Dessert

Brown Butter Swedish Oat Crisps (Havreflarn)

March 21, 2020 by Kristi 4 Comments

Most oatmeal cookies are a hearty affair, craggy and thick, chock full of extras such as dried fruit, chocolate or butterscotch chips. While there is nothing wrong with your standard oatmeal cookie, let me introduce you to something entirely different….the Swedish Oat Crisp. It is like no other oatmeal cookie you’ve had before. Light and crispy and nearly see-through thin, these Brown Butter Swedish Oat Crisps are a very Scandinavian take on the oatmeal cookie. And thankfully, they are also an incredibly easy afternoon baking project that comes together in less than an hour and makes an ideal accompaniment to your afternoon cup of coffee.

Brown Butter for Rich, Nutty Flavor

My recipe for Swedish Oat Crisps is pretty straightforward but with one little extra step: browning the butter. Brown butter is quite simply butter that is melted in a skillet on the stove until it smells nutty and turns golden brown in color. It is easy to make and adds toasty, caramel notes to baked goods. If you’ve never baked with brown butter before you are in for a treat. If you enjoy the rich, nutty flavor it brings to these Swedish Oat Crisps, try it in my recipe for Krumkake or this delicious Simple Brown Butter Carrot Cake).

The Best Way to Melt and Drizzle Chocolate

I tried several methods for both melting the chocolate and drizzling it over the cookies. I achieved the best results with microwaving semi-sweet chocolate chips at 50% power for one minute at a time, stirring between each interval. In my microwave, it took about three minutes to melt one cup of chocolate.

As far as drizzling goes, I tried using a fork (not very easy to control), but found that it was much easier to place the warm melted chocolate in a quart-sized ziploc freezer bag and snip a tiny hole in the corner. This creates a makeshift pastry bag that produces a nice, even zig zag drizzle every time. Better Homes and Gardens magazine has a great article about melting, dipping and drizzling chocolate here if you are interested in learning more.

I hope you give these Swedish Oat Crisps a try! They are a perfect afternoon fika treat…light, crispy and a little bit chocolate-y. Just right for coffee. Let me know how it goes in the comments below!

Brown Butter Swedish Oat Crisps (Havreflarn)

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A light and crispy oatmeal cookie drizzled with chocolate. Perfect to go with that afternoon cup of coffee!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 24 cookies 1x
Category: fika
Method: baking
Cuisine: Swedish, Nordic

Scale

Ingredients

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ¼ cups quick rolled oats (or old-fashioned oats pulsed briefly in a food processor)

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine salt

1 large egg

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place butter in a medium skillet (preferably not nonstick or cast iron so that you can more easily see the color change) and heat over medium low heat, swirling the pan frequently. Once the butter has melted, continue to cook, swirling the pan frequently, until the butter has a nutty aroma and is golden brown in color. Don’t walk away from the stove! Brown butter can go from perfect to burnt in a matter of seconds. Immediately transfer brown butter to a bowl to cool.
Whisk oats, flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Combine egg, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until sugar is dissoved and mixture is frothy. Add brown butter and whisk until everything has just come together. Add dry mixture and stir to combine.
Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of batter onto prepared cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie (they will spread considerably). Bake 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are set and the edges are golden brown. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter.
Drizzle cookies attractively with warm melted chocolate. Allow to dry before serving.

Keywords: oatmeal, cookie, crisps, havreflarn, chocolate, fika

Scandinavian Almond Tartlets (Sandbakkels in Norwegian or Mandelmusslor in Swedish)

March 6, 2020 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Scandinavian Almond Tarts (Sandbakkels in Norwegian or Madelmusslor in Swedish)

If you are of Scandinavian heritage, perhaps someone in your family owns a box of these cute little tart pans.

Many Scandinavian Americans use them to make these sweet almond tartlets known as Mandelmusslor in Swedish or Sandbakkels in Norwegian, usually during the Christmas season. I also have a friend who claims that she made these into Christmas ornaments! To each her own.

Scandinavian Almond Tartlets (Sandbakkels in Norwegian or Madelmusslor in Swedish)

These almond tartlets are one of those cookies that really deserves a more year-round presence. Easy to make with just the right amount of almond flavor, these almond tartlets not only delicious, they are exceptionally versatile. You can serve them plain, perhaps with a cup of coffee. Or fill them with a myriad of sweet things such as jam, fruit compote (strawberry rhubarb is heavenly!), fresh fruit, lemon curd, pastry cream, whipped cream…..you get the idea.

I know they look kind of fussy and complicated, but the process for making these little Scandinavian Almond Tartlets is really simple. Just press the dough evenly into each tart pan and bake. Done! And for your efforts you are rewarded with these intricate, stunning little cookies that double as mini pastry tarts. And did I mention that they freeze nicely? Whether they are served plain on the afternoon fika tray or filled and served for dessert, it’s great to have a batch of these tartlets ready and waiting in the freezer.

I’ve got a few thoughts for ensuring Scandinavian Almond Tartlet success each and every time:

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours prior to working with it. Not only does this make the dough easier to press into the tart pans, it also gives the final product a more uniform surface.
Don’t bother greasing the tart pans. I used to do this and it was a big extra step that I didn’t enjoy. When I was developing this recipe for the blog, I tried buttering the pans, using a baking spray (like Pam for Baking) and leaving them alone. All the tarts came out of the pan with the same relative ease. Don’t waste time on this extra step.
Press the dough into the tart pans thinly and evenly. That said, don’t drive yourself crazy trying to get them REALLY thin. I promise they will be tasty whether they are thin or a little on the thicker side. My kids, in fact, prefer them a little thicker. And another bonus…they don’t break as easily.

