Recipe: Blueberry Oat Bars

I just took photos of these beauties and now I'm eatin' them for breakfast.  Oh boy, are these a perfect healthy snack for anytime of day.  I made these for a "Bus Stop Tea Party" and they were an easy after school snack to prepare.  Blueberries are in season and this is a nice way to use them up.  I'm sure these would freeze nicely, and are perfect to pack in luches too.

BLUEBERRY OAT BARS
from Grin and Bake It

Filling
3 cups fresh or frozen berries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Crumble and Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats (quick-cooking or regular)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into 7-9 large chunks
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling: In a medium saucepan, stir together berries and lemon juice and cook medium heat until fruit is tender, about 8-15 minutes, depending on type of berries being used.

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch, then stir into fruit mixture. Continue cooking until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes, until thick. Scrape berry filling into a medium bowl and set aside.

Crust: Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.  I also lined the pan with parchment paper with about 1" hanging over on each side.

In a food processor (or large mixing bowl), combine flour, oats, brown sugar, butter, baking soda , salt and vanilla extract. Pulse until mixture is thoroughly blended and resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of this mixture in a medium bowl.

Pour remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, spread evenly and pat down. Place filling in dollops over crust and carefully spread to cover entire surface. Squeeze reserved crumb mixture into large clumps with your fingers and sprinkle evenly over the top of the fruit filling.

Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Cut into 20 bars to serve.

Printable Recipe

Similar recipes you may like ~
Applesauce Oatmeal Bars
Martha Stewart's Jam Crumble Bars

Enjoy!

from the book "The Golden Book of Poetry"
Edited by Jane Werner
Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott
1949, Golden Press

I purchased this book from a local thrift shop.

Recipe: Martha Stewart's Jam Crumb Bars

Have you ever smelled a recipe while you were putting all the ingredients together and knew how wonderful it was going to be?  I could've eaten the dough on these bars raw because the scent was so delicious and tempting with the mix of butter and ground almonds.

These beautiful bars have a shortbread bottom, oooey gooey jam centre, and a lovely crumb topping.  They were quick and easy to prepare but not inexpensive.  A bag of whole almonds isn't cheap and the entire jar of jam wasn't either.  Oh, but it was worth every penny for this treat. 

The Jam Crumb Bars were made for a MOMS Club event and everyone loved them. There was enough for some to take home too, which they all did!

JAM CRUMB BARS

from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces, plus more for pan

2 1/4 cups (11 ounces) blanched almonds, very finely ground

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups raspberry, apricot or strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 15 x 10" rimmed baking sheet.  Line with parchment paper, leaving a 1" overhang on the long sides.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together ground almonds, flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Using your fingers, squeeze the mixture together to create pea-sized crumbs witha  few larger crumbs (smells good, eh?).

Transfer half of crumb mixture (about 4 1/2 cups) to prepared baking sheet; set aside remining mixture.  Cover with a sheet of parchment paper.  Using the bak of a large spoon, press dough evenly into pan, lifting the parchment occasionally to ensure it doesn't stick.  With a wine bottle or small rolling pin, roll along the length of the pan to smooth dough.  Dough should be firmly packed, with no holes or cracks.  Bake, roating the pan halfway through, until lightly golden all over, 15 to 20 minutes.  Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely (I had to skip this step and it was okay). 

Evenly spread jam over cooled crust.  Scatter with remaining crumb mixture, squeezing some of the mixture so that large clumps are visible and evenly distributed over the top of the jam.  Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the topping begins to turn light golden brown (the hame should not be too dark), 20 to 22 minutes.  Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen; using two wide spatulas, transfer to a cutting board and cut into 3 x 2" bars.  Bars can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Printable Recipe

Here are some other bars you may enjoy.  Perfect to pack in lunches!
Toffee Bars
Homemade Granola Bars
Applesauce and Oatmeal Bars
Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars
Chocolate Chip & Pretzle Cookie Bars
Lemon Bars


Enjoy!

Peoples by Celia Green and Don Cornelius




I purchased this book from a Thrift Store.

Recipe: Pfeffernuesse Cookies (German)

I was looking for a cookie with Aniseed in it to replace the Aniseed Cookies my husband loves so much from the Joy of Cooking cookbook.  The kind he likes take 2 days to make and I have trays of cookies all over my kitchen drying-out prior to baking them.  Perfect for attracting all sorts of unwanted critters like mice and ants... you know we live in the country right?  So, I love him and wanted to make a nice cookie for him.


I recently purchased this 1977 cookbook "Food From Foreign Nations- Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers" at a tag sale and found a recipe for Pfeffernusse which is a German cookie with lots of spices like nutmeg, allspice, black pepper (!), cardamom and aniseed.  What a different cookie this will be!

These cookies were simple to make, with a little extra time needed to frost the cookies.  Frosting them was really easy as you can frost a dozen at a time in a large bowl by stirring them around in the frosting.

The Pfeffernuesse was spicey and sweet.  The cookie wasn't hard or chewy, but very dense.  When you eat these, the sweetness of the frosting makes you gobble them up, then your left with a spicy "burn" in the back of your throat.  Very different indeed.  My husband enjoyed these although he prefers a thinner cookie and the kids, surprisingly, ate them up without a word about the spiceyness.

I'll make these again when I'm serving German food as it will round out the meal nicely.  These cookies, however, are not for the faint of heart as they do have a certain kick to them.

PFEFFERNUESSE COOKIES
from Food from Foreign Nations Cookbook

1-1/2 cups strained honey
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
4 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon each soda, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, and black pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon aniseed
Icing

Heat honey in large saucepan, do not boil.  Add shortening; cool.  Beat in egg.  Sift remaining ingredients together except Icing.  Add to honey mixture.  Leg dough rest for 30 to 40 minutes.

Shape into 1 inch balls.  Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 13 to 15 minutes.  (I let mine cool completely while I prepared the Icing).

ICING
2 egg whites
1 Tablespoon strained honey
1/2 teaspoon aniseed
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Combine egg whites, honey and spices in 1-quart mixing bowl.  Beat in sugar gradually with electric mixer.

Place 12 to 14 cookies in bowl with 2 Tablespoons of Icing.  Stir thoroughly to coat all sides.  Place on wire rack for Icing to harden.  Store in tightly closed container.  Yield: 8 to 9 dozen.

For a printable version of this recipe go here.

Linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap: Baked Goods over at Life As Mom.
Enjoy!


from the book "The Children's Hour - Best Loved Poems"
1953 The Spencer Press, Inc.

Recipe: Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

These are delicious.  If you love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches then these will be one of your favourite treats.  I'm crazy for all things peanut butter and was looking for something good for an after school snack and to pack in lunchs.  I came across this bar recipe on the Food Network site from Ina Garten (who doesn't love the Barefoot Contessa?). 

My kids, friends, and husband went crazy for these and I can see I'll be making them alot in the future.  These were quick to make and the dough reminded me of peanut butter playdough.  I used my hands to squish the dough into the tray and skipped the parchment paper step.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY BARS

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam (I used strawberry jam)
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper (I didn't do this), then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula (I used my hands). Spread the jam evenly over the dough (I used my hands to spread it around). Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Find a printable copy of this recipe here.

Enjoy!  Sarah

Happily submitted to Frugal Fridays over at Life As Mom.


From the book "Jonathan and the Octopus"
Written and Illustrated by Celest K. Foster

1967 T. S. Denison & Company, Inc.

Today my goal is to organize my son's room :)