What with the Fourth of July just around the corner, and Bastille Day soon after, I was inspired to come up with a red, white, and blue sweet treat that takes advantage of summer’s bounty, is finger-food friendly and perfect for sharing with friends in a picnic or casual party setting.  I hunted through my massive collection of cookbooks and was inspired by a bar recipe from Karen Boyce’s Good to the Grain for it uses rye flour and rolled oats (and I’m a big fan of experimenting with different flours and grains).  Her recipe also uses jam, but I decided to freshen it up by using fresh fruit instead.  Additional tweaks include using light brown sugar vs. dark which I think go better with the summer fruits, reducing the sugar by eliminating the white sugar entirely as well as using fresh fruit vs jam, and reducing the salt.

Red, White, and Blue Fruit Crumble bars (makes 16-18 bars)

Crust:

• 1/2 cup rye flour  (2-1/4 oz, 66 grams)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (1-3/4 oz, 135 g)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar (2-1/4 oz, 62 g)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter (4 oz, 112 g)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg white or 1 egg (beaten)

Fruit Filling:

• 2 cups blueberries (10-1/2 oz, 300 g)…I needed a little more than what was in the one pint container I had, but one pint would be fine)
• 2 cups raspberries (9 oz, 255 g)…1-1/2,  half-pint containers)
• 4-5 white peaches (1-1/4 lbs, 570 g – yielded 2-1/4 cups)

Crumble Topping:

• 1 cup rolled oats (4-1/4 oz, 122 g)
• 3 TBL light brown sugar (1-3/8 oz, 37 g)
• 6 TBL rye flour (1/4 cup plus 2 TBL)(1-1/3 oz, 50 g)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (1-1/4 oz, 32 g)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 6 TBL unsalted butter (3 oz, 85 g)

Preheat oven to 325°F (162°C, Gas Mark 3) and prepare a baking pan by rubbing the bottom and sides with butter. I used a 9″x11″ (23 cm x 28 cm) ceramic dish, but a 9″x9″ (23 cm x 23 cm) ceramic or metal pan would be fine; 9″x13″ (23 cm x 32.5 cm) would be too large.

Prepare the crust:

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low-medium heat and let it cool.

• In a large bowl, add the AP flour, rye flour, light brown sugar, and blend together well with a whisk or fork. If you prefer, you can sift all the ingredients together into the bowl.  Add the cooled, melted butter and vanilla and stir with a rubber or silicone spatula, or wooden spoon, until combined.

• Using your hands, press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.  No need to worry about the sides.  Place in the freezer for 30 minutes (you’ll be making the crumble topping during this time).