This jam slice is the perfect mix of sweet and tart jam, buttery, oaty brown sugar crumble topping and a thick (but not too thick) buttery base layer of oats. And the best part is that it all comes together in one hour including baking time!
Okay. This jam slice is somewhere between jam slice and the North American crumble bar. Please humour me. It's worth it. We're skipping jam from a jar and going with homemade. That means less sugar and the perfect balance of tart and sweet. I would never say that these were healthy, but no one would judge you for having one of these for breakfast!
A simple list of ingredients, no special equipment and the perfect sweet snack for getting the kids involved in making. You're gonna need to be making these for sure!
Jam Crumble Slice
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Ingredients needed
- Frozen berries- I've used Black Forest fruits but you can use any type. All strawberries, or raspberries. Blueberries are a personal favourite.
- Caster sugar- use this for the jam.
- Juice of a lemon- balances out the sweetness of the sugar in the jam.
- Corn starch/flour- Thickens the jam quickly so that we can get making and baking these bars pronto!
- Old fashioned rolled oats- these oats are large and flat. I don't recommend quick-cooking oats. They don't create a nice crumble.
- Butter- You can use non-dairy spread here if that's what you have.
- Brown sugar- dark brown or light brown is perfect here. I don't recommend caster sugar because your crumble topping will be too sweet.
- Plain flour- Just helps to bring it all together.
Step by step directions
Step 1 & 2
- First, we're making the jam. Place the fruit and the sugar in a large pan and place on medium heat. Continue to cook until the sugar and fruit melt. It's going to be very liquid. Don't worry. Mix the corn starch with the lemon juice and add it to the jam. Mix it really well. The jam will start to thicken immediately and will turn very shiny.
- Pour it into a bowl and place in the fridge (or freezer) to cool while you make the crumble topping and base.
Step 3 & 4
- Weigh out the flour, oats and brown sugar into a bowl. Add in the butter (or non-dairy spread) and mix with a fork. Room temperature butter is best here. Not softened, just room temperature. It makes it easy to mix. If you're using a food processor then you can use butter that is colder. But this particular recipe doesn't use any equipment.
- Use a fork (or your hands/ kids hands) to crumble the butter into the oat mixture. It will resemble very chunky breadcrumbs.
Step 5 & 6
- Line a 9x9 square baking tray with parchment paper. Press just over half the oat crumble into the bottom of the pan and press down very firmly. You can use the bottom of a flat bottomed glass to do this or just a knife or spoon.
- Pour the cooled jam onto the oat mix and spread into an even layer. Gently scatter the remaining crumble mixture over the jam. Be sure to cover the whole top of the jam.
Step 7 & 8
- These bars don't take long to bake; about 25-30 minutes. But here's the deal. They need a little chill time to set up into bar formation if you know what I mean.
Storage
These bars really benefit from being in the fridge. They have such a crumbly buttery texture and flavour that just seems to shine when they're fridge cold. They also freeze like an absolute dream! So feel free to leave them in the freezer and pull out one or two at a time. They'll last in the freezer for about 4 months just wrapped in some foil.
Variations
Like I said you could use any berries in this recipe. I've made these squares countless times with countless variations and they're always a winner!
- Non-dairy spread instead of butter
- Any frozen fruit you like
- Dark or light brown sugar for the crumble topping
More ways to use crumble
Tools used
Wild Berry Jam Slice
Ingredients
- 1 kg (6 cups) of mixed frozen berries
- 100 g (½ cups) caster sugar
- 3 tablespoons (3 tablespoons) corn starch
- 1 (1) lemon, juice only
- For the topping
- 225 g (1 5/7 cups) plain flour
- 225 g (1 cups) butter, cold cut into cubes
- 125 g (1 ½ cups) rolled oats, not quick-cooking
- 250 g (1 cups) brown sugar, light or dark
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC fan or 170ºC regular.
- Stir the fruit with the caster sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the fruit is broken down and the sugar has melted. This should take about 10-15 minutes. Mix the lemon juice with the corn starch. Add it to the fruit mixture and stir in. Bring back to a simmer for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and place in the fridge or the freezer to cool while you make the crumble topping.
- Place the flour, brown sugar and rolled oats into a medium mixing bowl. Using a fork or just your hands cut the butter into the flour oat mixture until it resembles very chunky coarse breadcrumbs.
- Line a 22cm square (9x9) tin with baking paper. Firmly press ½ the crumble mixture into the bottom of the tin. Pour the cooled jam on top and spread evenly with a spoon or knife. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the jam.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the jam is starting to bubble up around the edges and the crumble topping is golden and crisp. Cool for about 30 minutes in the fridge and cut into 16 squares.
Notes
- The jam gets made with the berries still frozen. No need to defrost.
- Light brown or dark brown sugar is perfect in the oat crumble.
- It’s really important to chill the bars before cutting. If they don’t chill first they tend to fall apart while being cut.
- Use rolled oats, not quick-cooking.
Nutrition
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