cranberry Bars or Squares recipe

[Valeriea]

Does anybody have any delicious cranberry bars or squares recipe they could share? Maybe our American friends have some? Many thanks, Valeriea.

[BBWCHATT]

Valeria - this is from one of our TV chefs:

Cranberry Coconut Bars
Recipe courtesy American Brasserie by Gale Gand, Rick Tramonto, Julia Moskin: Clarkson N. Potter

Crust:
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon whole or 2 percent milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange rind
1 cup fresh or if unavailable, frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped (if using frozen, chop berries while still frozen)
1/2 cup flaked coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and salt and mix well. Gradually add the flour, mixing to combine. Stir in the pecans. Press the mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until browned.
Filling: In a mixer, combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder and mix well. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, and zest and mix well. Fold in the cranberries, coconut, and pecans. When the crust is baked, remove from the oven and spread the filling over it. Return to the oven and bake an additional 30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars for serving.

[BBWCHATT]

I found an easier one for you on the internet. After you make it once, you might try adding some orange zest to see if it is better with it. Orange zest makes a lot of cranberry dishes better.


Cranberry Bars

1 (12 ounce) package whole cranberries
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup water
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Metric:
336 g whole cranberries
200 g white sugar
180 ml water
517 g yellow cake mix
170 g butter, melted
2 eggs
80 g rolled oats
165 g packed light brown sugar
2 g ground ginger
2 g ground cinnamon

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cranberries, white sugar, and water. Cook, stirring occasionally until all of the cranberries have popped, and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, melted butter, and eggs.

Stir in the oats, brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon.

Set aside about 1 1/2 cups of the mixture, and spread the rest into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Pack down to form a solid crust, getting it as even as possible.

Spread the cooled cranberry mixture over the crust.

Pinch off pieces of the remaining mixture and place evenly over the cranberry layer.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is lightly browned.

Cool in the pan for about 40 minutes before slicing into bars.

[Valeriea]

Thanks so very much BBWCHATT for your quick reply. The recipes are really great and I look forward to making them soon. Thanks for taking the trouble to do that for me,you are very kind. Thanks also for the tip about the orange zest,as I never knew that.Best Wishes to you,Valeriea.

[Clanad]

This one is quite good... we made it about a week ago and it disappeared post haste...

2 cups unsifted flour
1-1/2 cups instant rolled oats
3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp firmly packed brown sugar (divided use)
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
8 ounces cream cheese (1 large block)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil.

Combine flour, rolled oats, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and butter, mixing until crumbly. Remove 1-1/2 cups of mixture and set aside for later use. Press remaining mixture into bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice, whipping until completely combined. Pour evenly over warm bottom layer crust.

Scoop whole berry cranberry sauce into a bowl, stirring gently with a fork to break up the jelly. Add 1 tablespoon brown sugar and cornstarch. Mix until combined. Drop cranberry mixture by spoonsful over the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle top with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake 45 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting. Refrigerate before serving.

Yield: about 36 bars, depending on how you cut them.

(Good to see you back in force BBWCHATT!)

[Valeriea]

Thanks so much Clanad for your recipe.