Cranberry Orange Fruit Bars
These sweet-tart cranberry orange bars are a great snack for your classroom or family Thanksgiving party!
What you’ll need
1 pouch Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
½ cup firm butter or margarine
5 cups cranberries – fresh or frozen – divided
½ cup orange juice
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup orange segments
1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to make it
Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
Place cookie mix in large bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and coarse. Reserve 1 ½ cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
To prepare fruit filling & assemble bars: Combine 3 cups cranberries, orange juice, sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes. (It may take up to 10 minutes to get a thick result if you start with frozen fruit.) Stir in the remaining 2 cups cranberries, orange zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Spread the fruit filling over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved 1 ½ cups of crumb mixture over the filling. Bake for 30 minutes -- until the topping is lightly brown. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours.
Chocolate Covered Pretzels
This is a fun and yummy addition to any holiday get-together. The kids can help make them before helping to eat them!
What you’ll need
1 bag of pretzels 2 bags of chocolate chips (dark or milk)
Two teaspoons of butter Microwave-safe bowl
Kitchen tongs and spoon Waxed paper
How to make them
Melt one bag of chocolate at a time, along with one teaspoon of butter in a microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute. If more heating is necessary, microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring until smooth.
Using tongs or a spoon, quickly dip pretzels in melted chocolate or hold with tongs and spoon on chocolate, allowing the excess to run off. (Note: Chocolate can be gently reheated if it gets too hard to easily dip.)
Place dipped pretzels on wax paper lined cookie sheets. When the chocolate cools and hardens, the pretzels are ready to enjoy! You can store them in a sealable plastic bag . . . if there’s any left over.
