Today’s been busy, but I managed to fit in two new cookies including these Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars from Cooking Light. I love the combination of cranberries and sour cream, so when I saw this recipe last night in the November issue, I knew right away it would be today’s cookie. After running to the store for Craisins and an orange, I was able to make these in less than 10 minutes.
So the big question, do they taste light? Well, not really. They’re awfully sweet and the ratio of cranberries to sour cream is pretty high, but hey – they’re cranberry bars so I can’t complain. In fact, I think I like them enough to serve at Teacher’s Appreciation tomorrow, but I’m going to label them “Cooking Light Oatmeal-Cranberry Bars” so people will know they’re light.
I followed the recipe as written, but used my new Smart Balance Butter Blend Sticks (excellent, btw!) and white whole wheat flour.
These are very good! I've added the adapted recipe below. If you are looking for a non-light version, check out this one on Betty Crocker. The Betty Crocker version is designed for a 9x13 inch pan.
Recipe
Cooking Light Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 4.5 oz weight
- 1 cup quick-cooking oats
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons butter melted
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
Topping
- 1-⅓ cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- 1 large egg white lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º. Grease bottom of an 8 inch square or 11x7 inch rectangular baking dish.
- Whisk together flour and next 5 ingredients. Add butter and orange juice to flour mixture, stirring until moist and crumbly. I recommend doing this in a stand mixer with the paddle, but you can also do it by hand.
- Reserve ½ c oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
- To prepare topping, combine cranberries, sour cream, sugar and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Spread cranberry mixture over prepared crust; sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over filling.
- Bake at 325º F for 35 to 40 minutes or until edges are golden. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Chef Basket says
Cranberry and oatmeal seem to find their way into various recipes. This is probably because they taste so good together. These bars look like a great dessert or snack. Thank you for posting.
Sara says
I made these today with only a couple changes like using some light butter and a bit of splenda to reduce the sugar. They are great! There was plenty of crust and the filling is delicious. I added a sprinkle of chocolate chips to half the pan and it's nice but not necessary at all.
Do you think these would freeze well? Should they stored in the fridge or at room temp and how long do you think they would keep outside the freezer? Thanks for your insights!
Anna says
Hi Sara,
I used an 11x7 inch rectangular glass dish. I almost always use metal dishes, but I could tell that Cooking Light had formulated this for a glass dish or casserole because they used a 325 oven temp and called for a baking "dish" as opposed to a pan.
As for the yogurt, I personally would not make that substitution. Along with the possibility of it curdling and drying out, it just might not taste very good.
You might want to try these even though you don't really like sour cream. There are so many cranberries packed into it that the sour cream taste isn't that strong.
Sara says
Do you think you could sub yogurt for the sour cream? I have yogurt but no sour cream and I don't really like sour cream...but these look delicious and light!
Did you have success making in an 11 by 7 or did you find that there was not enough crust?
Sarah says
Oh these look so good! I'll have to try them soon...I'm glad you tried them with white whole wheat flour. Yum!
Katrina says
I bought some of that SB Butter Spread today. I have tons of dried cranberries--love them on salad. Now I'll have to go back to the store for an orange. Oh well, I've got a few other things on my list for my 5th graders Halloween party that I signed up to bring treats to (they're supposed to be "healthy")--whatever, it's Halloween people!
These bars look really yummy.
snookydoodle says
these look yummy although they don t look so light 🙂
Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer says
This looks so great I am heading to store to grab what I need to make these killer bars!!!