Thursday, December 24, 2015

Festive Fruit Bars



As I mentioned in this post, I am one of those people who actually likes fruitcake, and, brace yourselves people, there are a lot of us. When Mr. O-P makes his annual fruitcake there are always plenty of takers when we offer up a jewel-toned, rum-soaked slice.

This is an easy version of fruitcake in cookie form. The recipe dates back to the seventies, and was one of the first cookies I'd make for the holidays because it was easy, made a good amount, and looked so pretty on the cookie tray.

Now is the time to watch for sales on mixed glazed fruit, so the perfect time, I thought, to share the recipe. It makes a wonderful afternoon treat whether accompanied by a soothing cup of tea, or even more soothing glass of wine.
 
Festive Fruit Bars

6 Tablespoons butter
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups cut up mixed candied fruit
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350
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Melt butter and pour into the bottom of a 9” x 12” pan. (A 9” x 13” pan is too big; I used a 10” x 10”.) Sprinkle crumbs evenly over butter. Pat down. Sprinkle coconut over crumbs. Sprinkle mixed fruit, dates, and nuts evenly over coconut. Press mixture down lightly to level in pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan before cutting.

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3 comments:

Linda said...

A little bit like a magic layer bar! Mom always loved fruitcake, so it was present every Christmas. It's the one thing I left alone. ;)
Yesterday while at the grocery store a younger woman asked me if I had ever made a fruitcake. I told her no but that I had watched my mother make them, so she asked if I knew where to find "those fruits". I knew what she meant (couldn't think of their name!) and suggested the baking and the dried fruit aisles, but she had already checked those along with every other aisle. She was headed to buy dried cranberries instead! (I knew those wouldn't work well.) Later I was in the produce department and did the "V-8 slap my head", because that's where they were!

~~louise~~ said...

Marion and I were just this minute talking about fruitcake. You see, my daughter sent Marion, what she called homemade bread. Marion insists it's fruitcake, lol...Never the less, Marion said it tasted delicious and wished it actually were a fruitcake, lol...She won't be tossing that for National Fruitcake Tossing Day in January and it looks like you won't be tossing those festive fruit bars either, lol...They look yummy!!!

Thanks for sharing, Pattie...Merry Christmas to You and Yours Pattie...

My Cozy Corner said...

Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop