Cranberry-Orange Bars

This recipe originally came from a free recipe card in Safeway - I have changed it a little bit to suit my tastes. I absoltutely love this combination of flavors! These are more tart and tangy than they are sweet - you could use a little more sugar if you wanted a sweeter bar. These are so perfect for breakfast - whenever I have guests staying over and fresh cranberries I whip this up and it is always a hit! Prep time includes cooling time.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 12-24
• Yields: 24 bars

Ingredients

• 2  large eggs
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup  melted butter
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2  cups fresh cranberries
• 1  cup  chopped walnuts
• 1  orange

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9x13 baking pan. Zest and juice the orange.
2. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Stir in the sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon and ginger until smooth. Batter will be very thick - use a little of the orange juice to thin it slightly - I usually use about a tablespoon of the orange juice for this. ( I have also just used store-bought orange juice and ate the rest of the orange after zesting instead of juicing it!).
3. Fold in the cranberries, walnuts and orange zest.
4. Spread batter into the prepared baking pan - it should be pretty thick and stiff, do your best to spread it evenly over the bottom of the pan.
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted near the middle (not into a cranberry!) comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Cut into bars and serve warm or cool completely. Plan for 1-2 bars per serving.