Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan. In a medium sized bowl, add the apple pieces, cinnamon, ground ginger, and lemon juice. Let it sit while you prepare the crust.
Prep the crust: In a medium bowl, beat the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the flour until a soft dough is formed. Remove the dough and place it into your prepared pan. Press firmly onto the bottom and sides of the pan.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. You will have to refrain from eating this sugar cookie crust! Yum!
Prep the filling: While the crust is baking, prepare the apple-strawberry mixture. In a medium sauce pan, sauté the apples in medium-low heat for about 3 minutes (until they lose their crispiness). Add the strawberries and the strawberry jam. Add in the sake combined with the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch. Let it thicken and set the pan aside to cool while you prepare the crumb topping.
Prep the Crumb Topping:
In a medium bowl, stir together the crushed pretzels, oats, flour, both sugars, and oats. With a pastry cutter (or your fingers) cut in the butter pieces until the mixture has a crumbly mixture with the crumbs the size of
blueberries.
After the filling cools, spread evenly on top of the crust.
Bake about 35-40 minutes or until the the topping is golden brown. Cool the bars completely in the pan on top of the rack, then place them in the refrigerator to chill before cutting.
You can store the bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator if you don’t gobble them all up as soon as you bake them.