Summer Berry Crumble Bars

Feeling baking deprived, I also made Summer Berry Crumble Bars from the King Arthur Flour's Cookie Companion this morning. David likes them for breakfast...easy to pack for work. Over the 4th of July, my mom and I went to the Raleigh Farmer's Market and came back with a couple quarts of blueberries. They were terrific, nicely plump and sweet. I've been hooked on the blueberries since then. I love the crunchiness of the crust and topping. Who doesn't like streusel topping? I think blackberries or even an apple filling would be yummy. The recipe calls for sunflower seeds but but didn't have any on hand. I am not sure I would add the sunflower seeds even if I had some. Not so sure about the combination of the blueberries with sunflower seeds. The recipe also includes a glaze but skip this also. I think the glaze would make the bars too sweet for my taste and take away from the streusel topping. A warning, do not store them on the counter top or they will get soft. Keep them in the fridge.

Summer Berry Crumble Bars

Crust and Topping

2 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 C brown sugar

1 1/2 C rolled oats

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon or 1/4 tsp ground cardamon

1 C unsalted butter cut into chunks

3/4 C sunflower seeds (optional)

Filling

3 C fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw)

1/4 C light brown sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 tsp cinnamon or 1/4 tsp ground cardamon

3 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

Glaze

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 to 3 tsp water

1 C confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 9 x 13-inch pan

Crust and topping: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Using a mixer or pastry blender, cut int eh butter until the mixture is crumbly. Transfer 2 C of crumbs to a bowl and combine with sunflower seeds if using them. Pat the remaining crumbs into the pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes and remove from the oven.

Filling: While the crust is baking. In a large bowl, mix the berries with the brown sugar, lemon juice, zest, melted butter, cinnamon, and flour. Distribute the filling over the bake crust.

Sprinkle the reserved crumbs mixture over the filling and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and crumbs have browned.

Glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Drizzle the glaze over the bars while they are still warm. Cool completely before cutting.

King Arthur Flour's Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

It has been a busy month at work so I haven't had a lot of time to bake or felt like baking much on the weekends. I had to travel three weeks in row.....Providence (lovely city), Virginia Beach, and South Plainfield, NJ. My trips are typically short, fly or drive in the night before, work the next day and leave for home. These are the worse because you never get time to adjust. No travel in the near term, yeah!!

I love the Levain chocolate chip cookies but finally decided it was time to make the King Arthur Flour's Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from The King Arthur Flour's Cookie Companion. These have the vinegar and corn syrup. I understand the corn syrup which adds a nice chewiness to the cookies but vinegar?? The vinegar actually works as a leavener to give the cookie a little lift. The recipe says to lightly grease the cookie sheet which is a no, no if you want your cookie not to spread. Nope, the cookies did not spread at all so the vinegar does the trick after all. The cookies have a nice chewiness with loads of chocolate (3 whooping cups of chocolate chips) which I think also helps the cookie hold its shape. The cookies are not too sweet either which is a plus. I like the fact that this is a one bowl recipe since you don't have to mix the dry ingredients separately.

So, this is my current order of favorite recipes: Levain, King Arthur's, Mrs. Fields, and Dorie Greenspan.

The Essential Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

3/4 C softened unsalted butter

2/3 C dark brown sugar

2/3 C granulated sugar

2 tbsp light corn syrup

1 tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar

2 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour

3 C semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper/

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, corn syrup, and vinegar, then beat in the eggs. Beat in the vanilla, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips. Drop by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheet. Bake the cookies or 10 minutes, until they're just set; the centers may still look underdone. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a baking rack.

* I baked the cookies at 350F for ~12 minutes with my Chicago Metallic baking sheet.