Once you are done pressing, Finish off the top edge of the tart with your fingers. Just make sure the edge is even with the top of the tart pan for an attractive final product.
Once the tarts are baked and have cooled slightly, gently release them from the tart pans. This might take a little practice, but they should release pretty easily with a little wiggling and help from your fingers.

I hope you give these Scandinavian Almond Tartlets a try, and don’t wait for Christmas! They are a year-round cookie if there ever was one. Let me know how they turn out in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

Scandinavian Almond Tartlets (Sandbakkels in Norwegian or Mandelmusslor in Swedish)

A crisp, buttery, almond flavored tartlet that is delicious plain or filled with something sweet!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12-15 minutes
Total Time: 2 Hours
Yield: 25-30 tartlets
Category: baking, fika
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian, Swedish, Norwegian

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 cup blanched, slivered almonds, finely ground in a food processor

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

Special Equipment Needed:

Scandinavian tart pans

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

2. Add the egg, followed by the ground almonds, salt and almond extract. Mix until incorporated.

3. Add the flour and mix on low until just combined.

4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and knead the dough gently with your hands inside the bowl for a minute or two until it all comes together into a cohesive whole. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a large sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly and chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and have 25 or so tart pans at the ready. Remove chilled dough from the refrigerator and tear off a piece that is approximately the size of a walnut. Pat the small piece of dough into the tart pan using your thumbs and fingers. The dough should be uniformly 1/16th inch to an 1/8th inch thick across the surface of the tart pan. Create a nice even edge at the top of the pan.

6. Place 8-10 filled tart pans on a rimmed baking sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper and slide them in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until they are light golden brown in color.

7. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow tart shells to cool before handling. Once they are cool enough to touch, tip them upside down and remove the tart shell from the pan. This may require a little help from your fingers or by tapping and/or wiggling the pan a little to loosen the tart shell from the sides. This may take a little practice. Let the tart shells cool upside down on a wire baking rack. Repeat with remaining tart pans, baking 8-10 on a baking sheet at a time. Fill (or don’t fill) as desired.

Notes

These tart shells freeze beautifully. Put any tart shells that you are not immediately eating or filling in a freezer bag and consume at your leisure.

Keywords: almond, tart, cookies, fika, Christmas, holiday

Nordic Lemon Wafers

February 29, 2020 by Kristi Leave a Comment

This time of year calls for lemon. Not only is citrus in season, lemons have a way of bringing a little sunshine to these late winter days and letting our tastebuds know that spring is just around the corner.

Buttery and bursting with lemon flavor, these cheerful Nordic Lemon Wafers are the perfect fika treat to brighten any afternoon. I love a good lemon treat now and then (especially as February gives way to March) and thought it was time to include one here on the blog. I wasn’t sure if they were particularly Nordic, but I found a recipe for Lemon Wafers in Beatrice Ojakangas’s brilliant The Great Scandinavian Baking Book which was proof enough to me that lemon cookies are indeed a Scandinavian thing.

These Nordic Lemon Wafers are a delight. Not only are they easy to make, they are everything a lemon cookie should be…buttery and tender with just the right amount of lemon flavor and covered in a light cream cheese glaze to finish things off just right.

Lemon Cookie Tips and Tricks

I have just a few thoughts for ensuring lemon cookie success every time:

Use a high-quality, all-natural lemon extract for big lemon flavor. It can be difficult to coax enough lemon flavor from juice and lemon zest alone. Lemon extract packs a serious lemon punch which is just what this cookie calls for.
Chill the dough prior to shaping. The dough will be much easier to work with if it’s been in the refrigerator for an hour or so prior to working with it.
Roll and flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass covered in parchment paper. Several of the recipes I tried called for rolling the dough out and then using a cookie cutter to create circles. This method requires dusting your rolling surface, pin and the dough with a good amount of flour to prevent the dough from sticking. When I tried this, I ended up with many misshapen circles after attempting to pry them off of my kitchen counter with a thin spatula. Rolling the dough between your hands into a ball and then flattening the ball with the bottom of a parchment covered glass is the way to go. Not only does this method require no additional flour (resulting in a more tender cookie), it also creates perfect circles every time.

Don’t overbake. There is something about lemon cookies and browning that that just doesn’t go together. Keep them light in color for the best flavor.

I hope you bake a batch of these sunshine-y Nordic Lemon Wafers sometime soon. They are likely to become a new fika favorite!

Nordic Lemon Wafers

The perfect lemon cookie for afternoon fika…buttery and tender with just the right amount of lemon flavor and covered in a light cream cheese glaze to finish things off just right.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 1 hour + 1 hour chilling time
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Yield: 40 cookies
Category: fika
Method: baking
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon fine salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons freshly sqeezed lemon juice

1 large egg yolk

1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon softened cream cheese

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Instructions

Whisk flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add lemon juice, egg yolk and lemon extract and mix until fully combined. Reduce speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients until dough just comes together.
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and press into a 6 inch disk. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove dough round from the fridge. Working with about a teaspoon of dough at a time, roll dough into a ball between your hands and transfer to the baking sheet, leaving an inch and a half between each cookie. Flatten each ball with the back of a glass covered in parchment paper (to prevent sticking) until you have a disk that is about ¼ inch thick. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are firm and just beginning to brown on the edges. Cool slightly on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
Once cookies have cooled to room temperature, whisk glaze ingredients together. Top each cookie with a small dollop of glaze. Allow glaze to dry before serving, about 15 minutes.

