Monday, January 17, 2011

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

First off, let me thank Debbie, Domestic Diva and an Anonymous for becoming followers of my blog!

What shall we submit for Magazine Monday...Oatmeal Raisin Bars from Southern Living Magazine



Ingredients...........

1 (18 oz) package yellow cake mix
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oatmeal
½ cup raisins
¾ cup butter, melted
1 cup chunky applesauce
¼ teaspoon apple pie spice
¼ teaspoon grated lemon rind

Line bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides. Lightly grease foil.

(That sounds easy, doesn’t it? I was using a stick of margarine to grease the foil and the damn foil kept slipping up. Thought I’d tear it and had mental images of flecks of aluminum hitting a filling in my mouth – youch!!)

Stir together cake mix, oats and raisins in a large bowl. Stir in butter with a fork until mixture is crumbly and dry ingredients are moistened.

Press HALF of oat mixture evenly into bottom of prepared pan.

(Okay…I followed directions to the letter but this pan seemed way too big. So it was a thin layer of oat mess. Maybe that was correct. It was hard, as in problematic not firmness)

Stir together applesauce, apple pie spice and lemon rind. Gently spread over the oat mixture in pan. Sprinkle evenly with remaining oat mixture.

Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 1 hour.

Lift baked bars from pan, using foil sides as handles. Place on cutting board and cut into bars.

Now I see the wisdom of making a foil base because they did lift out nicely. The pan still needed washing but it wasn’t caked up with butter or oats. Easy.

These are a bit similar to the Apple Raisin Bars I made last December. Recipe is HERE and it did not involve a cake mix. Similar, but I liked the ones from last December better than these.

Southern Living magazine has some good recipes but I am not convinced all are tested prior to publication. I will stick with Cooks Illustrated!

This is a Magazine Monday submission for Cream Puffs in Venice


Vote for it on Foodista too if you like it :)
Easy Oatmeal Raisin Bars

4 comments:

  1. sounds like I am glad I missed this one but altogether, it sounds like it would be pretty good... coating the foil with a cooking spray, would that not do the same thing, as you know, I am not much of a baker so the reasoning for the butter may have a purpose...

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  2. Hi Drick - this was similar to one I had prepared before...just didn't use apples in this one. It made too many for us...I guess I should have taken the leftovers to the office.

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  4. Peach Cobbler sounds fantastic! I love the idea of grabbing something from the pantry and turning it into something so satisfying like this. I'm so glad you shared this with Tackling Bittman this month, Tina :)

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