Cranberry Crumble

I made this dessert with fresh cranberries, for my sister Laura who came into town this morning.  It was cold outside and the warm dessert paired with a hot cup of coffee was perfect.  I like this recipe because it has the perfect amount of sweet and tart.  It is also incredibly easy to make.

for the crust and topping:
2 1/2 cups of unbleached flour
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup cold butter
1 egg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

For the filling:
3 cups fresh cranberries (1 bag)
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 13x9 inch glass pan.

Grind up the slivered almonds in either a food processor, or cleaned out coffee grinder.  In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, almonds, baking powder, and salt.  Using a pastry blender, or two knives, cut in the cold butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs (same as pie dough).  Stir in the egg.  Press in 2 1/2 cups of the mixture in the bottom of your glass pan.  Sitr the cinnamon into the remaining crumb mixture.

In a second bowl, add all of the filling ingredients.  Stir until all of the sugar is evenly distributed throughout the cranberries.  Spoon the cranberry mixture into the glass pan and even it out.

using your hands crumble the rest of the topping mixture evenly over the cranberries.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  Take it out of the oven and allow to cool.  You can eat this dessert hot and it will be a bit messy, or you can put it into the refrigerator until it is cold and you can cut it into bars.  I ate it warm and although it was a bit messy, it really hit the spot!

Taken by Laura Ramsey