Cranberry Oat Bars

Happy Thanksgiving week!

There will be plenty of cooking going on in a few days, but I had to start in on the celebrating this weekend by pulling out some cranberries!

Thanksgiving would not be complete without cranberries for me. It is one fruit that I really missed while we were living in Brazil despite my access to a tropical fruit wonderland at the time. I just really missed that tart, tangy flavor that only belongs to the cranberry.

I eat dried cranberries almost every day and I stock up on the fresh during this time of year keeping them in the freezer until I’m ready to make a recipe like this one.

I’ve made these oat bars before, substituting different fruits. The original is made with blueberries and it came from Bryant’s Blueberries, a farm just outside of Louisville, KY. I’ve modified it over time using whole grain flours and a variety of sugars.

You can use just about any berry with these as well as peaches. This time of year, the cranberry is perfect. These bars are sweet enough for dessert, but wholesome enough for breakfast.

Cranberry Oat Bars
Adapted from Blueberry Oat Bars, Bryant’s Blueberries

1 ¾ cups old fashioned oats
1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
¾ cup muscovado sugar
½ cup walnuts, chopped
½ tsp baking soda
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups fresh or defrosted cranberries
½ to ¾ cup demerara sugar
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp arrow root powder
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, muscovado sugar, nuts and baking soda. Pour in the melted butter and stir to mix well. You should have a moist, but crumbly mixture. Reserve about ¾ cup of the mixture.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press the remaining oat mixture into the baking dish. Spread it evenly and press it firmly into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

In a sauce pan combine the cranberries, ½ cup of sugar (add more if you want it sweeter) and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered for about 2 minutes. Stir to break up the berries.

Stir together the arrow root, lemon juice and water to make a paste. Add the paste to the cranberries and stir until the fruit is thickened. Remove from heat.

Spread the fruit over the oat crust leaving just about a ¼ inch edge on all sides. Crumble the reserved topping evenly over the fruit. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to brown. Cool the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled completely, cut into bars. Makes 15 bars.