Boysenberry Crumble Bars

Its not a secret that I love Christmas. I think I love it only 0.5% less than Tara, and thats saying something. In fact, I'm so delirious with Christmas joy that I tried to link to www.tara.com. Which is not her blog at all. Or maybe its the heat thats making me delirious. I don't know. It must be over 40 today, right guys?

(Note: The Bureau says its forecast at 32. I say that's a lie.)

I had a very nice baking day with The Uber Blonde earlier this week. If you've been following her blog (and if not, why not!?), you'll know that she's recently had to join the ranks of The Vigilante in gluten-free-ness. I was going to nickname The Vigilante as Allergen Girl because she's SO DIFFICULT TO BAKE FOR with all her intolerances (just kidding, I love you really), but I drew her as a superhero vigilante once and it made me pleased.

So UB and I made these delightful crumble bars from this gluten free recipe, although we made some substitutions (almond meal for hazelnut flour, a lot less jam than we needed, no vanilla essence - although the latter was just because I've lost it. The essence, not my mind. Or... never mind). They were gosh-darn delicious, so when Dad came to stay with us and brought some boysenberries with him, I snapped up half of them to make a glutenous version of the bars. Mmm, wheat.

I'm going to warn you - these bars are decadent. Not quite in a Cinnabon-y way, but in a "share with a large group of friends or eat over two weeks" way. I know the recipe looks complicated, but it really isn't! Trust me, I am not one for difficulty, and definitely not twice in two days.

ELDERBERRY CRUMBLE BARS
Makes 24 slices
Adapted from Gluten-Free Goddess

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup unsalted butter
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1/2 cup boysenberries
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1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp butter
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2/3 cup slivered almonds*
4 tbsp butter


*in the GF bars I made with UB, we used dessicated coconut as well (the original recipe calls for flaked coconut, but beggars students can't be picky) and it was amazing, so I'd strongly encourage that, I was just lazy the second-time around when I actually took a photo.

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Combine all ingredients from the first section except the butter. Then cut in the butter to a sandy consistency.

3. Line a baking pan with baking paper, allowing some overhang so you can just lift the bars out when you're done. Pour in the mixture and pat down to make a firm base. Bake for seven minutes in the preheated oven to "set" the base.

4. Take the base out and "smash" the elderberries to make a layer across the base. As a reference point - in the original recipe, jam is used as the middle layer, so you want a fairly thick filling or it will just be crumble on crumble.

5. Speaking of that second layer of crumble - combine the flour and brown sugar, and rub in the butter to create a crumble. Top the elderberry layer with crumbly goodness.

6. Melt the 4 tbsp butter gently in a pan, and coat the slivered almonds in butter. Spoon this mixture onto the top of the crumble.

7. Bake for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

The original recipe says you can bag and freeze leftover bars - I can't vouch for this as I haven't had any leftover as of yet, but I trust her!