Bake Bake Bake Senora!

Getting back in the swing of things at work has left me absolutely exhausted by the time I get home. D has been super supportive and taken over many of the household duties during the week since I'm half asleep and probably drooling by the time 8PM rolls around. Okay, not really drooling. That'd be gross. But you get the point nonetheless! Now that I've gotten four weeks of school under belt, I'm getting back in action in the kitchen and...

I tried my hand at baking last week!

Shockingly, I enjoyed myself!

Normally in the kitchen, I'm more of a throw-everything-that-looks-good-together-with-no-measuring kind of girl. This gets the job done when it comes to dinner! Howwwwwever, I couldn't really take that route when it came to this little beauty. You're going to love this one! It's chewy, sweet, fruity, and super easy! It helps that I had every ingredient already in my pantry. No shopping and/or stress for this one! And of course, it was a recipe I found while searching around my favorite cooking website, The Pioneer Woman

Here's our cast of characters:

 

Before starting, butter a 9x13 pan, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and set your butter out so it's not super cold when you go to cut it later in the recipe :)

 

You're going to start by throwing all your dry ingredients into a big bowl. 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups oats, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tspn baking powder,  and 1/4 tspn salt. Mix them together a bit once they're all in the bowl. 

 

Now, cut your butter. You'll need to use 1 3/4 sticks of butter.

 

Set your pats of butter in with your dry ingredients you already mixed in your bowl.

 

Now, there are a few ways to do this next step. I tried them all. And found taking off my rings, rolling up my sleeves, and digging my hands in was the easiest way. Messy? Absolutely. But so much easier than a pastry cutter, potato masher (yep, tried that, too), or a fork. The point is-the butter needs to mix in with the dry ingredients until you end up with a crumbly mixture.

 

Put half the crumbly mixture in the bottom of your buttered dish. C'mon now, just flop it on in there.

 

Use your hands (once again) to pat the crumbs into the bottom of the pan flat. You're going to want it pretty nicely packed so the preserves don't seep through.

 

Scoop the preserves over the crust you just created! I used strawberry, but PW has used apricot, as well. I'm pretty sure any preserves that tickles your fancy would be ten kinds of fantastic here.

 

Spread the preserves in an even layer with your hands. Kidding! Use a kitchen utensil of some sort.

 

Sprinkle the rest of your crumb mixture on top of the preserves and gently pat down to make it even.

 

Bake this beauty for about 35 minutes in your preheated oven. Just listen to your nose. You'll know when it's done. Oh, and your eyes. You want the top to be nice and golden brown :)

 

 

Once you're cooled (calm and also collected), cut into bars and shove them all in your mouth dig in!

 

Yum. O.

-L