Here’s a bar cookie that she will love! Imagine a sour cream and cranberry filling sandwiched between two buttery cookie layers. (Actually, the top is more like a crumble.) Use this cookie for any special occasion—Mother’s Day, a family get-together, or everyday. Save the recipe for the holidays—this will make a very fine Christmas cookie.

Cranberry Sour Cream Bars Recipe

Mix up the butter, brown sugar, and oat base. Press part of the mixture into the pan for the bottom layer and save the rest for the topping. Mix up the cranberry—sour cream—orange filling. Put them together and bake.

2 cups dried cranberries
hot water

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
zest from one large orange
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1. Soak the cranberries in very hot water for five minutes. Drain in a colander, pat dry, and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add the oats, 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, baking soda, nutmeg and mix until combined.
3. Set two cups of this oat mixture aside for the topping. Pat the remaining mixture into an ungreased 8 1/2 x 13-inch pan as the bottom crust. Bake for twelve minutes or until the crust starts to brown.
4. Mix the cranberries with the sour cream, granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, orange zest, vanilla, and egg. Pour over the baked crust.
5. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the cranberry layer.
6. Bake for 30 to 32 minutes or until the top is browned and the filling set. Let cool completely and cut into bars.

Baker’s notes: You may line the pan with parchment paper and lift the baked cake entirely from the pan to a cutting board. On a cutting board, you can trim and cut the cake into uniformly-sized cookies.

Cold-processed cranberries are much better than most. Cold-processed cranberries are not partially processed for juice and have more of the berry juice and pectin. They are a brighter color, juicier, with more cranberry flavor.

The longer you soak the cranberries the more of the citric acid, which gives the cranberries their zing, is leached out. If you like that zing, don’t soak them too long. If you want a mild, fruity filling, soak them a little longer.

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