Thursday, June 3, 2010

Chocolate-Drizzled Cherry Bars


Tonight, I got a hankering for a dessert that contained chocolate and cherries. I was thinking along the lines of Black Forest Cake, but that would have been much too complicated and time-consuming to whip up. Plus, I wanted to make something that could stand in for a special breakfast tomorrow morning.

I found the following recipe in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks, and thankfully, it's also on their website. It was very fast and easy to make on the side while doing the evening dishes and chores.

Chocolate-Drizzled Cherry Bars

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
  • 2 cups quick-cooking oats
  • 1-1/2 cups sugar
  • 1-1/4 cups butter, softened
  • 1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling*
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract (I used vanilla)
  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3/4 teaspoon shortening (I used coconut oil)
* Instead, I used a big jar of canned cherries with juice, which I cooked up with some sugar and corn starch to make it thick and sweet like pie filling.

Directions

  • In a bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar and butter until crumbly. Set aside 1-1/2 cups for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake at 350° for 15-18 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
  • In a bowl, combine pie filling and extract; carefully spread over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.
  • Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until edges and topping are lightly browned. In a microwave or heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over warm bars. Cool completely on a wire rack. Yield: 3 dozen.
It's too late to try this tonight, but it looks and smells absolutely delicious.

5 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you had a hankering for ANYthing! Hope this means your nausea is on its last legs.

    Sally

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  2. I'm pregnant and have been craving the most unhealthy things. I'm even craving things like mcdonalds fries that I haven't eaten in years. I always have a healthy breakfast and dinner but my lunch and snacks are almost always unhealthy because I find that if I try to eat something other than what I'm craving I usually throw up. (I know you have it much much worse than me and Im so sorry that's happening to you) my question is am I doing the wrong thing by giving in to my cravings? My mom says it's fine to have some fast food and some kraft dinner and stuff like that but my husband thinks I'm being very selfish. The last thing I want to do is hurt my baby. Is it all in my head that I think I get sick when I don't listen to what my body feels like eating?

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  3. How are you feeling today? Several months ago I had an idea I might try during my next pregnancy.

    I'm going to keep a journal (maybe a private blog? I don't know... maybe public) and attempt to write "letters" to myself every day. How I'm feeling, how awful it is, comforting Bible verses, pictures of me in labor, etc.

    That way when I'm pregnant with subsequent children and going through the same horror, I can read what I wrote to myself. Say, when I'm 13 weeks pregnant, go to the 13 week entry and see what I wrote last time.

    Have you ever considered anything like that?

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  4. Sally, thank you. I am starting to feel better every single day! Yay!!

    Anonymous, I am not a medical professional, but personally, I am a firm believer in eating whatever you are craving if it makes the difference between throwing up or not.

    That being said, maybe you can find a more natural version of what you are craving. For example, I was craving Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Helper this pregnancy, something I would never serve my family. I found an organic, "natural" version of it at Whole Foods that tasted pretty much the same, but I didn't have to feel bad about eating junk, or get sick from the bad ingredients. Another day, I woke up craving a Western Bacon Cheeseburger (I think I got an ad in the mail from Carl's Junior or wherever it's sold). Every night for almost a week, I kept dreaming about eating one. Silly, isn't it? Finally, I bought all the ingredients to make my own version - grass-fed beef, raw cheddar, natural onion rings, uncured bacon, whole-wheat buns, and bbq sauce with no preservatives. All of these items were also organic.

    Another thing I just recently learned from my midwife is that the baby is not really taking any nourishment from you until the placenta takes over between weeks 12 and 16, which is thankfully when most moms start feeling better and can eat well again. So eating junk really does not have that much bearing on the nutrition the baby is getting (who is living off his/her yolk sac at this point).

    Becky, I have thought about that idea, which is partly why i wrote as much as I did about morning sickness this time around. Not sure if it will be encouraging or discouraging to read about in the future.

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  5. I made these yesterday, they are absolutely fantasic. I used your way, and did a jar of cherries with sugar and cornstarch instead of pie filling. Still, they came out amazingly good. I think my husband fell in love with me all over again. Haha

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