Notes

These cookies freeze nicely, especially if you hold off on glazing until right before you eat them.

Adapted from The Perfect Cookie by America’s Test Kitchen

Keywords: lemon, cookie, Nordic, Scandinavian, fika

Raspberry Hazelnut Hearts

February 6, 2020 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Will you be making sweets for the sweeties in your life this Valentine’s Day? If so, I invite you to consider baking a batch of these easy and festive Raspberry Hazelnut Hearts. Crispy, hazelnut-y and filled with raspberry jam, this tasty little butter cookie has the potential to become a year round fika favorite.

To give credit where credit is due, a variation of heart-shaped thumbprint cookies grace the cover of the January/February 2020 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. I’ve been meaning to add a jam thumbprint cookie to the blog for awhile (they are a traditional Scandinavian fika treat after all) and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to develop my own recipe but with sweet heart-shaped vibes that would be perfect for a February fika treat.

I began by doing my research on Swedish jam thumbprint cookies. According to the charming book Fika by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall, jam thumbprints in Sweden are known as syltgrottor which literally translates to “jam caves”. They are softer and lighter than their American counterparts and are baked in a small paper liner. In her book, Scandinavian Classic Baking, Pat Sinclair has a recipe for hazelnut thumbprints baked in a more traditional American style. I decided to use that as my model but with those sweet little heart shapes in the middle rather than the traditional thumbprint.

The recipe itself is largely adapted from The Perfect Cookie by America’s Test Kitchen and is incredibly simple and straightforward. Toasted hazelnuts are ground together with flour and salt and added to creamed butter and sugar and an egg yolk. This creates an exceptionally fragrant, crispy hazelnut butter cookie that is the perfect home for a dollop of raspberry jam.

As fancy as those heart shapes in the center of the cookie look, they are deceptively simple to create. Simply use an eating utensil with a flat end or the inside end of a rubber spatula (see photo below) to create a deep “V” in the center of each cookie. The V will open up during baking to create a heart shape. It’s as easy as can be!

This recipe is so fun and easy to make and hits all the right Valentine’s Day notes. Of course you could choose to make a round divot in the center of each cookie for a traditional thumbprint if you would rather. If you decide to go that route, you can use your thumb to make a spot for the jam (obviously) or the back of a rounded teaspoon works well, too. But if it’s February, why not make hearts, right?

I really hope you give these easy Raspberry Hazelnut Hearts a try. They come together in a snap and are a sweet and creative way to let those cookie-loving people in your life know how much you care about them. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Raspberry Hazelnut Hearts

Crispy, hazelnut-y and filled wit raspberry jam, this easy and festive take on the thumbprint cookie is sure to become a year round fika favorite.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 24-26 cookies
Category: fika, dessert
Method: baking
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian, Swedish

Ingredients

¾ cup hazelnuts

1 cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon fine salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

¾ cup raspberry jam or preserves

Powdered sugar for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Transfer nuts to a clean kitchen towel and wrap them inside allowing the nuts to steam for a minute or so. Rub the nuts between the kitchen towel to remove the skins (don’t worry if all the skins don’t come off).
Transfer toasted hazelnuts to a food processor along with flour and salt. Process until mixture is finely ground.
Place butter and sugar in the work bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and extracts and mix until fully combined. Slowly add flour and hazelnut mixture and mix on low until just combined.
Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop 12 tablespoons of dough onto each baking sheet and roll each tablespoon of dough into a ball leaving at least an inch and a half of space between each cookie. Using the flat edge of an eating utensil or rubber spatula, create a deep V shape in the center of each cookie (for heart-shaped thumbprints) or press the back of a rounded teaspoon in the center of each cookie (for traditional thumbprints).
Bake cookies for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown, rotating baking sheets halfway through. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the raspberry filling. Heat jam in a saucepan over medium low heat until bubbling. Pour through a fine mesh strainer and discard seeds. Spoon jam into the center of cooled cookies (or use a squeeze bottle or piping bag for more precision). Allow jam to set slightly before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Notes

Inspired and adapted from Scandinavian Classic Baking by Pat Sinclair, The Perfect Cookie by America’s Test Kitchen and the January/February 2020 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

Keywords: raspberry, hazelnut, cookies, thumbprint, fika, Valentine’s Day, heart

Almond Tiger Cake

January 17, 2020 by Kristi Leave a Comment

I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who, when asked what their favorite type of cake is, says “marble cake, of course!” Generally something one comes across at a graduation or birthday party, the marble cake seems to be the choice of the indecisive. Hmmm…do I want chocolate or vanilla…how about both? But as we all know, marble cake is not usually the coming together of two delicious flavors into something greater than the sum of its parts. It does have a pretty swirl, though, and does its job of making us feel like we are making everyone happy.

Introducing the Tiger Cake

In the Nordic countries, a marble cake is known as a Tiger Cake. Isn’t that charming? Perhaps the poor marble cake just needs a name change and a good recipe to go along with it. I recently set out to make my own version of Tiger Cake, one that was not only beautiful but delicious in its own right. I also wanted my Tiger Cake to be a fika-style cake…..something unfussy and simple enough to make on a lazy weekend morning and pair with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea.

