Mixed berry and walnut crumble bars
Alcoholic beverages
These soft, berry-filled bars are topped with a not-too-sweet crumble of oats, walnuts, and flaky coconut. The crumble is both a press-in crust and a topping, so the preparation is simple. They’re inspired by Karen Demasco’s Back-to-School Raspberry Granola Bars in The Craft of Baking. As much as I like her version, I wanted to swap the jam filling for fresh berries. However, I knew I’d run the risk of a runny filling. As a workaround, I turned to Cathy Barrow’s (aka mrswheelbarrow's) ingenious technique published in the NYTimes to thicken strawberry jam. She uses kiwi, which is full of natural pectin and unobtrusive in flavor. The extra step of cooking the berries seemed way too fussy for a crumble bar, so I peeled and grated the kiwi before adding it to my berries, similar to adding grated apple to thicken fruit pie or pastry. It worked a charm: the berry filling was juicy and perfectly set, without any of the gumminess that comes from cornstarch or flour. From there, I tinkered with the recipe to suit my taste. The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made year-round with any combination of fresh or frozen berries, but I’m partial to the combination of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
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