Edible Gardening

“Any-Combo” Jam Bars

By Sabina Säfsten

While thumbprints and Linzer cookies are holiday classics, I actually much prefer bar cookies when feeding a crowd. They come together quickly and I don’t need to rotate cookie sheets and don’t have to make them in batches. These bars have developed over time into my favorite jam-bars and, as a bonus, they are very versatile.

The recipe looks long because I’ve integrated important information that traditionally might be split out as “tips” or some such; these bars tend to go well when the tips are used so I just folded them into the recipe. If that’s not your speed, a shorter version of the recipe is at the end of the article. The “just give me the address, Grandpa, I have GPS on my phone” people can jump there.

Why are they called “Any-Combo” Jam Bars?

Short answer is, because I’m bad at naming things creatively. This is not only a recent problem. My non-human best friends as a young kid were a large stuffed duck named Duck, a rubbery plastic turtle named Turtle, a small stuffed tiger named Tiger, and a blanket with animals on it that was, you guessed it, Animal Blanket. (Eventually, I named a tiny stuffed cow — the kind that came attached to scrunchies in the ‘90s — “Bobby,” which sounds like a major leap forward until you realize my brother went by Bobby at the time. Anyway. I got that far.) That’s why these are “Any-Combo” Jam Bars, because they can be done with any flavor combination and they use jam. Ta-da!

Flavor tips:

I love using a sweet-savory jam flavor (plum–vanilla–bay leaf jam is my go-to). However, just about any flavor of jam will work. I like to spice the shortbread crust with a complimentary flavor and adjust the baking chips as necessary.

My favorite combination is plum-vanilla-bay leaf jam, semi-sweet or 60% dark chocolate baking chips, double-strength vanilla extract, and ground white pepper in the shortbread. More flavor suggestions are listed at the end of the recipe.

Recipe: Any-Combo Jam Bars

Recipe adapted from “Chocolate Chip and Raspberry Bars” from Best-Loved Cookies, which is a great cookie-book. Amazon has it, but your local second-hand bookshop likely does, too.

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp – ½ tsp ground spice of your choice (I use black pepper for the photos)

½ tsp salt

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract (or complementary extract flavor)

¾ – 1 cup preserves (jam or preserves, not jelly)

1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, or other baking chips

Instructions

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 400*F. Use butter (or shortening) and flour to grease your 13×9 baking pan (I like to use a glass pan for this recipe, but a coated pan works well, too). Pam non-stick cooking spray for baking — the kind made with flour in it — also works.

Step 2:

In one large bowl, thoroughly whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground spice(s). Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like large breadcrumbs. The idea here is to coat little pockets of dry ingredients in the butter and have the dough blend together evenly.

Step 3:

If you haven’t yet, beat the egg. I use a fork in a cereal bowl or mug.

Step 4:

Add the egg, milk, and extract to the dry ingredient/butter mixture. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix the dough until it is well-blended. It will be VERY soft and sticky; that is a good thing for these cookies. Do not add extra flour!

Step 5:

Scoop out about ½ cup of mixture for the topping. You won’t have much left — it may seem like you won’t have enough dough to cover the 13×9, but you will.

Step 6:

Spread the remaining dough on the bottom of the 13×9 pan as evenly as you can. Thin spots will likely burn, so I wash my hands very well and then dab a drop or two of water on my fingertips, just so they are barely damp. Then I gently push the dough to the edges of the pan and fill in any holes. This might take a minute on your first round, but it’s totally worth it and it gets faster!

Step 7:

Whip the preserves in a small bowl with a fork, incorporating a little air to loosen them up, for ease of spreading. Then carefully spread the loose preserves on the dough, making sure to get all the way to the edge of the dough. Note: I try to stay as close to ¾ cup as I can but it’s okay to go a little over; you don’t want any gaps in the jam but you also don’t want soggy cookies.

Step 8:

Sprinkle baking chips evenly over the jam. Don’t forget the edge pieces! Drop reserved dough by ½ teaspoonfuls over the bars. I do actually use a measuring spoon here; it makes it easier to get small, even portions of the soft dough. It’s important not only that it cooks evenly but that you get every flavor in each cookie square.

Step 9:

Bake until the dough is golden-brown, about 25 minutes. Then cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

More flavor suggestions:

—Strawberry jam, almond extract, milk and white chocolate, cardamom

—Raspberry jam, vanilla extract, dark chocolate and toasted pecans, chipotle pepper (¼ tsp)

—Apricot jam, vanilla extract or orange blossom water, white chocolate and pistachios, cardamom

—Apricot-pineapple jam, rum extract, white chocolate and coconut flakes, allspice

—Cherry preserves, brandy extract, extra-dark chocolate; coriander, cardamom and clove (a few dashes of each)

—Apple preserves, maple flavor, cinnamon baking chips, apple pie spice

—Lemon thyme marmalade, vanilla extract, blanched almonds, fresh-ground green peppercorns (drizzle powdered sugar glaze so they don’t feel dry)

—Peach jam, almond extract, toffee chips, pumpkin pie spice

Recipe: Any-Combo Jam Bars (Short Version)