Another cookout recipe--Strawberry (Peach) Streusel Bar

Strawberry (Peach) Streusel Bars
Best Recipes From American Country Inns and Bed & Breakfasts Copyright 2004

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (10-ounce) jar strawberry jam (raspberry or apricot is also good) I used peach

Streusel:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cold butter
¼ cup sugar

Icing: I didn't use the icing
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

In medium mixing bowl beat butter and sugar with electric mixer or by hand until fluffy. Beat in egg. Add flour gradually until fully incorporated. Press this mixture into bottom of greased 9x13-inch or 10x10-inch baking pan. Spread jam to within ½-inch of the edges. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make streusel by combining flour, butter and sugar with a pastry blender or forks until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over jam and bake 40 to 45 minutes until top is lightly golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

When cool, combine icing ingredients until very smooth and drizzle over bars. Let sit 1 to 2 hours before cutting into bars.

Yields: 24 bars
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I had some peach jam that I wanted to use in something. I made bars similar to this once and for the life of me, I have no idea what happened to the recipe. It was in one of the cookbooks I had before my collection really took off but I'm never been able to find it again. When I saw this, it looked like it might be the same recipe or close to it, but after making it I'm not too sure. I remember liking the other recipe more than I liked this one, although I used strawberry or raspberry jam that time so maybe that was the reason.

These were still pretty good although I thought the crust was a bit thick. I left off the icing because the other recipe didn't have icing and I really didn't feel like making it. I didn't find the bars to overly sweet so the icing would have been fine. I'm really not sure if I missed it or not. I had a lot of leftovers and took them to work and the entire container that included these and two other baked goods disappeared in record time.

This cookbook is filled with wonderful recipes but it has one of the worst indexes. You can't count on it at all to find recipes and the book is organized by state, not by recipes, so it's a bear to find recipes.

I can't wait to get back on track next week. I'm sick of leftovers and repurposed food.

Blast From The Past: Peach Crumble Tart from January 2006. That might be a good one to try about this time of year.

Question of the Day: What's your favorite flavor of jam?