My husband has taken up jam-making.  We now are the people who give jam away to anyone who will hold still for a few minutes.  Even with our aggressive gifting efforts, there’s a need to use jam in other ways.

Martha Stewart provided the basic recipe for almond-fruit bars.  They’re like a fruit crumble in cookie form!  I decided that I prefer the bars without the almonds.  Strawberry is my favorite jam for these bars; you can substitute any jam you like.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg. Mix in the flour mixture a third at a time.

Stir the jam to make it spread easily.  If your jam is difficult to stir, warm it in the microwave for 10-30 seconds.

In the prepared baking dish, press about 1/2 of the dough into the bottom of it.  Spread the jam over the top, leaving about 1/4 inch border so that the jam doesn’t stick to the side of the pan.  Sprinkle the remaining dough over the top.

Bake until top is golden, 25 to 30 minutes (20-25 minutes in a convection oven).  Cool completely in dish. Cut into bars.

Variation

Cherry-almond bars: Mostly as above.  Stir 3/4 cup ground almonds, 1/4 cup honey, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract into the dough after you have added the flour mixture.  Spread cherry jam over the dough.