Red Currant Crumb Bars

I was shopping at Costco and saw these beautiful red currants.  Below, 12 oz or 340 grams container was $6.  I thought I'd use them in a salad, but they were quite "pucker up" sour.  So, I didn't know what to do with them now...  I found this recipe (easiest one I found!) and decided to give it a try... I'll leave the ingredients/measurements to the link and show you the outcome here.  I changed her recipe by adding some pure almond extract to the currants and adding chopped almonds on the topping.  I also cut down the sugar by 1/3 cup and used unsalted butter.

First and foremost, aren't those currants beautiful to look at???  I truly was mesmerized when I saw them...

I sat in front of the t.v. and plucked them off their stems.  It was easier than when I pitted cherries with a chopstick, though some stem tips stayed in the currant..

I gave them a good rinse when done.

I preheated the oven to 375°F and used cooking spray on a 9" x 9" baking dish.  I mixed the currants with the sugar, cornstarch, almond extract and a pinch of kosher salt.

I used my KitchenAid mixer rather than doing the crumb mixture by hand like she did in her recipe.  It was way looser than I expected, but it did press into the dish like a dough so, what do I know?  I've never eaten a "crumb bar" in my life that I know of...I pressed 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the dish.

I poured the red currants over.

I topped with the remaining crumbs and almonds which I crushed with a mallet in a Ziploc.  I put into the oven for 45 minutes.

I let it rest for 15 minutes when it came out.  I really had doubts at whether it would be a true crust or just fall apart into hehe - crumbles.  I guessed it would be fine either way as I could just call it a cobbler or crisp or whatever.  😉  My son would eat it anyway.  I did know that.  And I gave him dessert before our dinner tonight too, lol.

Hey, it cut into a slice!!!  When I dropped the plate off to my son, I heard, "OMG, Mmmmmmm".  He said it was tart but sweet and the crumble made the dish.  So, I'd call it a success.  I gave him a small scoop of vanilla ice cream with it.  I doubt I'd ever buy red currants again, but they sure are "eye candy" and I was happy I found a way to use them.