The recipes I found in my research were all quite similar. There was one, however, from an issue of King Arthur Flour’s Sift magazine (such a beautiful publication if you haven’t seen it), that included almond flour in addition to all-purpose along with a bit of almond extract. I knew I wanted both in my recipe as that touch of almond flavor brings a delightful Scandinavian vibe to any baked good. The almond flour and a bit of sour cream in the batter added much needed tenderness and a moist texture in the final product that is something between a butter cake and a pound cake.

The Bundt Pan Wins

After trying a recipe or two that called for a loaf pan, I quickly decided I wanted to bake my cake in a bundt pan. It adds visual interest and has a way of turning a very simple cake into something special just because of the pan you chose to bake it in.

As far as achieving a “tiger look” with batter, I read a few different theories on the best way to create that marbled appearance In the end I chose to simply alternate spoonfuls of batter in the bundt pan and than swirl a a skewer through it a few times in a figure-8 motion. This did the trick and wasn’t overly fussy or time consuming.

Tips and Tricks for Great Almond Tiger Cake

I’ve got just a few thoughts for making your Almond Tiger Cake the best it can be:

Use a baking spray rather than greasing and flouring your bundt pan. I’ve done both, and the appearance of the cake baked in a pan sprayed with baking spray is far superior to that of a greased and floured pan. It can be difficult to prevent flour from settling in the grooves of your bundt pan, and this can lead to unsightly lines of flour in your baked cake. In order to achieve the best appearance possible, go with the baking spray.
Use a bit of almond flour in the batter. There is a wonderful article here at the King Arthur Flour website which discusses the virtues of including a bit of almond flour in your baked goods. It does, indeed, create a tender and moist final product. You will find it in many of the cakes I bake and for good reason.

Create a paste with the cocoa powder, espresso powder and hot water prior to folding it in to half of the batter. This helps it come together more quickly and easily than if you simply add the cocoa powder straight to the batter and mix from there. Overmixing is never a good idea as it can toughen the texture of your cake. The more gently and efficiently you can fold the chocolate mixture into the batter, the happier you will be with your final product. And the espresso powder? It will deepen the chocolate flavor without adding any coffee flavor. It really makes a big difference.
Don’t overthink the pattern as you alternate spoonfuls of batter in the cake pan. This isn’t meant to be perfect, just a charming, haphazard mix of chocolate and vanilla swirled together.

Tap the pan on the counter a few times to help the batter settle and resist the urge to smooth out the top of the batter. This will help create that tiger appearance in the baked cake.

Run a skewer through the batter in a figure-eight motion a few times until swirls begin to appear. Not only will this create the look you are after, it will also help the batter settle without you having to smooth out the top.

Go forth and make this easy and delicious Tiger Cake! This one is worth it, I promise. Who knows? Maybe it will become your new favorite.

Almond Tiger Cake

A deliciously moist and tender marble cake made with a bit of almond flour and almond extract.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes + cooling time
Yield: 1 9-inch bundt cake 1x
Category: desserts, fika
Method: baking
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian, Swedish

Scale

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour

¾ cup almond flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 ¼ teaspoons fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

½ cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon espresso powder

3 tablespoons hot water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10 cup capacity bundt pan with baking spray (such as Pam for Baking) or, alternatively, grease and flour the pan. Set aside.
Combine flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar in the work bowl of a stand mixer. Cream together at medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the sour cream and extracts and mix until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and add ⅓ of the milk followed by ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Repeat this process two more times ending with the final ⅓ of the flour mixture.
Transfer about half of the batter to a separate bowl. Whisk cocoa powder and espresso powder with hot water in a small bowl until a thick paste forms. Fold cocoa mixture into this batch of batter until consistent in color.
Alternate dropping heaping spoonfuls of the white and brown batters into the prepared pan, creating a checkerboard effect. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to help the batter settle.
Stick a skewer into the batter and swirl it back and forth in a figure eight motion as you make your way around the pan a few times creating a marbled effect.
Transfer pan to the oven and bake until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Invert cake onto a serving plate and cool completely before serving.

Lingonberry Skyr Mousse

December 3, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

The season of entertaining is upon us and I, for one, am always looking for ways to make hosting a festive dinner party easier and more enjoyable. I mean, who wants to be frantically running around the kitchen preparing dinner while your guests sip cocktails without you? We’ve all been there. But let’s resolve this year to enjoy our own gatherings, shall we?

Enter this Lingonberry Skyr Mousse. Creamy, festive and bursting with lingonberry flavor, this easy recipe is COMPLETELY do ahead. As dinner comes to a close, little individual portions of this sublime dessert will be patiently waiting for you in the fridge. There’s nothing for you do to other than maybe toss a few frozen berries on top of each serving and set out some dessert spoons. DONE.

And just because it is easy and make-ahead doesn’t mean that your guests won’t be completely wowed by this gorgeous Nordic dessert. A lovely shade of pink, big lingonberry flavor, and a light and creamy texture keep you coming back bite after bite. When I was testing this recipe I could not walk by the fridge without sneaking a little taste (which often led to an entire cup) of this sublime treat.

I served mine in martini glasses which makes for a lovely presentation, but any small glass or cup will do.

This Lingonberry Skyr Mousse does call for frozen lingonberries. If you live in a larger city or in a place with a strong Scandinavian heritage, you should have no problem finding them. Many grocery stores and specialty Scandinavian stores carry frozen lingonberries. If you can’t find them in your area, you always can order them from www.sturdiwheat.com. You’ll get three pounds of lovely lingonberries delivered straight to your door!

