After realizing that there were several cookbooks on the shelf that haven't been used in awhile, I have decided to make one new recipe a week. This weeks recipe comes from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking, a beautifully photographed cookbook that could easily pass for a coffee table book.
Black Cherry-Oatmeal Crunch Squares
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
10 oz of black cherry jam (I used Polaners All-Fruit)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon until blended. Using a pastry blender cut in the butter until the mixture forms large, coarse crumbs about the size of a pea. Remove 2 cups of the crumb mixture and set aside. Press the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the prepared pan.
Drop teaspoons of the jam evenly over the crust, then spread it gently with the back of the spoon to cover the crust. If a few spaces remain, they will be covered by the jam as it melts during baking. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the jam layer.
Bake until the top is lightly browned, 50-55 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool until firm, about 2 hours. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Please forgive the quality of this photo, but as you can see photography wasn't on my mind at the time.
