I am a book club lady. I am in two, and each has been meeting for well over 20 years. Members who had young kids when we first got together have included us in the childrens’ weddings. And we’ve travelled together. One sweet fried invited us all to her family home in Montana a few summers ago and it was an amazing trip. We waded in the river, soaked in a hot spring, visited Yellowstone, reveled in the beautiful big sky and just had a great time together. One day, we went to nearby Livingston to wander the charming streets and our host made sure to stop by a local bakery to introduce us to their famous huckleberry bars. But there was only one left and we stood on the sidewalk, ten grown women, carefully picking off one bite each. They were absolutely delicious and so memorable, even that one bite. Fortunately, our hosted had also arranged fantastic dinner at the restaurant run by the bakery owners at which she presented us each with a signed copy of their New Frontier Cookbook: Recipes from Montana’s Mustang Kitchen as the perfect souvenir. When I got home and had a chance to read through it, I found the Huckleberry Bar recipe. I ordered a jar of huckleberry jam online and made the bars for our Christmas gathering and everyone immediately remembered them and loved them. I love doing special memory things like that. But here’s the truth, these bars are just so good, special memory or special jam aside, that they’ve become a regular for me.
If huckleberry jam is readily available where you live, I highly recommend you give it a try for this recipe. It is not here in Memphis, so I generally substitute blueberry jam or seedless blackberry. I love the sort of dusky depth of the purple-y jams with the brown sugar and oats. But any jam will work from peach to strawberry or something homemade. Use quick rolled oat rather than old fashioned here. I usually cut these into generous squares and serve them as a sweet snack, though I have served a large piece with ice cream for a dessert. You could also cut these into narrow slices in the granola bar vein. They are sweet but not cloying and could also work as an on-the-go breakfast bar.
Ingredients
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups quick rolled oats
1 ¼ cup jam
Directions
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil or parchment, leaving an overhang to lift out the bars. Spray with cooking spray.
- Put the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) and beat until smooth, creamy and well combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt in three additions, beating to combine and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the oats and beat just until they are well distributed in the mixture and you have a nice crumbly mix. Dump ¾ of the mixture into the prepared pan and press into a tight, even layer. Dollop the jam over the crust and spread to completely cover the surface – I use an offset spatula. Try to avoid a thicker layer around the edges. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the top of the bars with a little bit of jam poking out here and there. Press it lightly to adhere. Bake for 13 – 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Coo completely, then cut into squares or bars.
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