Date Cranberry Pecan Bars

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chopped pecans minus 2 tbsp.
2 Tbsp. ground flax
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Add dates, and cranberries. Put 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed in a 3/4 measuring cup. Fill rest of cup with chopped pecans, add to above mixture. Stir until well mixed. Beat eggs until foamy. Add vanilla to eggs. Then add egg mixture to dry ingredients. Stir well. The batter will be thick.

Place batter into a greased 8″ square baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minute until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Kyle loves to add vanilla ice cream and fresh pineapple to the bars, I think they are amazing on their own. Either way it's a recipe you have to try!

Sweet Scones

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup currants, raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender, blend in the butter until crumbly. Add the milk and dried fruit. Stir with a wooden spoon. With your hands, form the dough into a ball. If it is too dry, add 1 tbsp. of milk. If it is too wet, add 1 tbsp. flour. Dust a clean table top with flour. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin. Using a round cookie cutter or tho open end of a drinking glass, cut the scones into circles. I used the dough scraps to make more scones by patting the dough into a round, flat circle and cutting into four wedges. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until they start to brown. Let cool 5 minutes, then serve.

We served them the Scottish way, with jam and whipping cream spread on the insides and put together like sandwiches. We had a Scottish afternoon tea party today while studying the country of Scotland.

Granola Bars

2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup peanuts, crushed (I used 3/4 cup sliced almonds, 1/8 - 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut and 1/4 cup ground flax seed. I roasted the almonds but not the flax seed or coconut)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit (I used dried cranberries)

Mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) for your granola by lining it with waxed paper lightly sprayed with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly.

By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Oh, and turn off your oven, because you’re finished with it now.

Mix everything REALLY WELL because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them.Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.

Then, open the waxed paper …

And carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper. Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like.

Feel free to add whatever add ins your family likes, ie: chocolate chips, raisins, and other fruit or nuts.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. For best results, take them out while they are still doughy. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Note: I doubled the recipe – used 2 c. Spelt flour and 1 c. White flour, and one whole white Easter bunny chopped up.

Tangy Cranberry Bread for Bread Machines

REGULAR LOAF

3/4 cup cranberry juice
2 cup white bread flour
1 tbsp dry milk
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup cranberries, dried
2 tbsp orange marmalade
1 tsp fast rise yeast **or**
2 tsp active dry yeast

LARGE LOAF

1 1/4 cup cranberry juice
3 cup white bread flour
2 tbsp dry milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup cranberries, dried
3 tbsp orange marmalade
2 tsp fast rise yeast **or**
3 tsp active dry yeast

Tangy Cranberry Bread For Bread Machine Directions
Dried cranberries are sometimes called "ruby raisins." SUCCESS HINTS:
Place dried cranberries away from water if baking on delayed time
cycle.