February Care Package

I baked several batches of these squares this morning, before throwing my kids in the car and driving 1 hour to an impromptu doctor’s visit when my son’s eye started looking like it might be harbouring some sort of plague.

I’ll be sending a batch of these, plus whatever else I can manage to get in the oven tonight, to a good friend of ours who just made Vancouver Island his new home. They’re actually a tad crumblesome, so I’m hoping they make the trip. If not, I’m sure they’d taste good with yogurt.

My son’s eye, of course, looked totally normal by the time we made the trip to the doctor.

Dried Cranberry and Pecan Bars

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup pecans
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 11×7 inch baking pan.
2. Pour melted butter into a mixing bowl, and beat in the egg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice together in a separate mixing bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until thoroughly blended. Mix in the cranberries, pecans, and oats until evenly blended. Press mixture into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until top is dry and edges slightly pull away from the sides of the pan, 13 to 15 minutes. Cool before cutting into squares.