This time around for The Secret Recipe Club I was assigned the lovely blog Six Kilos of Pumpkin. It is so hard not to send a message and get to know someone. Instead you have to skim their blog, read older posts and get to know them that way. One thing I did notice was anything she put in the oven was in Celsius temperature. Oh oh! I felt a challenge coming on because I knew I’d have to make several adjustments to whatever recipe I was making. Some of her wording was a little different, like mince must be ground beef. That took me a second to figure out. ;)
I was expecting to find a lot of pumpkin recipes (hence the blog name) but instead I found out she eats gluten free and she keeps her recipes simple. I’m currently trying to be a good girl and if I bake anything it has to be something healthy like granola. I found her recipe for Boysenberry Crumble Bars that was originally adapted from another site that made them 100% gluten free. I skimmed both recipes and saw some changes she had made from the original so her dad could eat them since he didn’t eat gluten free. I would of loved to add coconut to these bars but my boyfriend literally hates coconut! I ended up using fresh strawberries mixed with some peach preserves and extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.
Everything baked up really well, tasted fabulous but after 1 day they were SO MOIST they literally were crumbled up bars. I made sure to convert the oil just right to butter ratio but I’m sure I could of used a little less. I also would of baked it up in a 9 x 9 square pan, then a 9 x 13 pan because it is just too large, IMO. That might be why the bars were so crumbly. Oh well, they made a fabulous topping with plain Greek yogurt. Oh and that almond crumble topping was AMAZING! It was my snack since I had so much leftover of it. ;) Plus my boyfriend liked it and that meant these weren’t going to waste. YAY!
I’d just make the crumble again and use it as granola!
If you would like to be a member of The Secret Recipe Club please click this link here. It really is a blast and it gives you an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone.
Strawberry Crumble Bars
Adapted from Six Kilos of Pumpkin
Ingredients- Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
--------- Fruit Filling
1 1/2 cups of strawberries, halved
3 tablespoons peach preserves (any flavor would work, not necessary though)
--------- Crumble
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cups sliced unsalted and dry toasted almonds
1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract
Direction
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper. Make sure to have a little overhang which will help when removing the bars from the pan and to cut them.
Combine all ingredients from the first section except the oil. Add in the oil a little at a time to get a sandy consistency. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and pat down to make a firm base. Bake for 7 minutes or until golden brown.
In a separate bowl smash the strawberries with the peach preserves. Once the crust has cooled a bit add the fruit topping to the crust. Distribute evenly. The peach preserves made it rather runny and couldn’t be detected after it was baked up. The strawberries were definitely sweeter though!
For the crumble, combine all the ingredients into a small bowl. Add the crumble to the top of the bars evenly. Save extra to enjoy as a snack. The almonds make this crumble!
Before going into the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes, then let rest in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on a cooling rack. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
I haven’t really baked with extra virgin olive oil before but lately I’ve been using it a bit more since I don’t have canola oil. It distributes such a unique and flavorful taste to these bars. It isn’t overly pronounced in the bars and thanks to the dark brown sugar, they are rich and sweet. If only I had some vanilla ice cream to eat with these crumble bars…
Fallon
