And the winner is....Fruit Filled Oatmeal Bars

Do you like raisins? I don't, but hubby Jim does...alot! Since I've never hesitated to bake or cook things that I don't like, I made it my mission yesterday to see if I could find a raisin bar that Jim would really like. I found two very different recipes. One is cake like and the other is fruit filled. I made both, plated them and asked him to make his choice. The fruit filled won although Jim said he liked both of them just fine. I'll share the recipes for both in case you want to make your own comparison!

The Fruit Filled Oatmeal Bar is on the left and the Old Fashioned Raisin Bar is on the right.

I told Jim to raise up the plate of the winner! Fruit Filled Oatmeal Bar it is!

Fruit-Filled Oatmeal Bar (from Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook – Pink Edition)

Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 30 minutes
Oven: 350 deg
Makes: 25 bars

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
¼ tsp baking soda
½ cup butter
1 21-oz can pie filling or 1 ½ cups fruit preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9X9X2-inch or 11X7X1 ½-inch baking pan. In a medium bowl combine the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, and baking soda. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Measure ½ cup of the crumb mixture; set aside.

Press remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of prepared baking pan. If using pie filling, coarsely snip or chop any large pieces of fruit. Spread desired filling over the crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Raisin-Filled Oatmeal Bars: Prepare as above, except substitute raisin filling for canned pie filling. To prepare raisin filing, in a medium saucepan combine ¾ cup water, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Add 1 ¼ cups raisins. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Nutrition Info: Per bar fruit or raisin variations: 113 cal, 4 g total fat (2 g sat fat), 10 mg chol., 47 mg sodium, 18 g carbs., 1 g fiber, 1 g protein.

I have a feeling that the Fruit-Filled Oatmeal Bars will become a regular in our house! The recipe itself was very easy and I could easily open some canned pie filling and make something that Jim and I will both eat!

Old Fashioned Raisin Bar (from Variety – The Children’s Charity of Iowa cookbook)

1 cup seedless raisins
1 cup water
1 stick margarine

Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.

1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 ¾ cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup chopped nuts

Combine above and add raisin mixture to it. Mix altogether and spread in a 9X13 pan. Bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes. When cook, you can dust with powdered sugar or frost with cream frosting.