Fruit Crisp Topping

Hey all. My new favorite pantry item is pint sized canning jars filled with this crisp topping, readdy to pour on whatever I'm suddenly tempted to bake. This can be assembled in advance, like I do, or at the time of baking. Each jar contains the ingredients below, layered. My brown sugar did harden a wee bit but it was still soft enough to crumble. I've used the basic fruit crisp topping recipe from America's Test Kitchen. They call for 3/4c chopped pecans but blech ... who likes those, nasty allergenic things? I've used a combination of cereals and oats instead :D I think the lightly sweetened oat flakes really make the topping, but play with it.

6 tbl flour
1/4c Grape Nuts cereal
1/4c Kashi Heart to Heart Oat Flakes & Blueberry clusters
1/4c rolled oats (NOT instant or steel cut oats - ask me how I know)
1/4c granulated sugar
1/4 dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

ETA: I did find the brown sugar hardened quite a bit by the time I used the last jar. Making it for the second time, I'm laying a small piece of bread crust on top of the brown sugar. Not attractive if you are giving as gifts but excellent for personal storage.

As a side note I find that brown sugar keeps very soft if immediately transferred into canning jars after purchase, adding a small piece of bread to each jar. I like the plastic freezer lids for storing dry goods such as this.

This fits in a pint canning jar if you press the ingredients in, smooshing the flakes etc. I make 3+ jars at a time - always worth it.

When you are ready to bake, crumble one jar of filling with 5 tbl unsalted butter in a medium bowl. Pinch and crumble until the mixture resembles damp sand. Chill 15min while oven preheats to 375 F.

Choose an 8in sqare glass pan, a 9inch deep dish pie pan or something similar. Dump in your filling (you're on your own here) and pat chilled filling on top. Bake on middle rack (put something under it to catch drips) for 40 minutes or until topping is nicely browned. Allow to cool about 15m before eating. Enjoy!