Chunky Jam Bars.

My favourite time to bake is at night. Usually the night before I have a day off. (The downside being that obviously this is not ideal time for photographs, so I usually wait until the next morning to do that.) It helps relax me, get me into a different kind of mood.

Last night at dinner, my mom was going through old Kraft Family magazines looking for a macaroni salad recipe (hasn't been found yet) and she came across this recipe. "Hey Beth, this sounds like your kind of recipe!" I asked her to read me the name, and knew right away I'd make it, especially also because my dad adores anything with jam in it.

Kraft Family magazine has two different versions as far as I can tell. They have the version for people who I'm assuming take their kids to soccer practice (or whatever) every day in the van and don't have time to make stuff so they just buy a bunch of Kraft products, throw them together and call it dinner. Then there is the version my family gets, the one that actually requires ingredients such as flour, baking powder, chocolate, things that you actually have to measure out in order to get the resulting recipe.

This recipe was originally called Chunky Chocolate Jam Bars. However there is not enough chocolate involved in my opinion for them to properly be called that. So I have renamed them Chunky Jam Bars. Here's the lovely recipe:



Chunky Jam Bars adapted from Kraft Family Magazine

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (I used dark, yum.)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I used walnuts)
5 ounces semi sweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
12 ounces raspberry jam (I used half raspberry, half strawberry)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles large crumbs. Add oats, coconut, and pecans (or whatever nuts).

Press half of this mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan and sprinkle with the chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) and then spoon the jam over, evenly. Then sprinkle the remaining crumbles on top.

Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the jam around the edges is bubbling lightly and the crumbs take on a slightly more golden colour. Cool completely on a wire rack, and cut into squares.