Thursday, November 24, 2011

Christmas Cookie Week: Chocolate, Cranberry, Oat Cookie Bars

Welcome back for Day 4 of Christmas Cookie Week.  Yesterday the cookie recipe I shared with you was crazily loaded with chocolate and really tipped the scale on the unhealthy side, so today I'm bringing a little balance.  You can feel a little virtuous eating these cookies, since they contain oats, dried cranberries, and walnuts - all thing that are ever so good for you.   And we won't mention the chocolate and sugar that are in these - shhh - our little secret.



I got this recipe from the Kraft magazine (and tweaked it a lot - as per usual).  Next time I make it I'm going to try adding raisins, grated orange rind, and sunflower seeds.  It seems like the kind of recipe that can have endless variations.


Ingredients:
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
3/4 cup margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces


Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
2.  Combine cranberries and orange juice.  Micorwave on high for 30 seconds.  Let stand 10 minutes.
3.  Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt and stir.
4.  Beat the margarine and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.  Add eggs.
5.  Gradually add flour mixture.  Stir in cranberry mixture, and add chocolate and walnuts.
6.  Spread the dough into the baking pan.
7.  Bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until the centre is set.  Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting to serve.  Makes 32 servings.




Come on back this afternoon to see how you could package these bars and give some of as gifts to others.  Also be sure and see what Angie has been baking over at Echoes of Laughter.



Linked to Recipe Link Party at Remodelaholic,
Cookiepalooza Party at Centsational Girl

1 comment:

  1. oh, these are calling my name. are they as delicious as they look? probably even more!

    ReplyDelete