Young Cooking

We fell in love with this wholesome treats when we were “soaring” in Colorado. I know the combination sounds a little strange, but they are amazing. You’ll have to trust me on this one. I modified the recipe slightly – I didn’t used dates (eew, I’m not that old), and I used homemade caramel instead of store bought.

1. Mix together the cranberries and sugar, and set aside.

   1 1/2 cup	dried cranberries
   2 Tbsp	sugar

    

2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, dried oats, sugar, and brown sugar.

   2 cups	flour
   1/2 tsp	baking soda
   2 cups	dried oats
   1/2 cup	brown sugar
   1/2 cup	white sugar

    

3. Add melted butter to the flour mixture until nice and crumbly. Set 1 1/2 cups of this mixture aside for the toping, the remaining will be used for the crust.

   1 cup

   melted butter

     

4. Press the flour mixture into a 9″x13″ greased pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. while the crust is baking, make the caramel sauce. On medium heat, cook the butter and brown sugar, once combined add the heavy cream. Let it cool. There will be extra caramel, so we usually bottle it for later.

   1/2 cup	butter
   1 cup	brown sugar
   1/2 cup	heavy cream

    

6. Over low heat in a nonstick pan, toast the pecans. Chop them into tiny pieces

   3/4 cup

   pecans

    

7. Time to construct the bars; spread the pecans and cranberries over the crust. Cover with caramel sauce and then the remaining flour mixture.

   1 cup

   caramel sauce

      

8. Bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbly. Let them cool slightly before eating.