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With Strawberry, Mango, Coconut Filling  This is one of my favorite easy to make desserts. A bar cookie with fruity filling is sandwiched between layers of oats and brown sugar. Whip those up for your family holiday get together or wrap up a plate to take to your neighbors. In mixing bowl combine old fashioned oats flour, butter, brown sugar, and a little baking soda for leavening.  Save about 1/2-2/3 cup of the mixture and press the rest into a square 9 X 9 X 2 inch pan. No need to grease it.  Now make your fruit filling. The great thing about these bars is you can make any flavor of filling you like. I made a Strawberry, Mango, Coconut filling – YUM! It was so quick and easy – I just heated frozen strawberries and mangos with a little sugar and some shredded coconut. I cooked it until it was thick like jam, using a potato masher to break up any large pieces of fruit.  An easy recipe for jam is 1-1/2 cups of fruit and 1/2 cup sugar. How about apple and cinnamon or blueberry and lime or apricot and pineapple. But here is a secret – you can just use store bought jam. What?? It’s true, just use about 1 cup of your favorite flavor of jam in place of the fruit filling. Whether you decide to use homemade or store bought, the next step is to spread the jam over the oat mixture.  Grab the reserved oat mixtures and crumble it over the top of the fruit filling.
Bake until the topping is browned and the jam is bubbly.   Fruit and Oat Bars with Strawberry, Mango, Coconut Filling  Crust
1 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats 1 cup flour 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup butter Filling (for a time save use 1 cup of jarred jam or preserves) 1 cup frozen strawberries 1/2 cup frozen mango chunks 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut 1/2 cup sugar Prepare crust. Combine oats, flour, sugar, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is the size of coarse crumbs. Reserve 1/2 to 2/3 cup of mixture. Press remaining mixture into a 9 X 9 X 2 inch baking pan. Make filling. Place strawberries, mango, coconut, and sugar in medium saucepan. Stir together while cooking over medium heat. Use a potato masher to break up any large chunks of fruit. Cook until fruit is soft and mixture is thick like jam. Spread filling over the pressed crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake in a 350° F oven for 30 minutes until the top is golden. Cool in pan, then cut into bars.
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Cooking my Way through Neighborhood Cookbooks  While flipping through the neighborhood cookbook this recipe for a Mandarin Orange Cake caught my eye. I thought it would be a light and refreshing summer treat. And it was. Start with a box of yellow cake mix. Add in some unsweetened applesauce, the juice from a can of mandarin oranges, egg whites, and a whole egg.  Mix until well blended. Then fold in a can of mandarin oranges. The recipe didn’t specify if the oranges should be whole or cut into pieces. I folded whole oranges into the cake mix, but when I make this cake again (and I will) I’ll cut the mandarin oranges into chunks and maybe put in two cans.  Pour the cake batter into a 9 X 13 inch pan and bake at 350° F for 30-40 minutes. I went for the low end of time – 30 minutes and the edges browned a little too much. The center was still moist. In the future I’ll start with 25 minutes and check for doneness.
Now comes the most delicious part of this cake. The topping. Mix together a small box of coconut pudding, a can of crushed pineapple, and some whipped topping.  I was traveling with this cake, so instead of “frosting” it I packed the topping to take with. By the way the topping filled way more than one whipped topping container.  When I make recipes from the neighborhood cookbook I look for ways to bump up the nutrition. But with desserts I think you should just enjoy them. And… this recipe had “weight watcher” points printed next to the recipe; I think someone substituted the applesauce and egg whites for oil.  Mandarin Orange Cake (my suggested updates in parenthesis)  18 oz unprepared yellow cake mix
¾ C unsweetened applesauce 3 egg whites 1 egg 11 oz can mandarin oranges (I would use two cans and cut oranges in half or thirds) 1 small instant coconut or vanilla pudding mix 20 oz can crushed pineapple and the juice 8 oz lite whipped topping Thoroughly mix the cake mix with the applesauce, the juice of the mandarin oranges (one can only), the egg whites, and the egg. Fold in the mandarin oranges. Pour into a 9 X 13 inch cake pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 ° F. (I suggest started at 25 min and checking for doneness). Cool completely. Mix the pudding mix with the crushed pineapple and fold in the whipped topping. Spread on the cooled cake. (I like putting a dollop on each piece so you can store the cake longer). Top with more mandarin oranges if desired. Refrigerate if topping is spread all over or just refrigerate topping. June is Strawberry season and my patch is delivering. The strawberries are super tiny this year, but sweet and delicious. I love a bowl of strawberries with a fruity balsamic vinegar and a touch of sugar, but decided to branch out to something new -- a Strawberry Taco!  Start with a small flour tortilla, butter one side and place in a skillet on over medium heat.  Next spread on some cream cheese, that has been lightly sweetened with sugar. I didn't want mine too sweet so just added about 1 tsp sugar to 4 Tbs cream cheese.  Now cut up a few strawberries and mix with a little cinnamon and sugar. Put a nice scoop of the strawberry mixture on the cream cheese. The strawberry and cream cheese mixture will be on one half of the tortilla.  Flip the tortilla over the top to make your taco shape.  Cook until browned on one side and then flip over and brown on the other. I lost a few strawberries on the flip.   Recipe Strawberry Dessert Tacos
4 Tbs Cream cheese 1 Tbs Sugar, divided 1 Cup Diced strawberries 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 2 Flour tortillas 2 tsp Butter In a small bowl, mix cream cheese with 1 tsp of sugar. Toss diced strawberries with remaining sugar and cinnamon. Butter one side of each tortilla and place butter side down in skillet over medium heat. Spread half of cream cheese mixture on each tortilla, covering one-half of tortilla. Top each cream cheese layer with half of strawberry mixture. Fold tortilla over to cover the strawberries. Cook until lightly browned on bottom, flip over and cook until other side is browned. |
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