Cherry Crumble Bars

I wanted to make a cheery sourdough bar for  Ben, so I adapted the bar part of my Fudgy Cookie Bars.

Ingredients:

• 312 gr (2.5 cups or 10.625 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 113 gr (1/ cup, aka 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small dices
  
• 113 gr (4 ounces) sourdough starter (or 2 ounces of water + 2 ounces flour)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 250 gr (1.25 cups) granulated sugar
• 1  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/3 cups cherry preserves
• 1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
• 1/4 cup almond slivers
  

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
   (Use parchment paper not a Silpat line for easier removal and cutting.)
   
2. In a large bowl add flour, salt, baking, and sugars and mix well.
   (I used my food processor for mixing the dry ingredients)
3. Add the butter chunks and vanilla, and whisk or whirr to create a slightly sandy mix.
4. Fold the wet ingredients into flour mixture until combined.
   (I moved everything into a large bowl, and stirred this together with a sturdy spatula.)
   
5. Press 3/4 of the shortbread into pan, leveling and spreading to edges of pan. Reserve the rest of the shortbread for the streusel. The shortbread will puff up a bit when baked.
   
6. Top the shortbread by spreading the cherry preserves to the edge 
   
7. Sprinkle the dried apricots on on top
8. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on top
   
9. Drop little clumps of the remaining cookie shortbread over the pan.
   
10. Bake for 28-30 minutes until the streusel bits have some color.
    
11. Let the pan cool on wire rack, then remove using the parchment and cut into small pieces when cooled.
    

 

Carole's Notes:

We liked this!  The bars are very rich - a tender cookie shortbread layer, a cherry layer, and a crunchy alnond streusel topping. 

I cut these into 24 bars, since they are very rich.

The recipe is adapted from my Fudgy Cookie Bars and https://www.smuckers.com/recipes/desserts/chewy-cherry-bars