Bake 52: Raspberry Streusel Bars

I know I still shouldn't be blaming my move for being so unorganized.  I mean, it's almost been two weeks.  But I have developed this nasty reading habit on top of everything else and I can't seem to shake it.  I took a break from reading and not organizing my life to make these bars.  They aren't really my thing since there isn't a speck of chocolate involved and I had to really restrain myself from adding it in some form along the way.  I did try one and they were pretty good, but since I knew Tyler's classmates might enjoy them more, I sent them to school with him today.  They have a buttery, crumbly crust, raspberry (and strawberry in my case) filling and topped with a streusel topping.  He reported back that everyone loved them and a few of them told him how lucky he is (I think it's good for him to hear that from someone besides me).  He said that he had 2 and they were delicious. 

I was being pretty lazy and didn't want to go to store so I just made due with what I had.  I halved the recipe (of course. That so sounds like something I would do) and baked it in an 8x8 pan.  I didn't have any strawberry or raspberry jam so I made some raspberry "jam" (about 1/3 cup frozen raspberries and 1/4 cup sugar, simmer until thick and I didn't worry about the seeds even though the recipe said 'seedless'). I used some pureed frozen strawberries instead of the raspberries and in the topping I used sliced almonds instead of the pecans.  

I did have to stop myself from cutting them and dumping ice cream on them right out of the oven  (that would have been so delicious).  Instead I decided to actually follow some of the recipe and let them cool before cutting.

If this is the kind of dessert that calls to you, I am sure you would love it.  For the recipe you can go to Jen O's blog for the recipe, she was our lovely hostess for the week.  Great pick Jen!