Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Adapted from And Then I Ate It! I made quite a few changes … just can’t leave a recipe alone!

• ¼ cup butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg

• 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt

• 1 ½ cups oatmeal (any type is fine)
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup pecans, toasted
• ¼ cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until pale yellow. Add sugar and beat until well blended. Add the egg, maple syrup and yogurt and beat until fully incorporated. I used my beaters to get them mixed fully because the yogurt and the butter were being persnickety.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix only until they are combined.
4. Add the oatmeal, cranberries, nuts and chocolate chips and fold in uniformly. (I use cashew pieces since they are about 1/3 of the price of whole cashews)
5. Add the thick batter evenly to a well sprayed 9 x 9 inch pan (she used a 7” x 11” pan, but I don’t have a pan that size …).
6. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. It should still be soft to the touch but firm enough to be cook.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. (The wait will kill you! They smell soooo good!) With a sharp knife cut into bars. You may need to wipe the blade to get clean cuts. Remove bars from pan and store in an air tight container.

This recipe has been shared at Tuesday Talent Show, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Tastetastic Thursdays, Full Plate Thursdays, the 2012 Cookie Exchange and Life Scoops Cookie Party.