Hey guys and girls,

How goes it?

I woke up this morning afternoon with the rain pelting it down on my window, immediately I knew wanted to bake but I wasn’t really in a cake mood. Working in digital marketing has turned me into a grinch, I CANNOT wait for Christmas to come and go already. That and I miss the sunshine. One day, I’m moving somewhere warmer where drizzle isn’t a daily visitor. Anyway, I wanted to make something quick, easy and simple, reflective of summer. So I whipped up some of these little treats, raspberry crumble bars. If raspberries aren’t your thing, use strawberry, blackberry, cherry – what ever jam you have lying around. Hell, make your own jam if you fancy. Whatever works for you! And if you have some (I didn’t) toss in some chopped nuts too. Super quick, absolutely delicious and tooootally flexible!

I actually ended up making two trays of this stuff and the recipe reflects that. It can easily be halved though, so fret not. These things should keep well, in an airtight container, I reckon they’ll be fine for the better part of a week…

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 200g soft brown sugar
• 100g rolled oats
• 175g unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 400g good quality raspberry jam

Method:

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 4. Line and grease 2 8 inch baking tins.
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and oats.
3. Add the butter and rub into the flour mix with your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Spread three quarters of the mix into the two baking trays and press down.
5. Spread the jam equally over the bases.
6. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mix over the jam and bake for around 30mins until golden brown.
7. Leave to set and cut into bars once it cools to room temperature.

Enjoy! I’m off to have one, six with a hot drink whilst I research potential sunny getaways which I can’t afford.

– Kay