We all have those events, particularly at this time of year, when we need to bring something. Bake sales, cookie swaps, parties. And you want to bring something other than the brownies or chocolate chip cookies everyone always brings (not that there is anything wrong with that). I find myself in that situation at lot. I created this alternative to be a holiday friendly, unique and delicious alternative. This started with an old fashioned recipe that used candied cherries and glace fruit, but I know not everyone is a fan, so I’ve switched it up using dried cherries. These bars are rich and buttery from the crust, with a lovely soft, chewy topping filled with fruit and a crackly top from a sprinkling of sugar. I now get requests for these at all times of the year.
If your cherries are particularly large, snip them in half. You can use dried cranberries if you prefer, or the old school way with candied cherries. I add just a hint of spice with a dash of British-style mixed spice, but pumpkin or apple pie spice is just as tasty. Or use cinnamon on its own, or with a dash of nutmeg. And feel free to swap the almonds for pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts. You get a cleaner edge to the sliced filling if you mark it while it’s still warm, but do not fully slice the bars until they are completely cooled.
Ingredients
- For the Base
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold butter
- For the Toppin
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
½ cup dried cherries
¼ cup slivered almonds
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, mixed spice or cinnamon
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Directions
- For the Base
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick foil or parchment paper with some overhang for lifting out the cooked bars.
- Put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a mini food processor and pulse to combine. Cut the cold butter into pieces and drop into the bowl, then pulse until the butter is combined with the flour. Dump the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly into a solid layer. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
- For the Topping
- Put the coconut, dates, cherries and almonds in a mixing bowl and toss to combine. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, spice and salt and stir to combine well. I find it useful to mix the ingredients with my good clean hands as well to break up any clumps of coconut, dried fruit or sugar. Break the eggs in the center of the dry ingredients and stir them a little to break the yolks, the stir the entire mixture until it is evenly damp and coated with egg. It may seem like this won’t happen, but with a little elbow grease and stirring it will. You want no stray dry ingredients showing. Spread the filling evenly over the base. Again, I find damp fingers a great wat to press the mixture into an even layer all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly over the top and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. While they are still warm, use a bench scraper or long knife to score the filling into bars but wait until they are cool to slice them completely.
- The bars will keep in an airtight container for a few days.
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