Cranberry-Nut Bars - pecan

Method

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Spread the nuts on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven to toast.
• Grease and flour a nine-inch-square brownie pan and set aside.
• Rinse the cranberries well under running water; pick them over and discard any that are spoiled.
• Place the cranberries, sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• As soon as the cranberries have popped, remove from the heat and set aside.
• When the nuts are toasted, remove them from the oven and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, chop them coarsely or process them in a food processor.
• In a bowl, mix together the chopped nuts, oatmeal, flour and brown sugar.
• Add the butter, cut in small pieces, and using the fingers or a wooden spoon, work the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a crumb-textured mixture.
• Place half the oatmeal mixture in the bottom of the brownie pan, smoothing it out to the edges of the pan.
• Cover the oatmeal mixture with the cranberry sauce and top the sauce with the remaining oatmeal mixture.
• Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.
• Cut in bars and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.
• Keep any leftovers in a sealed cookie tin.