Back in the day — before emailing — I hand-delivered hard copy of the food articles I wrote to the editors of the various media I wrote for (I snail-mailed copy to the people who were further away). After some years I would deliver (or send) “floppy discs.”
Of course that ended long ago and with it, the hundreds of cookies I baked, packed, decorated and delivered to the various newsrooms during the year-end holiday season.
Today? I still bake cookies — not as many! — because I always think of the end of the calendar year as cookie season. Christmas cookies. Hanukkah cookies. New Year cookies. Kwanzaa cookies. I give a lot away to friends but there’s always a load left for us in my freezer.
Whatever you want to celebrate, cookies always win.
Like these Cranberry-Oat bars. Bonus: they’re egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Happy Everything.
Cranberry-Oat-Chocolate Chip Honey Bars
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch square cake pan, line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang (to pull the cookies out after baking) of about 3-inches on each side. Lightly grease the paper. Place the oats and almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes, stirring once or twice, or until the oats and almonds are lightly toasted and aromatic. Remove from the oven. In a medium saucepan, combine the vegetable oil, honey, maple syrup, brown sugar and salt and cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes or until hot and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the oat mixture. Stir in the cinnamon and cranberries. Let cool. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool. Remove by pulling the overhanging paper. Lift out, place on a cutting board and cut into 16-24 pieces.
Makes 16-24 cookies