Sunday, May 6, 2012

I Baked...Orange Jam Bars

On this day, I baked some jam bars.  It was a baking with clear intentions and results I had hope for.  It was baking of something I love and that reflects me so.






The first time I made these were in 2006 at the Bothways Bakery and Cafe that I worked at.  The owner gave me pretty free reign to try new things, and these were perfect, so homey and rustic as the cafe.  






Over the years, I've tried these with different jams, spices, and also have added nuts. It's always delicious and a hit.  My favorite so far has been the raspberry jam, but this orange marmalade is up there.  I might add some chopped almonds next time.  I love that combo, orange, almond, and cinnamon. Yum!






Here is the basic recipe.  The original recipe is from William and Sonoma Baking Cookbook. I've tweaked it a bit.


1 3/4 cups of Flour
1 cup of packed Brown Sugar
2 cups of Rolled Oats
1 1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
1 tsp of Kosher Salt
1 cup of Butter, cut in dice size
1 cup of Orange Marmalade
1 tsp of Orange Extract


-Preheat over to 325 degrees.
-In a large bowl mix flour, brown sugar, oats*, cinnamon, and salt until well combined.  *Save 1/2 cups of the rolled oats.
-Add butter and using a pastry cutter, blend until light, fluffy, pea size mixture. Toss it around a bit with your hands.   
-Remove 2 cups of the mixture into a separate bowl to use a topping, set a side.
-To make the base crust, pour the remainder of the mixture into an 8" square baking pan and press firmly and evenly.
-In a small bowl, mix the orange marmalade and the orange extract.  
-Spoon the marmalade on the base crust evenly.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  The marmalade will melt in the oven and spread out.
-For the topping, mix the set aside 2 cups of the mixture and the 1/2 cups of saved rolled oats.  Spoon the mixture over the marmalade topping until evenly coated.
-Bake in center of the oven for 55 minutes.  It should be golden brown.
-Take out of the oven and cool on rack in the plan for 30 minutes.
-Slice into 2"x4" bar size.  It makes 8 bars.






Please play around with different flavors and eat it with vanilla ice cream. :)

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