite! My husband immediately came downstairs when he heard the oven close as he could smell these bars! He knows he has to wait until after I’ve photographed my recipes, but I did let him have the corner piece, which he loved!
Let me know if you make these bars and how you like them!
Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (132g) caster/white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 2 1/4 cups (315g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 12 oz (340g) jar of jam/preserves I used strawberry jam, but use anything you have
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C/325F and spray an 8×8 inch square pan with cooking spray. Cut two strips of grease proof paper and place them across the pan each way. Make sure there's enough overhang on each strip to lift the bars out.
- Place the butter and sugar into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. This will take around 2 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla, salt and flour and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together into larger lumps. Some smaller and some larger lumps are fine. You'll need to mix the dough for a good minute or two. It will first become crumbs, then as you continue to mix it will come together.
- Place 3/4 of the dough mixture into your preprared pan and press into an even layer in your pan. I spray the base of a measuring cup and use the base to press the dough into the pan.
- Place the base into the oven for 12-15 minutes until it's puffy. You don't want it to have any colour, just to have puffed up and not look totally raw.
- Place the jam/preserves into a small, heat proof bowl, and microwave for 30-45 seconds, just until it's easy to spread. Spoon the jam over the hot base and smooth into an even layer, do your best to cover the base, there should be plenty to get a decent layer.
- Take the remaining dough in your hands and crumble it on top of the jam. It doesn't matter if it doesn't cover the jam, it's not meant to. Little bits of jam peeking through adds to the look of these!
- Place the pan back into the oven for 27-32 minutes, until the jam is bubbling around the edges and the top is very lightly golden. It shouldn't be golden all over, just on the highest points, the rest will look matte in the oven light.
- Leave to cool in the pan completely, then gently lift out of the pan onto a cutting board. Slice into 9-12 bars and dig in.
- Strawberry Jam Crumble Bars will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 4 days.
