Blackberry Oatmeal Bars -- A Small Deviation from a Pioneer Woman Recipe

Blackberry Oatmeal Bars

(one small step away from Pioneer Woman's recipe)

Of course I follow Pioneer Woman on Facebook.  Of course I had to make these yummy bars as soon as I saw the recipe link posted on FB this morning, from her show that aired this morning.  Only, I didn't have any strawberry jam in the house (SHOCK & AWE, I KNOW!), so I had to use what I had (fortunately!), which was Sugar Free Seedless Blackberry Jam.

Yes, I made this at 8am this morning.  Yes, we ate it for breakfast instead of as a dessert or snack.  And it was DELICIOUS!  If I were a coffee drinker, I'm sure it would be divine with coffee.  But I'm not.  So I just drank my standard fare---ice water.

Yes, this was supposed to cool completely before I cut into it.  But who can wait when it's all warm and heavenly and smells SO good???  This would be excellent with vanilla ice cream, but I couldn't do that for breakfast.  Sorry.  That would've been a bit much.

Want her recipe?  Ok.  Here it is:

1-3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces (plus a little more to butter your baking dish)

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 cups quick oats

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

(oh, and I added a bit of cinnamon, just because)

One 10-12 ounce jar of strawberry (or blackberry or whatever you like) preserves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan.

Mix together the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with the strawberry preserves. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake until light brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely, and then cut into squares. 

 There you have it!  Now, go and make it!  You won't be sorry!

Mama Bear

How to Butter a Pan Without Mess!

This is the best way ever to butter a pan and NOT get messy! Take a sandwich sized ziploc bag, turn it inside out, grab hold of your un-wrapped stick of butter, and butter that pan!

When you're done buttering the pan, just turn the bag, butter and all, right side out, zip the bag, and store the butter in your fridge for the next time you need to butter a pan (or for your next big bowl of popcorn!)

Mama Bear

Recipe: Apple Streusel Bars

As I was drooling over all of the yumminess on Foodgawker.com, I happened upon a scrumptious looking recipe for Apple Streusel Bars. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE apple desserts (like Apple Dumplings from Pioneer Woman--I guarantee they are like nothing you've ever had, and they are A-MA-ZING!!!!), so I thought I'd give this recipe a try.

The recipe is from Lovin' From the Oven.

Apple Streusel Bars

SWEET PASTRY:

• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. real butter, softened (no substitutions!)
• 1 egg, beaten

APPLE FILLING:

• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. cinnamon (I used about 2 teaspoons.. I LOVE cinnamon)
• 4 c. (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples (I used 2 BIG Fuji apples)

GLAZE:

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• About 3 Tbsp. milk (whole milk is best)
• 1 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla extract)

To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles. Gently mix in beaten egg.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish (I used a 9x9) with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. Preheat oven to 350 and set aside.
To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes (mine took just less than 50 minutes). When finished, allow to cool completely.

To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract, and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Place glaze in a Ziploc bag and cut off a very small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden (you can place it in the freezer to hurry things along). Cut into bars and serve.

And the verdict is: My family LOVED them and I will DEFINITELY make them again!

Happy cooking! (Because I know you'll want to try these!)

Mama Bear