Plum Crumble Bars

These were SOOOOOOO good. I made them for the team after their first exhibition game. The first game it's always hard to gauge when it is appropriate to hand out treats. So I waited a little to long so only about half the team got some. I brought 24. The team has maybe 12 players, 2 coaches, and a couple of managers and such. So maybe 20 people max. All but 2 were gone between about 6-7 players and wives. So they were epic.

I had been seeing plums everywhere in the grocery stores here. When I saw this recipe for plum crumble bars on one of my favorite websites (glutenfreeonashoestring.com) I had to make them. They tasted like little apple pies, but much more portable. They were dairy free because I found some vegetable shortening here to substitute for the butter (not healthy for you but at least Levi wouldn't get a stomach ache). I doubled the recipe and ended up having too much of the crumble topping. But I just froze it and will use it for a quick dessert some other time.

Here is the epic recipe:

SHORTBREAD PLUM CRUMBLE BARS
2 cups + 1/4 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 tsp xanthan gum (I use guar gum. same result, but way cheaper)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
16 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature (or shortening for dairy free)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (in Europe, they only have granulated brown sugar but the end result is the same)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pound plums (ripe, but not very soft), rinsed and blotted dry
1 tsp cornstarch

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square pan with crisscrossed sheets of unbleached parchment paper, each overhanging two opposite sides. (This helps you take it out at the end with no sticking and no mess.) Set the pan aside.
2. In a large bowl, place 2 cups flour, the xanthan gum, sugar and salt, and whisk to combine well. Add the butter, and mix to combine. The mixture should come together as a soft dough. Remove about 3/4 cup (150g) of the dough and transfer it to a medium-size bowl. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and the remaining 1/4 cup (35g) flour to the reserved dough, and mix to combine. This is the crumble topping. Place the bowl of crumble topping in the freezer to chill.
3. Scrape the remaining soft shortbread dough into the prepared square pan, and press into an even layer with well-floured hands. Set the pan aside.
4. Slice each of the plums in half, then remove and discard the pits. With a really sharp knife, carefully slice the plums into wedges, each about 1/4-inch wide, being careful not to bruise or crush the fruit. Blot the plum slices with paper towels to remove extra juice on the surface. Lay the plum slices on top of the shortbread in 4 parallel rows, from one side of the pan to the other, overlapping them slightly in each row. Sprinkle the plums evenly with the cornstarch.
5. Remove the crumble topping from the freezer and sprinkle it in an even layer on top of the plums. Press down on the topping gently but firmly.
6. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is uniformly light brown in color and seems set. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely (place in the freezer to speed the process). Carefully remove the bars from the pan by the overhung parchment paper. With a very sharp knife, slice into 16 equal pieces. The bars will be moist and will not set up rock hard because of the moisture in the plums, but will hold together when handled carefully.
7. Serve chilled or at room temperature. I preferred room temperature because they are easier to bite into. Freeze any leftovers.

I followed this recipe almost exactly. It worked out really well but the set-up is fairly time-consuming. Pitting, slicing, and placing all the plum slices along with the rest of the pre-baking steps take about an hour. Then 45 minutes of baking. So make this well ahead of when you want to serve them. I bet you could use peaches or apples with this and it would also be totally amazing. Hope you like it!

Maura