Freshly baked, streusel topped bribes
There are four things you quickly learn after moving to a farm:
1. The work will never be done.
2. The money will never be plentiful.
3. Your life will be a whole lot easier if every animal you own is seriously addicted to treats.
4. It's a very good idea to have at least one relatively nearby fellow farmer also addicted to treats.
You know that friend whose cute animal farm I
showed you around the other day(and who sold me my original flock of sheep back in 1995, which means I've been calling her with sheep questions ever since)? I don't get to see her very often, but whether I'm visiting her farm, she's visiting mine, or we're meeting someplace in between like the livestock sale barn, I make sure to have plenty of treats.
She loves my
homemade bread, squeals if I show up with a bag of
Baby Chocolate Chip and Toffee Shortbread Cookies(and she's not the squealing type), and will spend several hot and sweaty hours helping me work my sheep in exchange for a homegrown lamb salami sandwich, some
Blueberry Peachor
Apple Blueberry Streusel Bars, and a café mocha made on our little commercial espresso machine (the best birthday splurge ever). But what she really goes crazy for are these Raspberry Almond Bars.
Are you always on the lookout for a quick and easy, foolproof dessert recipe that transports well, won't melt in the heat, freezes beautifully, holds up to holiday shipping, doesn't require lots of oven babysitting, can go from potluck picnic to dressy dinner party, is made with common pantry ingredients, and never fails to garner rave reviews no matter who you serve it to?
Got it!
People get so excited over these bars it's almost embarrassing to admit how easy they are to make. You use one batter for both layers, and the filling is simply jam.
And when I say foolproof, I'm not kidding. Underbaked? Still good. Overbaked because it was 11:30 at night during
lambing seasonand you fell asleepa few minutesbefore the timer went off? No complaints. Didn't grease the pan? Not to worry. Forgot a couple of bars in the hot car for three days? Gobbled right up. I've been making these for years.
Quick and Easy Raspberry Almond Bars
Makes one 9"x13" pan
Recipe Inspiration: Everyday Food (a great little magazine)
If you keep a flock of
chickens, you often end up with various sizes (and
colors!)of eggs. Even hens who regularly lay large eggs will give you little ones at first. My original version of this recipe calls for 'one huge egg' like
this one,but I did some experimenting—even weighing the eggs to make sure they wereofficially large (I love my
kitchen scale)—and here's what I learned:
One large egg and one egg yolk will give you a crumbly dough that you can easily pat into the pan and sprinkle on top of the jam (as seen in the top two photos). Two large eggs make a softer dough that will give you clumps of topping and allow the jam to show through (as seen in the photo above). I like both versions, but the softer dough is a little harder to work with. Experiment and see which you prefer.
You can use any flavor of jam you like for these; we're hooked on Trader Joe's organic reduced sugar jams, but if you're lucky enough to have some fresh raspberries andone minute to spare, you could
make your own jam.You can also swap whole wheat flour (I have the best luck using white whole wheat flour in baked goods) for some of the all-purpose flour. I like raspberry jam the best, but whole wheat with apricot is very nice, too. If you can't find toasted sliced almonds, just toast raw ones in the oven for several minutes while it's heating up. As always, I urge you to seek out organic and
ingredients. They really do make a difference.
1 cup (8 oz / 2 sticks) organic butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg and 1 egg yolk, or 2 large eggs (see note above)
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (make sure it's fresh!)
1½ cups toasted sliced almonds
1½ cups organic raspberry (or other fruit) jam
Heat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan. (I love my Chicago Metallic commercial baking pans.)
Place the butter and sugars in a large bowl, and use a hand held mixer on high speed to cream them until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and egg yolk (or two eggs) and almond extract.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then mix or stir in the almonds.
Use your fingers to press half of the dough into the bottom of the baking pan. I use the bottom of a stainless steel 1 cup measure to evenly pat it out.
Put the jam in a small bowl and loosen it up with a small whisk or a fork (this will make it spread easier). Spread the jam evenly over the dough, leaving about a 1/4-inch border around the edges.
Sprinkle the remaining dough over the jam, all the way to the edges of the pan, and then press on it gently to form the top layer.
Bake until the top is golden and the edges are starting to brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan, and then cut into whatever size bars you like and serve. The bars will keep for atleastthree or four days at room temperature, or you can freeze them. I wrap them individually in plastic, then toss them all in a zipper freezer bag.
If you get tired of Raspberry Almond Bars (or need some chocolate):
Cookies and Bars
(and how to hug a sheep)
Muffins and Scones
(four different flavors)
Cakes, Tarts, and More
Still hungry? You'll find links to all of my sweet and savory Less Fuss, More Flavor recipes in the Farmgirl Fare Recipe Index.
©
FarmgirlFare.com, thenot afraid to useevery barnyard animal trick in the bookfoodie farm blog where despite the whole endless hard work/very low pay thing, farm lifereally isworth it—and although our
darling donkeyscan be stubborn,if you justshake a bucket of treats in their direction, they'll happily
follow you anywhere.