I tried making this Lingonberry Skyr Mousse with a 14.5 ounce jar of lingonberry preserves in place of the sugar and frozen lingonberries. The flavor wasn’t quite the same, and the color of the final product was more of a dusty rose than the soft pink mousse pictured above, but it is an acceptable and delicious alternative if you don’t have access to frozen lingonberries.

You’ve just got to give this Lingonberry Skyr Mousse a try sometime during this holiday season. It’s really something special. And your guests will think so too!

Lingonberry Skyr Mousse

A light and airy lingonberry mousse made with Icelandic yogurt (skyr) and whipped cream. A delicious and impressive make-ahead dessert for easy entertaining this holiday season!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes + 2 hours cooling time
Yield: 6–8 portions 1x
Category: dessert
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Scale

Ingredients

½ cup cold water

1 packet unflavored gelatin

¾ cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 ½ cups frozen lingonberries, plus additional berries for serving (see note below)

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup full-fat skyr or Greek yogurt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Place water in a saucepan and sprinkle gelatin over the top. Let sit for 3 minutes. Add sugar and salt. Heat mixture over medium until sugar dissolves. Add lingonberries and remove from heat. Transfer mixture to a blender and puree until smooth.
Whisk lingonberry mixture with vanilla and skyr in a medium bowl until fully combined. Set aside. Whip cream to medium peaks in a mixer. Gently whisk cream into lingonberry mixture until fully combined.
Pour mousse into individual serving cups and chill at least two hours. Serve, garnished with lingonberries.

Notes

Frozen lingonberries are available at some grocery and Scandinavian specialty stores, particularly if you live in an area with a strong Scandinavian heritage. They can also be ordered online through www.sturdiwheat.com. You can substitute a 14.5 ounce jar of lingonberry preserves for the frozen lingonberries and sugar. Should you choose to go that route, simply omit the sugar and add the full jar of preserves to the saucepan with the water and gelatin in step 1. Heat over medium until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Transfer mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Continue with step 2.

Keywords: lingonberries, skyr, mousse, easy, dessert, make ahead, festive, holiday, Christmas

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake

November 16, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Looking for an easy, delicious cake to serve for your next afternoon fika gathering? Look no further. This Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake is just the thing. Made with homemade Roasted Pear Compote with Cardamom, Vanilla and Fresh Ginger (or substitute a chunky applesauce from the store in a pinch), this spiced bundt cake is incredibly moist and bursting with pear flavor. And if you’ve got some of the pear compote on hand, it only takes about 20 minutes to get this baby ready for the oven. That’s my kind of cake!

*The beautiful bundt pan*…a work of art in and of itself

The History of the Bundt Pan

Chances are that you already own a bundt pan. Millions of Americans do. But have you ever wondered how this unusually shaped pan with a hole in the center came to be? It was originally designed by the Nordic Ware company of Minneapolis in 1950 at the specific request of a group of Jewish women who were looking to recreate traditional Eastern European cakes that had a hole in the center. But the popularity of the bundt pan didn’t really take off until 1966 when the Tunnel of Fudge bundt cake won second place in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off. Demand for these unique pans suddenly skyrocketed as women all across America wanted to bake their own versions of this gooey chocolate cake.

Today, there are as many bundt cake variations as there are bakers, and the Nordic Ware company continues to manufacture the beautifully-shaped pans that bake them. If you haven’t visited their website, please do. You’ll be amazed by the stunning array of baking pan options they have available.

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake

This Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake is a rustic, cozy and simple variation of the bundt. It is the kind of cake that is very much at home with a mid-morning or afternoon cup of coffee. I opted for no glaze or frosting here, just a simple dusting of powdered sugar. It honestly doesn’t need anything more. Of course if you want to dress it up for dessert, a drizzle of warm caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn’t hurt.

I’ve used my tried and true Roasted Pear Compote with Cardamom, Vanilla and Fresh Ginger in this recipe, and I highly recommend it. Starting with such a flavorful base naturally leads to a delicious cake. If you follow my blog, you know that I have strong feelings about making your own seasonal fruit compotes at home. They are so simple and versatile, and this cake is just another example of that. As I mentioned above, if you are in a pinch you can substitute a chunky, unsweetened store-bought applesauce. But the homemade pear compote really makes this cake something special.

Please give this Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake a try and let me know what you think in the comments below. I always love hearing about your Nordic cooking and baking adventures!

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake

A deliciously moist and simple bundt cake featuring homemade pear compote and warm spices. The perfect afternoon treat with a cup of coffee!

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes plus cooling time
Yield: 1 9-inch cake
Category: fika, desserts
Method: baking
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, ground in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle (or 1 teaspoon ground cardamom)

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups Roasted Pear Compote with Cardamom, Vanilla and Fresh Ginger

Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup capacity bundt pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Combine butter and brown sugar in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time. Add flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Mix in pear compote.
Spoon cake batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate and allow to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve.

Notes

You can substitute 2 cups of chunky, unsweetened store-bought applesauce for the pear compote.

Keywords: pear, cardamom, bundt cake, fika, simple

Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries

September 17, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Swedish pancakes are one of the most well-known Scandinavian delicacies, and rightfully so. Tender, buttery and most likely served with a generous spoonful of lingonberries and a dollop of whipped cream, there is much to account for their popularity. Other Scandinavian delicacies may take a little getting used to (I’m looking at YOU, pickled herring), but the Swedish pancake poses only deliciousness. No hardship whatsoever.

How are Swedish Pancakes different from American Pancakes?

