My favorite part of baking is sharing the finished product with others. If I have the opportunity to share my friend’s food with my baked goods, that’s icing on the cake. Last Friday I had the opportunity to share my baked goods and my friend’s food with others at a Ladies Night Out event at Arlington Kitchen and Home in Owosso. It was a blast! While it’s pretty obvious how to enjoy jam and granola -- by eating it, it’s so much fun to show the different ways in which to enjoy them! Like in jam and granola bars. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut with our cooking, baking and eating habits. Here’s a simple recipe that incorporates jam and granola into a yummy baked good.
what I used:
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups Happy Girl granola
1 jar All American Canning Co. jam (your favorite flavor)
how I made it:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 x 9 in. pan with parchment paper.
Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the oats. Press just over half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
Spread the jam on top of the base in the center of the base (leave about a one inch gap around the outside so the jam doesn’t spread outside). Let the remaining granola hang out in the fridge for about an hour to let the butter firm up again (this is optional, but will help to create a more crumbly topping). Sprinkle the remaining granola mixture on top of the jam.
Bake for 30-35 minutes (until the top is lightly golden). Remove and allow to cool completely before cutting. After about 15 minutes, the bars can be removed from the pan with the parchment paper and left on a cooling rack inside the parchment paper. To cut the bars, leave them on the parchment and move to a flat surface and cut into squares. This is my favorite way to cut bars and brownies -- it saves on the mess and is a much simpler way to cut bars without the edge of the pan getting in the way.
