summer fruits

Summer fruits. At times my kitchen has been abundant to overflowing with them these last couple of weeks. I am always on the look out for a recipe that will help diminish my fruit stash and make me want to bake more. This recipe was discovered at a cute food blog "Cookie Pie" , and was originally called The Blueberry Crumble Bar.Note that ANY fruit combination can be used in this recipe and not just blueberries. The fruit pictured above has peaches, Italian plums and rainier cherries in it and it was an amazing mouthful - yum!

Fruit Crumb Bars
Makes 24

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. plus a pinch of salt
16 Tbsp. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
4 cups fresh fruit
1 TBS vanilla
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang over 2 sides. Mist foil with cooking spray.

2. In a food processor, pulse together 1 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the butter pieces and pulse again until mixture resembles wet sand. Pulse in egg, just to blend. The dough will be crumbly. Pat half into the baking pan.

3. In a bowl, stir the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and pinch of salt. Fold in the fruit and vanilla. Pour the fruit mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the reserved dough over the berries. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Let cool on a wire rack until room temperature, then cover and chill for at least 1 hour before lifting out and cutting into bars.

Note: These keep beautifully in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 days. You can give them a little toast in the toaster oven to crisp them up again. They're also great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I didn't try it but I bet they'd freeze well, too.