Saturday, May 9, 2009

Saying Happy Mother's Day with Honey Mixed Fruit Bars


The phone is ringing.

"Hello."

"Aunt Gin," it is Ellie." (my eleven year old niece)

"Hi Ellie. What are doing?"

"Nothing. What are you bringing for dessert for Nana (my mother) for Mother's Day?" asked Ellie.

"Oh, you want me to make dessert for Nana?"

"Yes," said Ellie. "Something you have never made for us before. Something special."

I present to you, Happy Mother's Day Honey Mixed Fruit Bars!

Honey Mixed Fruit Bars

(Filling)
2 cups dried mixed fruit
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 apple juice
2 tablespoons butter
the juice of one lemon
1/2 salt
2 eggs

(Base)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 13x9 inch Pan with cooking spray. (2) In a saucepan, cook all filling ingredients except egg over medium heat about 15 minutes. Cool. Pour mixture into food processor. cover and process pulsing on and off until fruit in finely chopped. Add egg and pulse processor until mixed. (3) In a large bowl, mix all base ingredients with fork until crumbly. (4) Pat half of the mixture in bottom of pan. Spread filling over base and sprinkle with remaining oat mixture. Press lightly. (5) Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool completely. Cut into bars.
(6) ENJOY!!

These bars are unique, versatile, moist and big in flavor. They are a great choice for an everyday treat or good enough for special occasions like Mother's Day. You certainly can change the filling flavor to your liking. My friend makes them with dried apples. She serves her bars with a scoop of frozen vanilla yogurt and homemade Carmel topping. They are out of this world delicious.

Make sure that you cool these bars completely before trying to cut them. I am always too eager to have one, so I cut them way before they are cool. Do you know what I end up with? A BIG MESS! Of course they are good with the standards, coffee, milk and hot chocolate. They are great to take on picnics, boating, hiking, and book club. If you take them to book club, you might as well take copies of the recipe because you will be asked.

Have a wonderful day!

25 comments:

  1. Hey Ginger, my mother is Nana too! These bars look sooo good. I think they should be breakfast food heh heh. Maybe for Mother's Day tomorrow so I don't have to have cold cereal in bed!

    Hmmm. I have all the ingredients; I think I'll go throw them together really quick while I'm on your page.

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  2. No apple juice left, but I'm using grapefruit and dried citrus type fruits and dates. Filling smells great so far.

    I guessed the honey and water as being 1/2 cups each.

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  3. Omg I must stop eating the filling or I won't have any left.

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  4. Ooooh, these sound sinfully good. Look at all those delicious ingredients. YUMM. And with ice cream and caramel sauce....oh my!

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  5. what a great way to say Happy Mother's Day!

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  6. Awww, your niece is so cute. What a great combination of flavors - they look fantastic!

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  7. Just stopping by to tell you they turned out great! No cold cereal for me tomorrow! My 7-year-old can bring me one of these in bed instead.

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  8. I love your blog and these look great! Thanks for stopping by to visit me!

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  9. Oh Gin, these sound so awesome! (my mom's Nana, too)...and I bet my mom would love these. I hope I have everything at the house to bake up a batch! Have a great Mother's Day, my friend :)

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  10. Happy Mothers Day! I was thinking of baking today, now that is a Mothers Day Miracle here, lol

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  11. Wow! Those look great! Wish I could be baking but I'm on vacation :(

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  12. ohh. those sound nice and light and delicious!

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  13. Gosh these look delicious! I love the look of the crumble on the top, I bet they were a nice treat for the family! Yum :)

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  14. These bars look really delicious! :)

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  15. Your bars looks tasty and chewy will you send some my way.

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  16. These look incredible, all of the different ingredient combinations you listed sound tasty too. I'd like to share your recipe with our readers :). Please let me know if you're interested. You can email me at sophie@keyingredient.com. Have a great week! Happy Baking!

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  17. This sounds really wonderful! I've got a couple more goodies to make before preschool is over...this one hits the spot!

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  18. That's a great compliment that she wants you to bake for her! I'm sure the bars were delicious.

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  19. Wow, no way could you turn down a neice that wants you to bake for everyone. What a compliment! Looks like you did not disappoint either! These bars look fantastic!

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  20. Aw, how sweet is your niece to call to make sure the desserts come from the best kitchen in the family...I love that! I would find these bars absolutely addictive.

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  21. I am getting behind on my commenting! These look so great! I love bars with fruit and oats. I have a recipe I would like to try this week too!

    Have a wonderful day!

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  22. I would hate to think I almost missed this one, they look incredibly tasty.

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  23. Hi, I'm just discovering your site and this recipe looks like just what I've been looking for, I think my little ones would really enjoy this!

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