Harvest Spice Bars

These are bars made from the recipe for Raisin or Date Squares, from The More With Less Cookbook. Except that this time I made them with homemade butternut squash butter as the filling. Since "Squash Squares" doesn't sound that appetizing, Ponytails suggested "Harvest Spice Bars" instead. So be it.

Nabisco Chocolate Brannies Recipe

Because any links I've given previously don't seem to go past the list of ingredients, here's the recipe for Chocolate Brannies, made with Nabisco 100% Bran Cereal.  (It came from a magazine ad for the cereal, a lot of years ago.)

Whole Grain Brannies

1 cup Nabisco 100% Bran Cereal, or another brand (like All-Bran)
2/3 cup milk
4 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate, OR 4 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (and less sugar)
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar, or less, especially if you are using semisweet chocolate chips
3 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour (or unbleached or all-purpose work fine too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9-inch square pan.

Mix cereal and milk, let stand five minutes to soften.

Heat chocolate and margarine together, in microwave or on low heat. When melted and smooth, stir in sugar.

Beat eggs.

Combine chocolate/margarine, cereal/milk, and eggs. Stir in flour.

Spread in greased 9-inch pan.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until done. Cool and cut in squares.

Fancy Fruit Bars: Vegan or Not

I made some unintentionally-vegan fruit bars tonight, using the Cinnamon Raisin Bars recipe on the Hillbilly Housewife website.  The vegan part was because somebody had eaten the last egg; but as the recipe says, it works pretty well without.  The fancy part?  I got a bag of mixed dried cherries, blueberries, and cranberries as a Christmas gift, and I used those instead of raisins, along with a few chocolate chips.  The dried berries work well in this recipe because you pour a cupful of boiling water over them (or the raisins) and let them sit a few minutes while you mix the other ingredients.

Cut in bars, eat for dessert, and send some back to university with returning offspring.  And remember to buy eggs.

And what's for dessert? Raisin squares, with one frugal addition

Tonight I made a pan of the Raisin Bars from the More-with-Less Cookbook.  These are not the same as the Hillbilly Housewife's Raisin Bars, which are also very good but which are more like flat muffins.  The MWL version is just date squares but made with raisins.  You make a filling on top of the stove by simmering raisins, water, cornstarch, a bit of sugar, and lemon juice until thickened and soft; then sandwich between two layers of oatmeal-based dough, as for date squares.  Bake for half an hour at 375 degrees, or until the top dough is the right shade of brown (the recipe says 400 degrees, but that's too hot in our oven).

The frugal twist?  I had a bit of cranberry jelly in the fridge, left from Easter, so I mixed that into the raisins at the end.  I also sprinkled the mixture with a spoonful of cinnamon-sugar before adding the top layer of dough.  It made the bars taste a bit like mince pie, but I kind of like it that way.

If you cut them and eat them while they're still warm, you'll probably have to use a fork.  If you let them sit longer, they'll cut better.