Unlike American pancakes which are prized for being tall and fluffy, Swedish pancakes are thin, delicate and crepe-like. They are traditionally made in a special pan called a plett, which has thin 3-inch round indentations designed for cooking the pancakes. The Swedish pancake batter itself has many similar ingredients to American pancakes (milk, butter, eggs, flour, etc.), but the consistency of the batter is much thinner, and it does not contain any leavening agents. Most Swedish pancake recipes also recommend a brief rest of the batter prior to cooking which helps ensure a uniformly thin and tender pancake.

When served, American pancakes are often buttered, stacked and drenched generously in maple syrup. Swedish pancakes, on the other hand, are traditionally rolled or folded and served with lingonberries, butter and/or whipped cream.

American pancakes are almost always eaten for breakfast. Swedish pancakes, however, are traditionally served on Thursday evenings as a dessert following a meal of hearty pea soup. According to Food’s Ready, a cookbook put together by IKEA food services, this tradition harkens back to when Sweden was a Catholic country and it was customary to fast on Fridays. People would fill up on pea soup and pancakes the night before to help them get through that long day ahead without food.

When I was growing up, Swedish pancakes were strictly for Christmas morning. My mother made giant platters of the them, heaped high with lingonberries and butter. Not a present would be opened until my brother and I had singlehandedly cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast while the adults lingered over coffee and cookies. While I have fond memories of these special Christmas morning breakfasts, I see no reason why Swedish pancakes should be relegated to a once a year meal. So simple and delicious, why not enjoy them all year round?

Making Easy and Delicious Swedish Pancakes at Home

Use a blender to mix your batter ingredients. This creates an incredibly smooth, lump-free batter every time and couldn’t be easier. Just put everything in, let it whirl about and you’re done.
Rest the batter for at least two hours or up to two days. As I mentioned above, this will help ensure that your pancakes are uniform in texture and as tender as they can be. I recommend mixing the batter the night before so that it’s ready when you are.
Use a 10 inch nonstick skillet to make your Swedish pancakes. While those little 3 inch pancakes made in a plett are charming, they are small and somewhat insubstantial. It is just as common these days to see Swedish pancakes in a larger form, more like a small crepe. Choosing this modern, bigger pancake shape also means you have one less piece of special equipment to buy….a small nonstick skillet will do the job just fine.
Brush the skillet with melted butter prior to cooking each pancake. This imparts delicious flavor and just the right amount of browning to the pancakes.
Lift and swirl that skillet! Lift the heated skillet off of the burner before you pour the batter into the skillet. Once you pour the batter in, swirl it around so that it coats the bottom of the pan evenly. Continue swirling until the batter is just set. Then return the skillet to the heat. This technique may take a little practice but it makes for a pancake that is nicely browned and uniform in thickness.
Place a dollop of lingonberry butter inside each pancake. This is a little trick I learned from my mother. She would mix lingonberries and butter together and place a bit inside each warm pancake as it came off of the heat. Just a little bit of lingonberries and butter on the inside of the folded pancake makes a big difference in flavor.

This recipe for Swedish pancakes is quite easy and forgiving. Several of the recipes I tried during the testing process were fussy and often ended with fragile, torn pancakes. Not pretty. These, on the other hand, are delicate and tender but still easy to maneuver without any ripping or tearing.

So don’t wait until Christmas morning….go forth and make Swedish pancakes with confidence and ease. On any day of the week! They do not disappoint.

Swedish Pancakes with Lingonberries

An easy and delicious recipe for a true Scandinavian classic. Tender and delicate pancakes served with lingonberries, butter and whipped cream.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 10 minutes + 2 hours resting time
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 35 minutes
Yield: approximately 10 pancakes
Category: breakfast, dessert
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian, Swedish

Ingredients

For the Pancake Batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

6 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for the pan

½ teaspoon vanilla

For the Lingonberry Butter:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon lingonberry preserves, such as the Felix brand

Pinch of salt

To Serve:

Lingonberry preserves

Butter (optional)

Lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Instructions

Make the Pancake Batter: Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Transfer to the refrigerator to rest for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Meanwhile, make the Lingonberry Butter: Combine lingonberry preserves, butter and salt together in a small bowl with a fork. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees and place an empty heatproof tray or baking sheet inside. Heat a 10 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Stir the batter briefly to recombine. Brush skillet with melted butter. Pick the skillet up off of the burner and quickly add ¼ cup of batter. Immediately begin swirling the batter around the skillet so that it coats the bottom of the pan. Continue swirling until the batter is just set. Return skillet to the burner. Cook until the pancake is golden brown in spots on the bottom, about 30 seconds. Use a thin spatula to loosen the pancake, flip it over continue to cook on the other side for about 20 seconds. Transfer to a plate and add a small (about ½ teaspoon) dollop of lingonberry butter to on the top of the pancake. Fold into quarters. Transfer to oven to keep warm and repeat with remaining batter, wiping out skillet in between pancakes with paper towel as needed.
To serve, top pancakes with lingonberry preserves, additional butter and/or whipped cream.

Keywords: Swedish, pancakes, lingonberries, Scandinavian

Roasted Peach Ginger Ice Cream

August 16, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Making homemade ice cream feels nostalgic to me, like something from a bygone era. I picture kids on a front porch cranking the handle of one of those wooden ice cream makers that required large quantities of rock salt in order to make it work. And the truth is, in our modern world complete with a dizzying array of pre-packaged ice creams available in the freezer section of the grocer store, making your own ice cream at home is hardly necessary. But perhaps this is exactly why we should bother to undertake the activity. Sometimes something slow, a kitchen project that takes a little time and planning, is just what we need to help us shift gears from our faced-paced, on-the-go 24/7 lives.

