strawberry-pecan crumble bars

I love any kind of dessert or sweet treat with strawberries in it. When strawberries are in season I make special trips to Whole Foods just to buy their organic strawberries. The Whole Foods I go to (in Hingham, MA) has from the end of May, to end of June these giant, organic sweet strawberries from Driscoll. In my opinion they are the sweetest strawberries ever; known for having the very best color, taste, and texture. Driscoll farmers have one of the best reputations for producing the very best crop of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.. Look for the Driscoll name next time you grocery shop, I bet you'll notice a difference in taste; sweeter, juicier and by far way more appealing.
So, when I'm at Whole Foods I always buy three container of strawberries, two to take home, and one to eat on the way home. With one of the batches of strawberries I made this delicious little dessert treat. These bars taste really, really good with vanilla ice cream on top.




strawberry-pecan crumble bars
recipe from vanillasugarblog.com
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2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 + cup pecans, toasted & finely chopped (I used 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup butter, room temp
1 large egg
3/4 cup strawberry puree (see below)

strawberry puree:
1 large container (bigger than a pint) of fresh strawberries, chopped into ½ inch pieces
2 TB lemon juice
1 TB cornstarch
1/8 ts cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

For the puree, in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat cook strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Stir frequently until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Let it cool for an hour or longer; it will thicken over time.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and pecans, then stir in the butter and egg until mixture is crumbly, like coarse and wet sand.
Put a half the layer of the crumb mixture on the bottom of pan, make sure to press it in good and get all the corners. Recipe by dawn finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Then add the strawberry filling, and then put remaining mixture on top; placing it as chunks or lumps.
Put the mixture on loosely, and evenly, No need to press down on this, we want it thick and airy like a crumb cake topping.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool bars in the pan before slicing. The jam filling is hot, please let it cool.
Makes 12 bars.