I am completely in fall-mode now. I’m serious, guys. The last few weeks have been a mish-mash of all kinds of amazing things: pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins, apple pies, homemade apple butter, cranberry oat muffins.…not to mention this fabulous round-up I shared with you a few weeks ago, and THIS one that I shared a few days ago! 😉
So I’m just saying, today’s recipe is not going to be anything out of the norm for me…..Especially, since the weather turned somewhat cooler, and it’s only deepened my craze for fall-food.
I’m slightly crazy about oats. I love ’em nice and hot in a bowl for breakfast, I love ’em in my cookies,(especially these ones!) I pretty much love them in anything. Why? Well, for one thing they are extremely good for you. They’re very filling. And I’m just crazy about that nutty flavor that oats give any baked goods.
Yep. I’d say it’s definitely time for another oatmeal recipe. Preferably in the form of a bar, with one of my all-time favorite fall ingredients: Cranberries.
This post has been long in coming: I made these bars more than a week ago to bring on our trip to Tennessee (going home, tomorrow!) They were extremely popular and disappeared in a matter of minutes.
Cranberries and oats were made to be together. The tart, soft cranberries go perfectly with the tender, nutty oats in this moist and chewy bar. And the crumb topping? Don’t even get me started..It’s sweet and crunchy with just a hint of cinnamon and it’s my favorite part!! 😀 All these amazing factors meld together to create one pretty amazing batch of bars. Bonus? They’re extremely easy and call for ingredients that you probably have in your pantry right now.
These bars are composed of three layers. The first layer is a vanilla-flavored oat crust. The second layer is a chewy cranberry/sour cream filling with a hint of orange. And the third layer is a crunchy, oat-laced crumb topping.
Here’s a step-by-step of assembling all three layers:
The crust….
The sour-cream/cranberry filling….
And the crumb topping…
Pssst…*The crust and the crumb topping are actually the same thing….just different textures* 🙂
If you desire a more crunchy crumb topping, feel free to toss some chopped walnuts or pecans in with the crumb topping. I haven’t tried this yet, because when I made these, I really wanted the focus of flavors to be on the cranberries and oats.
These bars require 40-45 minutes of bake time. (*they make your house smell like a bakery*) They should be nice and golden-brown when they are completely done. They require a complete cool-time on a wire cooling rack before digging in. I would recommend cooling them completely and then transferring to the fridge for at least 20 minutes. That 20 minutes of chill time will make them easy to cut and as a result, you’ll have nice, neat-looking squares with clean cuts.
It is necessary that you serve these bars with milk. Ohh the amazing flavor combos of these bars only get better…
Top 5 perks of these bars:
- Like I said before, they make your house smell like a bakery—a combination of fragrant vanilla, tart cranberries, citrus-y orange, and nutty oats 😀
- They make a decent-sized batch. (12 large bars)
- They travel extremely well.
- They provide the perfect energy boost you might need after a workout.
- They are just plain fun and very fall-themed!
Just love these. They’re a perrrrrfect fall-afternoon snack.
Cranberry Oatmeal Crumb Bars
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Ingredients
- Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup safflower oil
- 1/3 cup orange juice
Filling
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 3 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
- 1 large egg white
- 2 cups dried cranberries
Instructions
- 1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.
- 2. Prepare the crust: In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, coconut sugar, salt, baking soda,and cinnamon. Transfer to a food processor. Add vanilla, oil, and orange juice. Pulse several times until mixture is crumbly. Set aside 3/4 cup of crumbs for topping, press remaining crumbs in prepared pan.
- 3. Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, combine sour cream, coconut sugar, flour, vanilla, orange rind, and egg white. Stir in dried cranberries until smooth. Spread filling evenly over crust and sprinkle with reserved crumbs for topping.
- 4. Bake bars in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until golden. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Chill 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
- Yield: 1 dozen bars.
- Store bars in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
Notes
(tastes like your morning oatmeal in a muffin!)
Cranberry-Coconut Streusel Bars.
(One of my favorite snacking bars!)
(Super-soft yeast rolls with chewy cranberries and crunchy pecans)
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