You will need an ice cream maker for this project, and thankfully they’ve come a long way since the days of hand cranks and rock salt. Simply push a button and the machine does the work for you. Consider it a worthwhile investment, a promise of countless batches of cold creamy goodness for years to come. I’ve had my ice cream maker for over 20 years and it’s still going strong!

On Wednesday I wrote about the joys of having a jar of fruit compote in the fridge. This Roasted Peach Ginger Ice Cream is just one more delicious idea for putting that compote to good use. The ice cream itself is simply a classic custard base made with cream, milk and egg yolks. Add your Roasted Peach Ginger Compote towards the end of churning and boom! Peach ginger ice cream. Couldn’t be easier.

Tips and Tricks for Smooth and Creamy Ice Cream

Ice cream is incredibly straightforward and simple to make, but it is a process, and there are definitely a few tips and tricks for ensuring that it’s creamy and delicious every time:

Remember to freeze the work bowl of the ice cream machine in advance. Ice cream making is not for the impulsive, the impatient or the spontaneous. It’s an activity that rewards planning and preparation. The work bowl of your ice cream maker must be thoroughly chilled prior to successfully churning ice cream. See the manufacturer’s instructions for specific details for your particular model, but this may take anywhere from 24-48 hours. During the summer months, I just keep the work bowl in the freezer so that when I’m ready to make a batch of ice cream it’s ready to go.
Temper the egg yolks prior to adding them to the milk and cream mixture. There is a very good reason that the recipe asks you to SLOWLY mixing about a cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks prior to adding them back to the pan. This process is called tempering and it helps ensure that your eggs don’t solidify once they hit the shocking heat of the cream mixture. We want creamy custard here, not scrambled eggs.
Strain the custard base once it has finished cooking. Some recipes will skip this step, but if you don’t strain the mixture, you run the risk of having little bits of cooked egg in your finished project. Not good. Better to be on the safe side and strain.
Cool the mixture COMPLETELY before putting it into the fridge. Ice crystals are the enemy of smooth and creamy ice cream. One of the reasons we use an ice bath to cool the custard base down quickly and completely is so that condensation doesn’t form after you cover the mixture and cause additional water to find it’s way back into the custard (water that will eventually freeze and become icy). I will let my custard sit in the ice bath until it is cool to the touch and then cover and transfer it to the refrigerator.
Don’t skimp on the cooling time prior to churning. To prevent ice crystal formation, it’s important to make sure that the mixture is good and cold before it goes into the ice cream maker. I almost always make my custard base one day and churn it the next.
Add a little vodka to the fruit compote. This is a little trick I picked up from the good people at America’s Test Kitchen. The freezing point of vodka is lower than that of water, so adding a little to your fruit helps keep it from freezing to the point that it becomes hard and icy.

Maybe ice cream making is just the thing to put on your to-do list this weekend to help you slow down and squeeze every ounce of goodness from these waning days of summer. If you are a krumkake baker, whip up a batch of those as well to use as ice cream cones….they are darling and the perfect light and crispy compliment to the peach ice cream. By Sunday night you’ll be sitting on the porch basking in the warm glow of an August evening, ice cream cone in hand, fully appreciating the slow rhythm of the season.

Roasted Peach Ginger Ice Cream

Easy and creamy homemade peach ginger ice cream

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 15 minutes + at least 3 hours chilling time
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours
Yield: 4 cups
Category: dessert
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Ingredients

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 ½ cups whole milk

¾ cup sugar

Pinch of fine sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

1 generous cup Roasted Peach Ginger Compote

2 tablespoons vodka

Krumkake for serving, optional

Special Equipment Needed:

Ice Cream Maker

Instructions

Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl that is set inside a larger bowl containing ice and water.
Whisk egg yolks and ¼ cup sugar together in a separate medium bowl. Set aside.
Heat cream, milk, remaining ½ cup sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming and just below a simmer.
Slowly and pouring in a steady stream, ladle about 1 cup of the warm cream mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly. Transfer the cream and egg mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and is just beginning to bubble.
Immediately strain custard through the prepared fine mesh strainer and add the vanilla. Allow it to cool in the bowl over the ice bath, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has come to room temperature. Cover and transfer the custard to the refrigerator to cool completely, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
Transfer custard to an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Meanwhile, add the vodka to the Roasted Peach Ginger Compote and stir to combine. Add compote mixture to the ice cream during the last few minutes of churning, making sure that it is distributed thoroughly. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until ready to use. Serve in krumkake cones if desired.

Blueberry Rye Crumble Bars

July 24, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

It’s time to visit our imaginary Nordic lake cottage. Perhaps it is a classic red painted affair with white trim, nestled near the shore of a tranquil lake, surrounded by tall evergreens. Maybe something like this?

Our days are long and languid and just warm enough to be pleasant. Each morning we rise early for a walk in the woods, metal pails in hand, ready to gather the sweet, wild blueberries that cover the forest floor. We walk through the cool shade of the trees, picking berries as we go, tasting a few here and there, returning to our cottage with fingers stained blue and pails full of luscious ripe berries. We immediately toss a handful or two into our breakfast of warm porridge sprinkled with brown sugar and drizzled with cream. We gaze at the lake reveling in the quiet of the early summer morning, and our most pressing concern becomes what do we do with the rest of the blueberries?

