Fresh Fruit Bars

Submitted by justcallmetoni

"Found these on a Canadian cooking site. I love the combination of fruit and oats and wanted to keep this in a safe place for use later."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 30

ingredients

• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 banana
• 1⁄2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1⁄4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup apple, peeled, diced 1/2 inch
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1⁄2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup currants
• 1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄4 cup orange juice
• 1 1⁄2 cups oatmeal, any variety, uncooked

directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine oranges, banana, apples, raisins, orange juice, and 1 tsp of the ground cinnamon; set aside.
3. Beat together margarine, applesauce and brown sugar until creamy. Add flour, oatmeal and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, to the sugar mixture; mix well.
4. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of the batter and reserve for topping. Lightly press the remaining oat mixture onto bottom of ungreased 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven; spread fruit mixture evenly over crust to within 1/4" of the edges. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over fruit, patting gently. Bake 16-20 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cool completely; cut into bars.
7. Store loosely covered.

Reviews

[Lorrie in Montreal]

Really different from plain old date squares...I made it exactly as directed but added 1/2 cup coconut... : ) Lovely flavours!

 

[Kaarin]

A flavorfully interesting combo of fruits; this made a great winter's-coming dessert here in WI. I doubled the apples, next time I may leave out the bananas so it will last longer. I'll probably also add some salt to the crust, or use salted butter. Didn't think I'd like cooked currants, but this was really good. Thanks!