Holiday Baking

It’s beginning to “look” alot like Christmas, but around JPCEG  it “smells” like Christmas! Spicy warm aromas of baking gingerbread people. Enticing wafts of sugar cookies in holiday shapes of angels and trees. Minty peppermint garnishes on whoopee pies, red velvet cakes and white chocolate dipped shortbread I bet you wish smell-o-vision existed right about now!

In the holiday spirit of giving, we can’t keep all this baked goodness to ourselves, so we are sharing one of our holiday favorites.

Cranberry-Caramel Bars

1 cup fresh cranberries
2 Tbls. sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups uncooked regular oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine melted
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup flour
1 12. oz. jar of caramel sauce
 

Stir together cranberries and 2 Tbls. sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine 2 cups flour and next 4 ingredients; stir in melted butter until crumbly.  Reserve 1 cup of the mixture.  Press the remaining mixture into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with pecans and cranberry mixture. (can add 10 oz. of chopped dates also if desired)  Stir together caramel sauce and 1/3 cup flour and spoon over cranberries.

Sprinkle top with reserved 1 cup of flour mixture.  Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.  Cut into bars,  Yields: 2 dozen.