These are the perfect last minute cookies. You know, your child announces that cookies are needed at school in the morning, or you need something for an unexpected event. They are bar cookies, always my favorite because they don’t require dropping, rolling, or shaping. And they use ingredients you commonly have in the house – nothing exotic here. In fact, one of the great things about these cookies is that they can use any jam you happen to have around. The first time I made them for an unexpected potluck, I used bits of leftover jam – a few spoons of blueberry, some leftover currant jam, and even the rest of a jar of red wine jelly opened for use as a glaze on chicken. The mix worked out great – generic jam.
Jam Bars
¾ cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1¾ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups rolled oats (old fashioned oatmeal will work)
1 cup jam
Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray.
Beat butter and sugar together thoroughly. In a separate bowl, stir flour, soda, and salt together. Stir into butter mixture. Stir in oats, blending thoroughly. Melt jam slightly in microwave (I didn’t do this once, and it didn’t spread well enough). Press half of flour mixture firmly into prepared baking pan. Spoon jam evenly over bottom crust. Evenly sprinkle remaining flour mixture over jam and press down slightly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Cool for about 10 minutes, and cut into bars. Remove from pan while still warm. Makes 3 dozen cookies at about 3.7 grams of fat/cookie.
Tagged: cookies, potluck
