Elsie's Pineapple Oatmeal Bars

Submitted by SrtaMaestra

"A sweet lady at the church I attended growing up used to make these for potlucks and church dinners. She once gave me the recipe on a card, which I've long since misplaced, but I had copied the recipe into another cookbook and have made it many times. Every time I take these bars somewhere, people ask for the recipe. They're also great made with zucchini pineapple (the recipe is also posted here on the zaar, by another chef). I like to cut the sugar down by at least 1/4 cup, because the pineapple is sweet enough, and I've always made these with real butter. Quick oats or old-fashioned will work, but the old-fashioned does make it a little more challenging to press the crust into the pan. I intend to try a mixture of the two at some point, but haven't ever done it. These would be great for a bake sale, potluck, or gifts. The crust does tend to be a little soft, so I'd be sure to package with something firm underneath, rather than just wrapping in plastic. I've seen other recipes that add nuts, coconut, etc. I'm sure that would be great as well, but this is just the basic, buttery, oatmeal and brown sugar crust and topping. Yum!"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 24

ingredients

• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (Do NOT drain)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 1⁄2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 3⁄4 cups oatmeal
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3⁄4 cup butter or 3/4 cup margarine, softened

directions

1. For the filling, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and mix well. Add the pineapple and its juice, and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Cool.
2. For the crust, combine oatmeal, salt, brown sugar, flour, and baking powder together. work in butter until mixture is uniform.
3. Reserve 1 1/4 cup of crumb mixture, and press the rest into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan, working up edges just slightly to help hold filling off of the edge of the pan.
4. Pour filling over oatmeal mixture and spread evenly.
5. Sprinkle reserved crumbs evenly over filling.
6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. cool and cut into bars.

Reviews

[secretcook]

so good. You have to let these cool before you eat them or they just fall apart. Wonderful recipe.

 

[UCALady]

I haven't made these yet, but I have been looking for this recipe for years. My mother made these. They were a favorite for the family and for potlucks, and hers were the only ones I ever tasted. However, I lost her recipe. This looks as if it will be close, if not perfect, so as soon as I can buy a can of pineapple, I'll be trying it, and then will do any tweaking to get it as close to hers as possible. Thank you for the recipe!

 

[franko F.]

I was raised in a small ranch town in south Texas and grocery store bakery had these, when they shut down I had to settle for my mom's make shift recipe. These are a lot closer and I might tweak it to get closer. I need the crust to be softer and fluffier.

 

[henschlm]

These are very good but very sweet. The second time I made these, I cut the sugar in half both in the filling and in the crust and they were much better. I will make these again. Real butter offers the best flavor...yum.

 

[ClareVH]

I made these for a potluck at work and they were a huge success. I doubled the recipe (and reduced sugar as suggested) and baked in a 12 x 17-inch rimmed baking pan. It made 48 decent sized bars. I added chopped macadamia nuts and coconut to the reserved topping, but otherwise followed the recipe as posted. I would definitely make these again, but since almost everyone asked for the recipe, maybe I won't have to :).