strawberry jam bars

i spent my last few pregnant saturday mornings at the rochester public market, looking for the best local strawberries. every week i found them sparsely hiding behind the boxes and boxes of driscolls. perfectly dark red, the biggest berries the size of my thumb, and perfectly sweet. every week i was surprised by how many people stuck their noses up at the real berries and headed instead for the imposters. 

which brings me to some of my favorite strawberry recipes. while a majority of those quarts of berries were sliced and mixed with greek yogurt for breakfast, a couple quarts made it to some perfectly sweet treats. and although these bars are made with jam instead of fresh fruit, they're perfect. and if you have a quart or two of perfectly sweet berries hanging around, spend an hour and make some jam. you'll thank me in december when you can add these bars to your holiday spread.

looking for more strawberry treats? stay tuned over the next two weeks & check out last year's strawberry week: strawberry mojitos, strawberry sorbet, strawberry vanilla summer cake, strawberry lemon bars, white chocolate strawberry jam cookies, strawberry sour cream ice cream, & strawberry rolls

strawberry jam bars
adapted from baking illustrated
makes one 9x13" pan

2 1/4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons oats
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cup strawberry jam

1. preheat your oven to 350F and line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. in a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugars, baking soda, salt, and nuts until combined.
3. turn the mixer onto low and add the butter. mix until the mixture looks like coarse sand.
4. transfer about two thirds of the mixture to the prepared pan. using your hands, press the mixture in an even layer in the pan. bake until the crust starts to brown, about 20 minutes.
5. spread the jam over the baked crust and sprinkle the rest of the oat mixture evenly on top.
6. bake until the jam bubbles around the edges and the top is brown, about 30 minutes.
7. cool in the pan on a wire rack. using the parchment paper, remove bars from the pan and cut into squares.