Cherry Power Bars

Submitted by ReeLani

"These sound so good. Haven't tried them yet, but this is a recipe I got from Michigan's Cherry Marketing Institute."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 32 bars

ingredients

• 3⁄4 cup butter or 3/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups oatmeal (uncooked)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.
3. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 3 to 4 minutes, or until well mixed.
4. Combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
5. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and beat on low speed until crumbly.
6. Spread 2/3 of the oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
7. Press down to make a firm layer.
8. Put cherry pie filling in an electric blender or food processor and purée until smooth.
9. Pour cherry purée into a medium saucepan.
10. Combine granulated sugar and cornstarch and stir into cherry purée.
11. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until mixture is thick and bubbly.
12. Stir in almond extract.
13. Pour cherry mixture over oat layer and spread evenly.
14. Top with remaining oat mixture.
15. Bake 30- 35 minutes or until golden brown.
16. Let cool and cut into bars.

Reviews

[Sherrybeth]

These were absolutely delicious. I ate 2 when they came out of the oven. The base had a good, firm texture. I processed the cherries in my food processor, then heated according to direction and it only took about 10 minutes for the cherry mixture to thicken and bubble, even on a low temperature. The topping was more crumbly than the bottom, but it wasn't "packed" onto the cherry layer. The almond flavoring just added an extra 'umph' to the cherries making this an all around GREAT dish IMO. Girlie, I'm holding YOU responsible for the 5 lbs. I'm going to gain eating a whole pan of these!!! GREAT RECIPE....One you will use over and over again!!!

 

[Marg (CaymanDesigns)]

These are good but more of a dessert cookie than a breakfast granola fruit bar IMO. The topping makes them very crumbly and so they can not be eaten "on the go" without making a very big mess. When I made the cherry layer I just put the pie filling in the pan and used my hand blender on them. That worked great. Trying to heat them on low was taking forever so I finally turned the heat up to medium and I still had to stir for over 20 minutes before the mixture was bubbly. The recipe worked well though and I'm sure you could use other pie fillings to alter the flavor. Thanks!

 

[Kim D.]

Great bars! I followed the directions exactly. I took these to work for our weekly "Friday Breakfast" and everyone loved them. Several co-workers asked for the recipe, so I'd day there were a hit! Thanks ReeLani for another great recipe!