Cranberry Caramel Date Bars Recipes

CRANBERRY CARAMEL DATE BARS

Steps:

• Turn on music and put on a cute apron. Both of these things make baking more awesome. Also, preheat your oven to 350. :)
• Assemble your army.
• Wash cranberries, stir together with 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
• Into a large bowl, measure out 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (or white flour - do NOT use regular whole wheat flour - it will be a dense disaster)! Add in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 2 cups of oats, 1/3 cup of regular sugar. And 1/3 cup of brown sugar, firmly packed. Put some muscle into it! Stir the flour/oats/sugar mixture together
• Place 2 sticks of butter in a pan (or in a bowl in the microwave) and heat until it melts. Yes, this is a lot of butter. Sometimes it's worth it. This is one of those times.
• Go on a cheesy photo rampage because you're waiting for the butter to melt.
• The butter has melted! Stir it into your flour/oats/sugar mixture. When the mixture gets crumbly, you're done stirring. Take out 1 cup of the mixture and save it for later.
• Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased or sprayed 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
• When it's done, take it out of the oven and sprinkle it with fun things. First, the chopped dates. Next, the chopped pecans. And then, finally - the secret weapon. The cranberry/sugar mixture!
• Stir together the caramel sauce and the remaining 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour. You may want to heat the mixture a bit in the microwave (just 15 to 20 seconds) so it gets nice and runny.Then, drizzle the caramel/flour mixture over everything! Try to get a solid layer of caramel over everything - it's what will make the bars stick together!
• Last step - sprinkle everything with the 1 cup of flour/sugar/butter mixture that you reserved earlier on. Remember that? You better not have eaten it.
• Put your masterpiece back into the oven and bake 20 more minutes, or until lightly browned. Sample some immediately, burning your mouth in the process, and then let the rest of the mixture cool for awhile before cutting it into bars

CRANBERRY DATE BARS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine cranberries and dates.
• Cover and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until berries pop, stirring often. (I also mash the cranberries with a fork once they are soft enough and reach the about-to-pop stage).
• Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla; set aside.
• In a bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda and salt.
• Stir in butter until crumbly.
• Press half into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan.
• Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Spoon cranberry mixture over the crust; spread gently. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture;pat down gently.
• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
• Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over bars.
• Yield: 4 dozen.

CRANBERRY DATE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Place cranberries, dates and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until berries pop, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla., Mix flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt; stir in melted butter. Press half of the mixture into an ungreased 13x9-in. pan. Bake 8 minutes. , Spoon cranberry mixture over crust. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture; pat down gently. Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes longer. Cool completely on a wire rack., Mix glaze ingredients. Drizzle over top.

CRANBERRY DATE BARS

Steps:

• 1. In a saucepan, over low heat, simmer cranberries, dates, and water for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have popped. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and set aside.
• 2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in butter until well blended.
• 3. Pat half the oat mixture into an ungreased 13"x9"x2" baking pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Spoon cranberry mixture over crust. Sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture. Pat gently.
• 4. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until browned. Cool.
• 5. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over bars. Yield: 3 dozen bars.
• 6. You might want sometimes to serve bar cookies with ice cream. Not so with these! They're so yummy by themselves that nothing else is needed except, maybe, a good cup of coffee.
• 7. Susan uses only half the glaze recipe, but I LOVE confectioners' sugar, so I use all of it!