The Altitude Adjustment Section
Cookies and bars are a great thing to make if you are challenged by the altitude and don’t have the patience to try a recipe at least 3 times to get it right. This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour cookbook, which never lets me down. Summer Berry crumble bars rule!
Ingredients for crust and topping
2 cups A.P.flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup unsalted cold butter (2 sticks), cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
Ingredients for filling
3 cups fresh blueberries or raspberries
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons A.P. flour
Ingredients for glaze
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons water
1cup confectioner’s sugar
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan. To make crust and topping, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cardamom. Now cut in the hard butter with a pastry cutter or your hands till mixture is crumbly. Transfer 2 cups of mixture to another bowl and add sunflower seeds, set aside. Pat the remaining crumbs into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes then remove from the oven. While crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients. Mix gently. Now spread filling over baked crust bottom evenly. Sprinkle the reserved crumble over the top and bake for 40 minutes more or until filling if bubbly and crust has browned. Remove from oven and now make glaze. Whisk together all the glaze ingredients and drizzle over bars while they are still warm. Cool completely before cutting. You can also substitute frozen berries if you must, but bake it while berries are still frozen or they will sink to the bottom. This makes 24 yummy bars.
