Cranberry (Fruit) Squares
By: Asha
Published: Saturday, January 30, 2010 - 6:02pm

Ingredients




1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups fresh cranberries or blueberries or other berries
1/2 cup chopped, toasted cashew nuts (optional)

Preparation

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the pan you are using. 2 In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggsuntil creamy and smooth. 3 Whisk in the melted butter and almond extract. Add flour and fold until incorporated. 4 Fold in cranberries and nuts (if using) carefully so as not to break the fruit and color the whole batter red. 5 Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out clean. 6 Transfer to a rack to cool completely (takes about an hour really!). Cut squares and serve.

About


I used cranberries that I had frozen from Thanksgiving when I had bought too big a bag of them. Thawed, they were perfect. Somehow, they got riper and sweeter in the freezer. They were as tart as they usually tend to be. Anyway, they were perfect for these bars. The bars themselves are rich in a buttery kind of way and biting into one just makes you forget all your worries, close your eyes and let yourself be washed away in a sea of yummmm.... :)
It's the kind of thing that you give to someone just to make them smile or bring some sun shine in their lives. I shared some with my neighbour here; she is old and lives alone and she always gives us something or the other when we see her. I just thought of her and so took some over and had a little chat. Felt good :)