(Vegan & Gluten Free)
Last summer I discovered the yummiest dessert on the Upper West Side of NYC, Crumb Bars! When we decided to move neighborhoods I realized I was going to have to learn to make them myself. And as a person of little patience or skill, I needed to come up with the simplest of recipes.
Oh and this recipe is VEGAN, GLUTEN FREE and can be made with NO REFINED SUGAR.
Ingredients:
For the base and topping;
- 1 1/2 Cups of Oats
- 1 1/2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
- 1 Cup of Coconut Sugar
- 1 teaspoon of Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
- 1 Cup of Vegan Butter Substitute (I use Earth Balance)
Filling:
- 3 Tablespoons of Cherry Preserves
- 3 Cups of Blackberries
- 1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons of Brown Rice Flour
Directions:
10 Minutes Prep Time, 30 Minutes Baking Time & 20 Minutes Cool Down.
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl make the crumble by adding the oats, all purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and butter. You want to use your hands to make ‘breadcrumbs’. You really need to make sure the butter is really spread out in the mixture forming little clumps. If you feel there is not enough butter add another tablespoon and so on until you get the desired texture. (A little extra butter never hurt anyone!).
3. Use 9 x 9 inch pan to bake the Cherry Berry Crumb Bars. Grease the pan with butter to avoid sticking. You can even line the pan with brown parchment paper so it’s easier to remove from the tin post baking.
4. Once made, add 2/3 of the crumb mixture to the greased pan and set the remaining mixture to one side. If your kitchen is hot, you can even store the remaining crumb mix in the fridge.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until it is golden brown in color.
6. Whilst this part of the mixture is baking, use this time to make the filling. First begin by adding the blackberries and mashing them a little with a fork. Then add the cherry preserves, lemon juice and brown rice flour and mix this all together. You do not want a runny mixture as this will make the crumb bars soggy! If your filling seems to be on the watery side, add some brown rice flour to thicken it up.
7. Now it’s time to pull the base of the crumb bars out of the oven so you can add the prepared filling on the top. You want to spread this evenly. (If you are like me and prefer the crumb to the filling, then you can stay a tiny bit away from the edges!)
8. Once the filling is on top of the base, sprinkle the remaining crumb mix over the yummy fruit filling. Make sure it’s all over and you can hardly see any of the filling once done.
9. Bake this in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
10. Once it looks done, remove the Cherry Berry Crumb Bar from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cooled, cut the bar into squares and try not to gobble them in one sitting!
Ingredient Swaps:
- Brown Rice Flour: Corn Starch
- Coconut Sugar: Cane sugar or Brown sugar
- Cherry Preserve for any other flavors
- Blackberries for any other fresh berries
- Preserves Quantities for 1 Cup of Fresh Berries
- If you love all things spice, then add a teaspoon of cinnamon to give it another dimension of flavor.
Helpful Tips:
I do not recommend using frozen berries, these berries contain a lot of extra water and will make the crumb bars soggy. And as you know from bake off, NOBODY LIKES A SOGGY BOTTOM!
You can never have enough butter, so if either of the crumb bases do not be ‘coming together’ once baking, melt some butter in the microwave for a few seconds and drizzle it all over the mixture in the pan.
If the filling is too runny, thicken it up with some extra brown rice flour.
If you want this to be completely free from refined sugar, then I recommend using fresh berries only. Preserves will usually contain cane sugar.
Other Berry combinations:
All Raspberry
Raspberry, Blueberry & Blackberry
Raspberry & Strawberry
Let me know how yours turn out and how they taste! I look forward to seeing your Cherry Berry Crumb Bars so leave pictures and comments below!
Be sure to check out more from The Unicorn Diet.
As always,
Live with Love,
The Bimbo in Limbo xxxx