Things I'm baking today

Well, all of the sudden we have company coming. LOTS of company. My parents are coming this weekend and now we have more family coming next week, for the whole week. I had been planning on using next week to get all of my Thanksgiving treats baked, but looks like that has been moved up to today. :) Thought I'd share, in case you are looking for some Thanksgiving-ish treats, yourself.

Apple & Oat Bars

3/4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 c. solid shortening

1 egg

1 small apple (peel/core/chop)

3/4 c. quick oats

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 stick unsalted butter @ room temp

1 c. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. shredded sweet coconut, chopped.

1) Heat oven to 375. Coat a 9x9 pan with cooking spray.

2) Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3) Beat butter, shortening and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour mix, apple, oats and coconut. Spread in pan.

4) Bake for 35-30 minutes. Cool on rack, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.

Oatmeal Ginger Chewies

2 c. old fashioned oats

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. allspice

1/4 c. shortening

1 egg

3/4 c. sweet, dried cranberries

2 c. flour

1 T. ginger

1/2 t. salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. molasses

1 t. vanilla

Glaze:

1 1/4 c. powdered sugar

2 T. + 1 t. water

1) Heat oven to 350.

2) Mix oats, flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and allspice in a bowl.

3) In another (mixing) bowl on medium high speed beat butter and shortening until creamy. Beat in brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses, then beat in vanilla.

4) On low speed beat in the oat mix. Fold in cranberries. Drop by 1/4 c-fulls, 2 in. apart on ungreased pan. Press in to make them into circles (about 2 1/2 in). Bake 1-16 minutes or until cracked.

5) Stir ingredients together to make glaze. Brush atop each cookie.

Cranberry-Nut Crunch Cookies

1 lb. almond bark

1 c. crunchy peanut butter

1 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

1 c. dried cranberries

1 1/2 c. mini marshmallows

1/2 c. chopped nuts

1/2 c. shredded coconut

3 c. rice krispies

1) Place bark in medium bowl - heat for 1 min in microwave. Then stir and scrape bowl. Heat another 30 seconds; stir and scrape. Continue at 10 second intervals until melted.

2) Mix in cranberries, peanut butter, marshmallows, nuts, coconut and spices. Slowly add cereal 1 c. at a time until coated.

3) Dollop mounds of the mix onto wax paper covered cookie sheets. Place in fridge 20 minutes. Serve.

No, I didn't say these were all healthy :)

And, fyi...this is my first time making all 3 of these recipes. But, I've had them set out for weeks and I'm very excited to try them all. Especially the "no bake" at the end - sounds like it might be a "Sugar shock", but, still delicious!