Sometimes things actually *do* work out. This is one of those fortunate times. I had bought some raspberries and blueberries (and blackberries, but oops, I ate those) from the Farmers Market on Saturday and wanted to make raspberry bars. I didn’t really have a recipe, so I borrowed from several recipes and hoped that this one would work out. Guess what? It did! They turned out deliciously. Then again, maybe I’m biased. Though, I did bring them to a BBQ and received rave reviews. (Yeah, me!) Further, hooray for trusting my own skills and judgment and just going with it.

I used the crust/bar part of my mom’s Toffee Bar recipe and then made a jam/liquid/preserves filling which I poured over the crust, sprinkled on some unsweetened coconut and then a bit of streusel topping and baked for another 10 min. I didn’t have quite enough raspberries, so I added a pint of blueberries. But basically, you can use whatever berry suits your fancy. Be warned, the smell of simmering berries may force you to have several “tastes” of said mixture. Ahem.

Coming up, more berries and I’ll be in Michigan, so hopefully mom and I will be in the kitchen together. I really miss that.

For the crust:

• 2C Flour (AP)
• 1/2 tsp. salt (or more if you like a somewhat saltier crust)
• 1C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 1C brown sugar
• 1TB vanilla

Berries

As much as you want to make. Two quarts, two pints, whatever (you can always freeze the unused portion OR, put it over waffles or pancakes). Add white sugar accordingly and bring to a nice simmer. You can also add a little lemon zest at this stage.
**Also, you’ll need about a cup of unsweetened shredded coconut. I suppose you can toast this, that would be another nice flavor.**

Streusel:

• 6TB flour
• 3TB sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4C cold, unsalted butter

(cut cold butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles a sandy/pebbly mix. It should hold together if you squeeze bits in between your fingers).

Now then….instructions.

Mix the butter, brown sugar, egg yolk and vanilla together until it’s nice, pale and fluffy, add the flour and salt mixture until a ball of dough forms. Evenly press dough into a 9″x13″ baking dish and bake until crust beings to just turn brown, about 25 min. Keep an eye on it b/c you don’t want it to be too browned. Smooth dollops of the berry mixture over the crust, sprinkle coconut and then add the crumble/streusel and bake again for about 10 more minutes. Voila. You’re done. Enjoy!

This recipe makes about 36 or so tiny squares.