Fruit Bars Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Coat a 10x14-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Combine brown sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Mix together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and allspice in a separate bowl. Gradually pour flour mixture into the butter mixture; blend well. Stir in oats and mix with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Press 1/2 of the oat batter firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Spread strawberries and blueberries over the crust and sprinkle with remaining oat batter. Press slightly to flatten batter and fruit. Bake until edges are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan. Cut into 24 bars.

Steps:

• In mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking soda.
• Cut in margarine/butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of the flour mixture.
• Press remaining flour mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9x9x2 baking pan.
• Spread with desired filling.
• Sprinkle with reserved flour mixture.
• Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden.
• Cool in pan on wire rack.
• Cut into bars.
• FILLING OPTIONS:.
• ***Following cookbook's 'shortcut' suggestion of substituting 10 oz jar of preserves in place of homemade filling, I used a store-bought, very dense, low-moisture apple butter (like a thick jam). I have also tried it with blueberry preserves but the preserves were too moist--it made the bars sticky not good.***.
• RAISIN FILLING:.
• In medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Add 1 cup raisins. Cook & stir until thickened & bubbly.
• APPLE-CINNAMON FILLING:.
• Peel/core/chop 2 medium apples. In medium saucepan, combine apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and a dash of ground cloves. Bring apple mixture to a boil; reduce heat & simmer 8-10 minutes or until apples are very tender.
• APRICOT-COCONUT FILLING:.
• In medium saucepan, combine 1 cup diced dried apricots and 3/4 cup water. Bring apricot mixture to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon all purpose flour. Stir into apricot mixture. Cook and stir 1 minute more or until mixture is very thick. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Gently heat the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a pan until the sugar and butter have both melted. Stir the oats, raisins, walnuts, seeds and cranberries into the pan until coated in the butter.
• Spoon half the oaty mix into a traybake tin (23 x 23cm or thereabouts). Scatter the apricots over the top, then top with the remaining oat mix. Pack the mix down well and smooth with the back of a metal spoon. Bake for 35 mins or until dark golden. Leave to cool completely before cutting into 16 bars with a sharp knife.

Steps:

• Place peanuts in a food processor; pulse to the consistency of bread crumbs. Add oats; pulse just until mixed. Add raisins and dates and process just until mixed, scraping down sides as needed. Add coconut; process thoroughly until mixture is finely chopped.
• Press mixture into a round glass pie dish; refrigerate until set, 40 minutes to 1 hour. Cut into squares.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Base: In a bowl mix together flour, rolled oats and cinnamon.
• In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Blend in flour mixture. Set aside 1 ¼ cups of mixture. Press remainder evenly into 13 by 9 inch, ungreased, cake pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
• Topping: In a bowl mix together oranges, banana, apples, raisins, orange juice and cinnamon. Spread topping evenly over warm base, leaving a space about a ¼ inch from the edges. Sprinkle reserved base mixture over top, patting down gently. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until golden brown. Place pan on a rack to cool completely, then cut into bars.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolk. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in almonds.
• In a small bowl, whisk jam to loosen. (Stirring the jam with a fork or a whisk will enable it to spread smoothly over the dough.) Gently press half of dough into bottom of prepared dish. With the back of a spoon, gently spread jam over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border so the jam doesn't stick to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle remaining dough over top all the way to the edges; press gently to form top layer.
• Bake until top is golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely in dish. Cut into bars with a serrated knife.