Blackberry Crumble Jam Bars with Oat Streusel
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Sweet and incredibly delicious, these blackberry jam bars, or crumble bars, are made even more perfect with an easy oat streusel. Super easy and delicious with a handful of pantry ingredients.
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I mentioned delicious, right? They absolutely fly off the counter when I make them.
Use your favorite jam for these oh-so-perfect dessert cookie bars. Perfect all year long, in every season.
Blackberry Crumble Jam Bars
These crumble jam bars have a sturdy, oatmeal-cookie-like base and a streusel-like topping made from the same dough. In between these sweet and delicious layers is a gooey layer of jam.
We used blackberry jam, because I’m craving all things blackberry this year, but any jam you love would be yummy. I love the contrast of a darker-hued jam; plum, blueberry, black raspberry, or even fig would be beautiful too.
The Jam Bars Crust
The crust is sturdy and oh-so-delicious and is made with the usual:
- Rolled old fashioned oats
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Butter
The Jam Bars Filling
The filling couldn’t be easier. Much like my favorite afternoon tea jam tarts, the filling is simply a fruit jam of your choosing. As I mentioned before, I love a darker-hued jam, but anything works great.
If the jam is tightly gelled, warm in the microwave for a few seconds to make it easier to spread.
What I Love About These Bars
- Um… easy, easy, easy.
- A cookie-like crust that holds up well to cutting.
- Perfect for packable lunches … and yes, picnics too!
- Or making for church potlucks, block parties, office parties… or the friend who needs sweet encouragement.
Streusel Recipes You Also Might Like
- German Cinnamon Apple Streusel Muffins
- Easy Strawberry Crumble Bars
- Irish Apple Crumble Cake
- Rhubarb Muffins with Butter Cinnamon Streusel
- Black Plum Crumb Bars
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Blackberry Crumble Jam Bars with Oat Streusel
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups butter 24 tablespoons/ 3 sticks, diced
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups blackberry jam*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
For the Crust
- Mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, a fork, or two knives, cut cold butter into flour mixture until it has a sandy texture and forms fine crumbs. Stir in the milk and vanilla until crumbs are moistened. Press two-thirds of the crumble into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
Baking
- Remove the crust from the oven and spread the jam over the top. If necessary, warm the jam in the microwave until it is spreadable. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 streusel over the top of the jam layer; bake for another 25-30 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden brown.
Cooling
- Remove the bars from the oven and cool completely before cutting. Because I can be a tad impatient — and my guys will devour them too soon, I like to refrigerate the bars until they become solid enough to cut. But… if you’re like me and can’t wait, sometimes, they’re kind of good warm too. Add some melty vanilla ice cream for an extra special treat. Otherwise, cut into 9 squares when cooled.
Notes
Food Processor:
A food processor makes it easy to cut the butter into the flour mixture. For a more tender crust, use short pulses being careful not to overprocess.Jam:
I’ve baked these bars using blackberry jam, but any jam you prefer can be substituted.Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Made a half recipe last night. I lost my train of thought and put the jam and topping on before I prebaked the bottom layer. Oops. So I cooked for 35 min, covered, and baked 8 min more. Still came out great. Next time more jam maybe (I used about 3/4 cup for half recipe). Loved it.
Hi Kris! I’m so happy you enjoyed the jam bars! I love them too and weirdly, they’ve also been on my mind and I’m planning to bake them this week. Thank you for letting us know how a half recipe worked.
Made this today. I did 1/2 the recipe because it’s just me here but it turned out delicious!
Thank you!!
I have blackberries on my mind right now too! I’m so glad you liked it and that it worked well as a half recipe!
We made this using your strawberry jam and it turned out great!
So glad you liked it!
The recipe says 3 sticks of butterr (12 tablespoons). However three sticks is 24 tablespoons. Do i need to use 3 sticks orr 1 and a half sticks?
Yes, it is 3 sticks of butter — I’ve updated the recipe to be more clear. Thank you so much!
Love these
We were looking for an easy, tasty treat with what we had in the pantry – this was it! We did not have enough jam, so used 3 different flavors, even more fun. Thanks! We will make this again soon.