All year round I work hard to feed my family healthy, nutritious meals. Around the holidays I relax the rules and pull out all the family favorites. This year my younger sister won't be spending Thanksgiving with us so she's visiting for Veteran's Day weekend instead. It was the perfect opportunity to make an early batch of her Thanksgiving favorite. It's a baked bar recipe that is both sweet and tart and makes a wonderful accompaniment to a cup of coffee any time of day. I'm not a baker but even I can whip these delicious bites up so they're a winner every time. And, if all the butter in them starts to get me down, I think about all the antioxidants in those locally grown cranberries!
Cranberry Squares
In a bowl mix and spread on the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan:
2 cups of (Massachusetts-grown if possible) whole cranberries (wash and drain them but allow them to be a little bit wet so the sugar sticks to them)
½ cup of sugar
½ cup of chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans work well) If you want to make my sister happy, you better leave the nuts out.In another bowl mix:
1 ½ cups of melted and cooled butter (yes, that’s right, 3 whole sticks)
2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
4 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Mix above ingredients and spread on top of the cranberries. Bake at 325-350 degrees for 1 hour.
Enjoy!
