pump up the jam

The good: Jim and Pam from The Office (insert sigh here)
The bad: traffic jams
The ugly: toe jam


Blueberry jam definitely falls into the first category. Definitely.

Yeah, I did it. Forget Smucker's--I made my own blueberry jam, and it's darn good.


(bubble, bubble, toil and trouble)

I have a box of gelatin that's been glaring at me every time I open my cabinet, so I needed to find a jam recipe that used gelatin instead of pectin. Find it, I did.

After making the aforementioned jam (and tasting it to make sure it was magnificent)(it was), my next task was finding a fabulous recipe in which to use it. Find it, I did. Although Deb used fresh raspberries in her creation, I felt confident that using my jam instead wouldn't be a problem. I did have to bake them a bit longer, but that was all.


(helloooo, hunk o' buttah!)

These were some scrum-diddly-umptious bars, if I do say so myself (buckets of butter and sugar tend to have that effect...). There was plenty of that magical cinnamon flavor, and it was nicely accented by the sweet blueberry jam and hearty oats. Delightful.

Blueberry Breakfast Bars
(adapted from this recipe)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups oats
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups blueberry jam

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease up the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan. To make the crust and crumble topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter and until loose crumbs form.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and set aside. Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and push the crust into an even layer at the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let the crust cool.
Once the crust has cooled, spread the blueberry jam evenly on top. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly on top of the jam.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.


(have you met Jim and Pam?)

Meanwhile, I hope you're familiar with this site. It's incredible and Wednesday's post was particularly inspired. And inspiring.