Jammy Raspberry Crumble Bars

Ingredients

• 1 large egg, beaten
• 250g plain flour
• 75g rolled oats
• 80g caster sugar
• 60g soft brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 200g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 50g ground almond
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 300g raspberry jam
• 150g fresh raspberries
• 1 tsp lemon zest

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C conventional). Line a 23x33cm traybake tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on two sides so you can lift the bars out cleanly later.
2. Tip the flour, oats, ground almonds, baking powder, the full ½ tsp salt, caster sugar and soft brown sugar into a large bowl and whisk briefly to combine — the salt is what stops these tasting one-note sweet, so don't skimp. Add the cold cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips for 3–4 minutes, until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs with a few pea-sized buttery flecks still visible. Those flecks are what give the crumble its rubble texture — over-rub it and you'll get sand, not rubble.
3. Pour in the beaten egg and stir with a fork, then bring it together with your hands into a slightly sticky, clumpy dough. Press two-thirds firmly and evenly into the lined tin, working it into the corners with the back of a spoon to form a compact base — any gaps now mean jam leaking through later.
4. Warm the raspberry jam in a small saucepan over a low heat for 1–2 minutes (or 20 seconds in the microwave) until loose and spoonable. Stir in the lemon zest and a small squeeze of lemon juice from the zested fruit — the acid cuts through the sugar and lets the raspberry actually taste of raspberry. Taste the jam: it should be sweet-sharp, not cloying. Adjust with another squeeze if it needs lifting.
5. Scatter the fresh raspberries over the base, then spoon the warm jam on top and spread to a thick, glossy, even layer right to the edges. Crumble the reserved dough over the jam in generous clumps, leaving plenty of larger flakes for texture. Don't compact it — you want craggy peaks that catch and go deep gold. Press lightly in just a few spots so the topping anchors during baking.
6. Bake for 32–35 minutes until the crumble is deeply golden, firm at the edges, and you can see the jam bubbling up in ruby pools through the gaps. The centre should be set but still soft when you nudge the tin — it firms up dramatically as it cools.
7. Cool completely in the tin — at least 1½ hours, no shortcuts — so the jam sets to a sliceable, sticky layer. Cut too early and you get raspberry lava and a collapsed base.
8. Lift out using the paper overhang, cut into 12 bars with a sharp knife, and dust generously with icing sugar just before serving. Serve each bar with a spoonful of thick double cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside if you fancy it.