After reading through the fun and educational bits of my newest cookbook, "The Joy of Vegan Baking," I was itching to try a recipe. I flipped through to the cookies, thinking I'd find a simple recipe, and discovered the recipe for Raspberry Oatmeal Bars. Not only did they look delicious, but I also had all of the ingredients called for on hand.
Taking a handy hint from the cookbook, I measured out all the ingredients into separate small bowls first, then as I followed the recipe, added and blended the ingredients as called for. Though, I know, intellectually, it takes the same amount of time to measure ingredients anywhere in the process, I was amazed at how much more efficient this made me feel as opposed to measuring out ingredients as I went.
The recipe was really easy to work with, and I cleaned as the bars baked. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to cut the bars in half again once I cut them into 8. The larger pieces were perfect for granola bar sized treats, but I wanted to share my creation with more than 7 people, and I felt that the smaller square treats were just sweet enough, while eating a whole serving from the original recipe might be overwhelming.
My co-workers were my test audience for my baking, and the result was that I had to bring three copies of the recipe to share. The recipe calls for raspberry preserves as its filling, though mentions any fruit spread/ preserves/ butter will work. I look forward to trying this recipe again to see what other delicious combination I can come up with. All in all it was a simple, but delicious recipe, and one where we could change the fruit filling to fit the seasonally. Of course, I'd serve up the more generous sized serving if and when we start our cafe.
*Since my learning isn't limited to the times when I bake with my friends, I decided to also report the times when I bake alone. I won't go into as much detail on these entries and will identify them as "Solo Missions."
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I made these bars again as a snack for a recent vacation, and have the following additional observations:
ReplyDeleteIf you melt the butter instead of let it soften at room temperature, it is easier to work into the sugar and oats, and stays set under the fruit filling, making adding that layer easier. The down side, made it harder to get an even crumble that makes the top layer. I had to add extra oats to cover all the preserves I used.
All in all, I think I prefer the non-melted butter method, and will have to remember to set it out before I begin the process so it gets soft enough to work with.
Also, individually wrapped in cellophane, they last many days, but do start getting soggy after a while.