Jam and Coconut Slice for picnic

I made this slice recipe to bring along to this impromptu picnic my friends from primary/high school organised at our friend's wedding on Saturday. We had the picnic at King's Park on Monday (long weekend holiday), and it was a beautiful day for a picnic. Perth is one of the very few places blessed with many days of sunshine during winter. The size of the group present at the picnic is only a fraction of the huge size we were when we used to hang out together in high school. The group was so big that we had to spend our lunch and recess breaks in one of the school's demountables fit for 30 students. We had a great time catching up with one another and reminiscing the good ol' days.



Germaine wanted to 'pose' for our photo and I went along with it because it is not very often that she visits us in Perth..



Anyway, back to the topic. This is pretty simple and easy to make. The original recipe called for 1 cup sugar which I thought was a bit excessive given that jam will already be quite sweet. I reduced the sugar but it was still pretty sweet. I added sultanas to add a bit more fruitiness to the slice. This is such a buttery sweet treat - definitely not something to snack on if you are trying to lose weight! I think, in future, I will reduce sugar content a bit more and probably reduce the amount of butter as well in an effort to make this a more healthy treat. The original recipe suggested storing this in the fridge - I've kept it out the fridge because I don't want the slice to soften too much.

Ingredients

1 cup (100g) oats
1.5 cups (180g) plain flour (used 1 cup plain, 1/2 cup wholemeal plain)
0.5 cups (50g) dessicated coconut
3/4 cup (150g) raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
170g melted butter
75g sultanas
Jam (I used about 120g)

Method

1) Preheat oven to 180degC and line a 20cmx20cm tin with baking paper.
2) Mix oats, flour, coconut, sugar and cinnamon. Add butter and stir until all ingredients are moistened with butter.
3) Press 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the tin and spread over a thick layer of strawberry jam. Add the remaining pastry mixture, pressing gently with a fork.
4) Bake for 30-35minutes or until light golden. Allow to cool and cut into fingers.