ottolenghi berry and oat bars

ottolenghi berry and oat bars

• 7 May 2012

I've been meaning to make these raspberry and oat bars from Ottolenghi - The Cookbook for some time now but life kept getting in the way.



Sunday morning bright and early I made my way into the kitchen. Although I had all the right nuts in my cupboard I couldn't find the pecans anywhere so I used walnuts instead. I also didn't have quite enough raspberry jam so I used some blackberry jam in these bars as well.



It's one of those forgiving recipes where you can use whatever nuts are at hand and whatever jam you have in the cupboard. I really like this French jam and I may have licked the jar clean before washing it. It's such a pretty shape I'm keeping the jar to use again.



As I've been away and was busy last weekend, I've not brought anything into work for a while, so these went with me to work to feed the hungry troops. The recipe can be found below-

Berry and Oat Bars from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
printable recipe
Base
120g all purpose (plain) flour
1/3 tsp baking powder
100g unsalted butter, diced
60g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
80g whole rolled oats

Filling
220g berry jam

Topping
70g flaked almonds
70g walnuts, coarsely chopped
70g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
70g brazil nuts, coarsely chopped
100g unsalted butter
75g caster sugar
40ml milk
1 tsp pure vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 170°C / 350°F. Lightly grease a 20cm / 8in square tin and line it with baking paper.

To make the base, in a large bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder. Add the butter, sugar and salt and rub everything together with your fingers to form crumbs. Mix in the oats then spread the mixture over the bottom of the prepared tin and press down lightly. Bake for 20 minutes or until light brown. Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes, and then spread evenly with the jam. I warmed the jam for 30 seconds in the microwave before spreading it over the base.

To make the topping, place the nuts in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then pour over the nuts and mix together. Pack the nut mixture evenly over the jam and press down before returning to the oven for 30 minutes or until the top has turned golden brown.

Leave the bars to cool on a wire rack, then remove from the tin. I cooled the slice in the fridge for 1 hour before cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends. I was busy all weekend preparing images from a shopshoot and I'll be back again on Wednesday to share them with you.


So until then,


Jillian