Cranberry Blondes - November, 2016.

Cranberries complement blonde bars beautifully.  Their tartness boosts the sweet to make a fabulous dessert.

I add a little orange zest to dial up the zing.  If you’re bringing dessert to a Thanksgiving dinner, these bars are a perfect balance to pumpkin and pecan pies.   

The recipe can be found on pages 120 & 121 of Fat Witch Brownies.

• Ingredients
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
    (1 ½ sticks) of unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar 
• 2 large egg yolks 
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose unbleached
    flour 
• ½ teaspoon salt 
• 1¼ cups dried cranberries 
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest

• Directions
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease 9” square baking pan with butter and dust with flour. Tap out the excess.
• Cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth.
• Measure the flour and salt.  Sift both directly into the batter.  Mix gently.
• In a small bowl, stir together the cranberries, granulated sugar and orange zest together with a fork.
• Add to the batter and mix in with a wooden spoon. 
• Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan using your fingers to press down lightly.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean or with only crumbs.
• Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a rack for at least one hour.
• Cut before serving.  Will stay fresh wrapped in plastic for 3-5 days. 
• 12-16 pieces