Lingonberry Oatmeal Bars

Lingonberry Oatmeal Bars
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.

I have wanted to have a home with a pantry in it for a long time, because I wanted to be like those tv cooks who walk the camera to their pantry and have all these magical ingredients inside from their travels and shopping trips. Since we bought our house, I have intentionally snagged uncommon food different places we go, and let it sit until I hit inspiration.

A weekend trip to IKEA in Atlanta a few weeks ago meant that I brought home a jar of lingonberry preserves. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling productive, and one of the things I did was to sit down and finally go through a stack of magazines that I never seem to have time for. The picnic section of July/August 2008 Vegetarian Times had this recipe for Raspberry Oatmeal Bars that included the instruction to "Feel free to try this recipe with different jams," and my brain started going through what was in my pantry. I knew I had English ginger preserves, but wasn't sure they would come through the heaviness of the bar cookie. I thought I still had something left over from one of the NC farms we visited over the summer, but then I remembered the lingonberry. Now, I had no idea what lingonberries actually tasted like, but I suspected they were slightly tart, and I love cranberries with oatmeal, and decided to give it a go.

It turns out that lingonberry preserves brought a lot of depth to this recipe. The slight tartness let the sweetness of the cookie have a flavor to play off of, and the way the berries still slightly explode in your mouth made for a fun eating experience.


In fact, worried that I was boring people with my pictures just of food, here I am taking a bite of one. They certainly didn't last long in my house.

Lingonberry Oatmeal Bars
adapted from Vegetarian Times, July/August 2008

Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp. baking soda
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 large egg
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1/2 tsp. almond extract
* 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
* 1 cup lingonberry preserves*

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
3. Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla and almond extracts until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 13/4 cups oats. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread raspberry jam over the batter with back of spoon.
4. Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam. Bake 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool, then cut into bars.

*And of course, substitute any jam or preserves here! I used less than a cup.

Categories: Cookies, Lingonberries, Oats