Okay, back to reality. That’s not quite how this recipe came about (other than in my very active imagination) but a girl can dream, can’t she? In truth, this recipe is a cross between a crumble bar recipe from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce and Beatrice Ojakangas’s recipe for blueberry bars in Scandinavian Cooking. Two books that you should not be without, by the way. I love the idea of a hearty crumble bar made with rye flour, hearty oats and sweet, wild blueberries, three Nordic-inspired ingredients that happen to get along very well together.

My “foraging for berries” was more a trip to the frozen section of the local Trader Joe’s, but I decided to stick with the wild berries as opposed to the fresh, conventionally grown blueberries that you might find in plastic containers in the produce section of the store. Not only are wild blueberries smaller and quite often more flavorful than their conventionally grown counterparts, they also contain twice the amount of antioxidants making them a more nutritious choice. Using frozen berries also makes these delicious bars something you can bake all year long, in case you need that blueberry fix come January.

Crumble Bar Tips for Success

A few tips for ensuring that your Blueberry Rye Crumble Bars are summer cottage worthy:

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 9 inch cake pan and cut a piece of parchment paper to fit inside the pan with enough length to hang over the sides. And then take the extra step of buttering the bottom and sides of the parchment (just a couple of inches up the sides is fine). Not only will this help ensure that your bars won’t stick, it creates a sling so that you can take the bars out of the pan before cutting them if you so choose. If you decide to take them out in one big piece using the sling, you must chill the bars for several hours in the fridge beforehand to make sure they are firm enough and won’t fall apart.
After you pat the crust into the pan, press/slide the bottom of a metal measuring cup over the crust to even it out and ensure that it is packed tightly.
Freeze the crust briefly and bake prior to adding the filling. This creates a firm, shortbread-like base for your bars and keeps them from getting soggy.
Make sure your fruit to crust to crumble ratio is proportional. This recipe has a nice balance between the three components.
Squeeze the crumble mixture together in your hand and break off into irregular sized pieces, about 3/4 inch in diameter and smaller. This makes for a nice, craggy top.
Once you have added the crumble topping to the pan, gently press down on it with the back of a spatula. This helps create an even bar and keeps the crumble from falling off once you are ready to cut and serve the bars.
Do not skimp on the cooling/chilling time! If you try to cut into these while they are still warm, you will end up with something more like blueberry cobbler. The crust needs time to cool and set up. At the very least, wait until they have cooled to room temperature. Better yet, chill the bars for several hours in the fridge before slicing. That way you can use the parchment sling to easily remove them from the pan and they are delicious chilled.
All of these components can be made in advance. Keep the crust in the freezer and the filling and crumble in the fridge for up to 24 hours before beginning the baking process.

Since we don’t have a Nordic lake cottage (yet!) we will have to let frozen wild blueberries and delicious recipes like this one transport us in the meantime, our tastebuds at least. We can always close our eyes and munch and dream of lakes and trees and long summer days.

Blueberry Rye Crumble Bars

Wild blueberries, hearty rye flour and oats come together to create a delicious Nordic-style crumble bar.

Author: Kristi
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours and 25 minutes
Yield: About 16 small bars
Category: Fika
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Nordic, Scandinavian

Ingredients

For the Crust:

½ cup dark rye flour (I like the Bob’s Red Mill brand)

1 cup all purpose flour

⅓ cup dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon coarse salt

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Crumble:

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons rye flour

¼ cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Filling:

3 cups blueberries, preferably wild (frozen is fine)

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Finely grated zest from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch of coarse salt

Instructions

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Butter a 9 x 9 inch cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the inside of the pan, with enough overhang so that the parchment covers the bottom and comes up and over the sides by a couple of inches creating a sling. Place the parchment inside the pan. Butter the bottom and up the sides of the parchment just a couple of inches (see photo).
Combine flours, brown sugar and salt together in a work bowl of a food processor. Process until combined. Add melted butter and vanilla. Pulse until fully combined and the texture of wet sand.
Transfer dough to prepared pan. Set empty work bowl aside to use for the crumble (no need to rinse). Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan, using the bottom of a metal measuring cup to smooth it out and press it flat. Place crust in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the crumble: Combine all ingredients except the butter in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined and oats are slightly broken up, approximately 5-7 pulses. Transfer mixture to a bowl and add melted butter. Stir with a fork to combine. Set aside.
Place the frozen crust in the oven. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown and slightly firm to the touch.
Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium low heat until berries begin to give up their juice, about 2-3 minutes. Increase heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture has become jamlike in texture, about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
When the crust comes out of the oven, increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread the blueberry filling evenly over the top of the crust (a small offset spatula works really well here), taking care not to touch the hot pan.
Squeeze some of the crumble mixture together in your hand. Tear off irregular-sized pieces of the crumble and scatter it in an even layer over the top of the blueberry filling. Crumble pieces should be ¾ inch in diameter or smaller. Repeat with remaining crumble. Press gently on the top of the crumble with the back of a spatula to create an even layer and help the crumble stick together.
Return the pan to the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until crumble topping is crisp and golden brown. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly before placing in the fridge for a few hours to chill bars before slicing.
Before serving, run a small knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen any blueberries that may be stuck to the sides. If you have chilled the bars in the fridge, gently lift the parchment paper sling and remove bars in one piece from pan. Cut into squares and serve. If you have simply let the bars cool to room temperature without chilling, slice the bars in the pan into squares and serve.

Notes

Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce and Scandinavian Cooking by Beatrice Ojakangas

Keywords: blueberry, crumble, bars, rye, oats, lemon, butter, Fika