Jam Bars Recipe | Jam Crumble Bars

Looking for an easy, fuss-free cookie bar recipe? Then you’ve got to try these easy jam bars! You require a handful of ingredients and minimal effort to whip up a batch of this scrumptious and moreish, jam crumble bars!

I love baking all sorts of cookies, crunchy and crispy or soft and chewy, the slice-and-bake kinds or the cut-out kinds. What’s not to love about a batch of freshly baked homemade cookies after all, right? 

Fuss-free jam crumble bars

As much as I love to bake cookies, I have to admit it does take some amount of time and energy. You need to prepare the dough, chill it, roll it out, cut out the shapes, and then finally bake. 

On the contrary, these jam bars or jam squares, call it what you may, are the easiest kind of cookie bar you can whip up.

They are also great for on-the-go breakfast or as a snack. Or as a dessert served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Yum yum!

These yummy bars have a crispy, buttery crust, moist jammy center, and a crumbly, crunchy topping. They are addictive for a reason!

You will be amazed to see how you can bake a batch of these bakery-style jam bars that only need few ingredients and practically no effort 🙂

What you need to make these easy jam bars 

There are 3 components to make crumb bars;

• The crust
• Filling
• Topping

For the crust and crumble topping

The great thing about making any sort of crumble bar is that you only need one dough for the crust and topping. The method of application changes for both and the end product is nothing short of delicious.

For this versatile dough, you will need, 

Flour: regular all-purpose flour. For a healthier touch, you can swap white flour with whole wheat pastry flour. Or a mix of whole wheat pastry flour and almond flour. You can also throw in rolled oats for a touch of healthy. However, these jam bars without oatmeal are pretty great too!

Sugar: I’ve used two kinds of sugar for the recipe, i.e. granulated and brown sugar. White sugar gives these cookie bars the desired crispy and crunchy factor while the brown sugar keeps these bars moist. 

Ground cinnamon: I highly recommend you add some sort of warm spice to the dough as it really elevates the final taste of these jam bars. You can play around with other spices like nutmeg, cardamom, all-spice, etc 

Baking powder

Kosher salt

For the filling

Jam or preserves of choice: I used my homemade Instant Pot strawberry jam for this jam square recipe.

This is my favorite part as you can use various jams like blueberry, raspberry, apricot, mango, lingonberry, blackberry, etc to make a different flavored jam crumble bar.

You can also opt for sugar-free jam or preserves to reduce the sugar content. Overall, these are not really over-the-top sweet.

Few tips to know before you make this recipe

• Line the pan with parchment paper with overhang: Not only does it make cleaning up a breeze but more importantly, it makes it easier to lift the entire thing out of the pan. 
• If the jam is stiff or cold: Transfer the amount of jam required to a microwave-safe bowl and warm it for 20-30 seconds  to make it spreadable.
• Avoid spreading the jam near the edges of the pan: Leave some room around the edges of the crust when you spread the jam. Doing so will ensure that there is less chance of the jam touching the sides of the pan and getting burnt. 
• Press the crust and bake it first: Press the crust really well and bake it. This helps the bars hold together, and they will not fall apart when you try to cut it into squares.

Quick FAQs

Can I double this recipe?

Yes, you can easily double this recipe. Use a 9×13-inch baking pan if you double it. You will definitely want to double this recipe, it is so good! 

Can I make this recipe vegan?

Yes, absolutely! You can swap the butter for vegan butter, unsalted margarine, or coconut oil. 

Can I use fresh strawberries to make strawberry jam bars?

This recipe is adapted from the blueberry crumb bars I shared last year. I thought it would be easy to just substitute the blueberries with chopped strawberries, but I was rather disappointed to see that the recipe didn’t work for fresh strawberries at all.

Basically, the fresh strawberries turn into a dull reddish pink in color on baking and also released a lot of moisture, which affected the texture of these bars. Also, they lacked that intense strawberry flavor. So, I do not recommend adding fresh strawberries here. Though, this recipe works great for other berries. 

If you have a lot of strawberries and really want to use them, you can make a strawberry compote instead and then use that in this recipe. You can find the recipe for the compote in my strawberry fool post. 

It is an extra step but totally worth it!

How to store these jam crumble bars?

Store these bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 to 3 days (only if they last that long :D).
Or store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

Can you freeze these bars ?

You can definitely make these ahead and freeze. Store the bars in an freezer-safe container, separate the bars with layer of parchment paper so that they don’t stick. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature when you are ready to serve. 

 

How to make jam bars – Step by step instructions

{Printable recipe card below instructions}

p.s. I attached pics for steps 1-4 from my blueberry crumb bars post, as the process is the same. 

Step 1: Preheat the oven and prepare the pan

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch square pan, and line with parchment paper with overhang.

Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients

In the bowl of a food processor, add 1 & 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder,  1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Also, add in 1/4 cup each of white and brown sugar. Pulse it a couple of times to mix the dry ingredients.

Step 3: Add butter and process the mixture

Add 1/2 cup of cold, cubed butter, and process until the dough looks coarse and crumbly. If you try to squeeze some dough in your hands, it should clump together.
Alternatively, you can add all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the cubed butter until you have a crumbly dough.

Step 4: Pat the dough into the prepared pan and bake the crust

Reserve 3/4 cup of the dough for the crumble topping. Pat the rest of the dough into the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.

Remove the baking pan after 10 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

Step 5: Spread the jam

Spread the jam all over the baked crust leaving about 1/8 inch space from the edges of the crust.

Step 6: Crumble remaining dough

Crumble the remaining reserved dough over the jam.

Step 7: Bake

Bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown. Transfer the pan to a wire rack,  cool completely before cutting into squares.

Notes

• If you’d like to add oats in these bars: Use 1 cup of all purpose flour and 1 cup of rolled oats. Transfer the crumbly dough prepared in step 3, to a mixing bowl. Add the rolled oats, and work it in gently. Or you can follow the same recipe and just add 1/2 cup of rolled oats to 3/4th of the reserved crumble topping.
• You can also add a few tablespoons of chopped nuts like pecans, walnuts, or coconut flakes, etc to the reserves topping. 

★ If you try this jam bars recipe, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [email protected]. Thanks so much 🙂 

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