Raspberry-Blueberry Oat Bars

I was so proud of myself on Saturday. That's when I baked these and I even took the picture the very same day. Shocking, I know. Yet here it is, Wednesday, and I'm finally getting my butt into gear and posting. Oops. And I don't think there's even a valid excuse this time, outside of plain laziness.

Things have been going very well in the meat-free department. There are definitely some challenges at times, but overall, I'm feeling positive. And I'm feeling BETTER in general, too. Which is the biggest thing, as far as I'm concerned.

This is another recipe from the Vegetarian Times website, which I've had bookmarked for quite some time. Only did a few alterations - adding some nutmeg and allspice - and swapping out the plain jam for the Queen's Blend jam from Ikea. Raspberry and blueberry. It's the best. Get thee to an Ikea to buy some. (The Daim chocolates are yum, too) :)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
1 cup raspberry jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Coat 9-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 1-3/4 cups oats.

Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread raspberry jam over the batter with back of spoon. Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Peach Oatmeal Bars

Everyone has one of those cabinets where, no matter how hard you try, things just seem to get lost in there for some time, right? Right?? Comfort me here, okay? :)

So in an attempt to find something completely unrelated to baking, it was discovered that I still possessed a jar of peach preserves from Harry and David. They weren't there too long. Darcy (Dave's older sister) sent us a gift box from H&D for Christmas. So, they were still good. I bookmarked this recipe from Vegetarian Times probably around that same time, and somehow the two met in my mind in a moment that could only be described as fateful luck. :D

The recipe came together like a dream, with my only change being the addition of some nutmeg and ginger, figuring it would compliment the peach preserves. Which, yes, it did. When I took the pictures for this post, admittedly, I ate two of the display models afterwards. But what good models they were! ;)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
1 cup peach preserves/jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking dish.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 1-3/4 cups oats. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread peach jam over the batter with back of spoon. Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack, before cutting into bars.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Triangles

What a mouthful!

A very long time ago (this could be over a year ago, we can't remember), Dave said that he was interested in oatmeal cookies... but with certain, um, prerequisites.

1. No raisins. He's one of those "get those raisins out of my cookies" kind of guys.
2. It had to have peanut butter.
3. It had to have chocolate chips.

When I set out to find something to make yesterday, I had Dave in mind. It was his first day back to work after a week of vacation/work around the house, so something peanut buttery was a must. Out of accident, really, I wound up clicking on a link I've had bookmarked since the first conversation of oatmeal cookies happened. The Canadian Baker posted a yummy-sounding recipe back in '05. (Does this date the conversation? Perhaps.) But you guys all know that I don't like making cookies all that often. So bar form was created. And then I decided to cut 'em in triangles for a change of pace.

The end results? A chewy, sturdy bar that packs a lot of flavor into a bite or two. More positive reviews than negative, at least. Dave's kinda ehh on them (poo!), but they've also been "reborn" with ice cream, both as a base and crumbled over the top. Yum! :)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups oats (I used the old fashioned kind)
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Beat butter, peanut butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until completely incorporated. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until combined. Stir in oats and chips. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 375F for 22-27 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool in pan before cutting into triangles.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Before I get into reading another book (have I mentioned that I'm as much of an avid reader as I am a baker? So far, I've read 114 books this year alone), I'm going to post about the other bars I made yesterday.

Oh, as a quick aside, the pumpkin you saw in the previous picture and the one you'll see with these bars, his name is George. And George went through Pumpkin Puberty tonight, with Dave guiding him through....



Isn't he cute? I'm very proud of both of them. ;)

Alright. Onto the food. It was a Hershey weekend, as this came up while searching for brownies. Dave loves the Heath Toffee Bits and Chocolate, so I thought he'd enjoy these. At this point, I don't seem to recall anything particular in the making of them. LOL (It's been a long day) Oh! I did a half-batch, that's what I changed! Oh, goodness. Anyways, my mom really likes them. They're very soft, and using both the toffee and the chocolate, it gives it a little bit more sweetness. I'd make 'em again, I think. :)



Ingredients:
3/4 cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups oats
4 oz. Heath Bits with Chocolate, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Set aside a handful of the Heath bits. Stir remaining toffee bits and oats into batter (batter will be stiff). Spread batter into prepared pan; sprinkle reserved toffee bits over surface.

Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars.