...Lovin' From The Oven

Cranberry Cream. This is my weakness.

Woke up at 4 am and started baking right away. I have a lot of people to feed today. Not the least of which are our wonderful volunteers.

PeanutButter Creams all packed up
and ready for hungry volunteers.

Last night I made a quadruple batch of my PeanutButter Cream bars. (My husband and I refer to them as cobbler although in reality I think they are really more like a crisp.) They do best when they have had time to rest and for the flavors to meld. They are my husband's favorite.

This morning was a quadruple batch of Cranberry Cream bars. Almost like a cheesecake with a top and bottom crust. So creamy and smooth with just a touch of sour bite from the whole cranberries. This one is my favorite and is my weakness. Men really like it, but women flip out for it. Some like this one hot from the oven but I love it after it has cooled in the fridge for a while and it becomes so smooth and creamy.


Last (baking right now), is the original recipe that I created so many years ago from left-overs from a thanksgiving dinner. When you put so much work into making whole cranberry sauce and there is so much left you just can't bear to throw it all away. I always have Granny Smiths and oatmeal and baking supplies and thus a star is born. This one is filled with piping hot, thinly sliced Granny Smith apples and is the best when fresh out of the oven and warm. It makes a wonderful breakfast. When I had trouble waking up my oldest daughter in the morning I found that baking a batch and wafting a freshly cut piece under her nose would get her instant attention.

I love to feed people, especially that moment when they try one of these three recipes for the first time. They have no idea what they are in for. The wonderful thing is that these bars/cobblers/crisps are full of good things that taste wonderful but provide good energy for hard work. Think of a morning bowl of oatmeal jazzed up with fruit or peanut butter. I hope that these small tokens that have been baked with love will show our volunteers how much they mean to us and that they have become part of our family.

Snuck a picture of the CranApple as it baked. The juices from the apples and cranberries have started bubbling and you can smell the carmelization in the crust.