Cranberry Almond Bars is a fantastic Paula Deen recipe. This festive and elegant holiday baking dessert bar has a cranberry and pineapple preserves layer, a sliced almond layer, and an oatmeal streusel topping and crust. These lovely cookies are wonderful for holiday baking and Christmas Cookie Exchanges.
Spray a 10x15” baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.
Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
Reserve 1 ½ cups crumb mixture.
Press remaining crumb mixture firmly into bottom of prepared pan.
In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, and water.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Cook, stirring constantly, for 5-10 minutes or until mixture is thickened.
Stir in pineapple preserves.
Spread cranberry mixture over crumb mixture in pan.
Top evenly with almonds.
Sprinkle reserved 1 ½ cups crumb mixture over almonds.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for 1 hour before cutting into bars.
Notes
NOTE: You may want to freeze or refrigerate the bars first before cutting.NOTE: I doubled the filling ingredients because the original amounts seemed too skimpy.NOTE: Pineapple preserves are not always easy to find. Walmart carries a Smuckers brand occasionally.