Crumble bars

• Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas 3. Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.
• Mix together the flour, semolina and sugar in a large bowl. Scatter over the cubed butter then rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingers to make a lumpy crumble.
• Tip half of the mixture into the prepared cake tin then press down with your hands or with the base of a glass to make a flat even layer – it should be quite compacted to form a solid base.
• Dollop over the chocolate spread or jam and spread out to form an even layer.
• If using, mix the chopped nuts, chocolate chips, mini fudge pieces or chopped marzipan through the remaining crumble mixture then sprinkle this all over the filling. Press down very gently just to fix in pace but you still want to keep a loose, crumbly texture.  
• Bake for 45 minutes or until the top of the crumble is golden brown and the filling is bubbling at the edges.
• Leave to cool in the tin, then lift out and cut into 16 squares to serve.

Chef’s tip

The crumbly topping is delicious on its own, but we do love adding extras to take it up a level! Nuts adda toasty crunch (hazelnuts and pecans work particularly well), while chopped up chocolate, fudge or marzipan add gooey pockets amidst the crumble. 

At Christmas, we tend to mix up a mincemeat filling with chunks of marzipan in the topping for a stollen-inspired alternative to mince pies!