Pear, blackberry and walnut crumble bars
Feel free to ditch fresh blackberries for frozen in these delicious bars, perfect for brekkie on the go or as an afternoon treat. Using wholemeal flour gives them a fibre boost and adds to the overall nutty flavour.
1 HOUR 30 MINUTES + CHILLING | MAKES 12 | EASY
FILLING
unsalted butter 100g, chilled and cubed, plus extra for the tin
pear 1 large ripe, peeled, cored and roughly chopped into 1cm chunks
fresh blackberries 175g
runny honey 1 tbsp
lemon 1/2, zested, plus 1 tbsp of juice
vanilla extract 1 tsp
BASE
plain wholemeal flour 100g
soft light brown sugar 50g
ground almonds 30g
ground cinnamon ¼ tsp
ground ginger ¼ tsp
CRUMBLE
unsalted butter 50g, chilled and cubed
plain wholemeal flour 40g
soft light brown sugar 30g
walnuts 60g, roughly chopped
oats 20g
ground cinnamon ½ tsp
ground ginger ½ tsp
1 Butter and line a 20cm square cake tin.
2 Put the pear, blackberries, honey, lemon juice and zest, vanilla extract and 30ml of water in a medium pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10-12 minutes, mashing with a fork every so often, until the pears are soft but still have some shape and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
3 For the base, put the 100g of butter, plus the flour, sugar, almonds and spices in a food processor. Pulse until there are no patches of dry ingredients and the mixture has just started to come together. Press the mixture into the base of the tin until you get an even layer. Prick all over with a fork then transfer to the fridge for 15 minutes.
4 Meanwhile, make the crumble by putting the butter and flour in the food processor and pulsing briefly until you have a mixture that resembles very rough breadcrumbs. Add the remaining crumble ingredients and pulse until everything is combined but still lumpy – you want there to be some bigger chunks. Chill until needed.
5 Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Once you have finished chilling the base, bake for 20 minutes then leave to cool for 5 minutes. Spoon the jam over the base, carefully spreading with the back of the spoon, and scatter over the crumble. Return to the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes until cooked through. Leave to cool completely in the tin until firm, then cut into 12 bars and serve.
PER BAR 237 kcals | fat 15.5G saturates 7.1G | carbs 19.3G | sugars 10.5G fibre 2.7G | protein 3.4G | salt 0G