Mar 6, 2010

Cranberry-Caramel Bars

Remember how motivated I was on Tuesday? I had my cookies baked, packaged and delivered to my friends by 9:00 a.m. Well, that didn't last long! It was such a beautiful day today that I took my kids and my frenchie to Partridge Creek for an outing. I felt confident that I would have enough time to get my baking done later in the day. I looked through the recipe yesterday and I was only missing a few ingredients.

About 6:30 I headed off to Meijer to get what I needed only to find that they do not carry fresh cranberries this time of year. Neither does Kroger. Not even Vince & Joe's. Oops! I started to freak out but then I remembered that I had cherries in my freezer. Cherries are red and round just like cranberries. Hopefully the substitution would work.

At 7:30 p.m. I drank a 5 hour energy drink (need to prepare for a focus group on energy drinks later this week) so I knew I wouldn't be tired before my deadline of midnight! I started pulling out all my ingredients only to realize that I didn't have enough flour! I have gone through more flour in the last month than I have in the last 3 years! I was freaking out as I grabbed my keys and headed out the door for another trip to the store. Then I remembered that I bought a bag of whole wheat flour a few months ago for a muffin recipe. I was already substituting cherries for cranberries so why not substitute whole wheat flour?

Once the ingredients were in front of me, it was very easy to make this recipe. At this point I'm really hoping that it will turn out because several of my friends who follow the blog have mentioned that they are looking forward to trying this cookie. After it was all done, a little taste assured me that they were delicious. I hope my friends think so, too!

I've included a picture of Angie delivering her cookies to me on Friday. She put a smile on my face first thing in the morning! There is also a picture of Roxy, my frenchie, to put a smile on your face! Signing off at 11:40 p.m...wide awake and full of energy!

shelly

5 comments:

  1. Mission accomplished Shelly you definetly put a smile on my face this morning at 6:30 am. I'm wondering if you are still up after your energy drink. I might need to know what that was. Great thinking on your feet about the ingredients. This summer when I was doing mine I had to wait for fall because I also could not find cranberries. Who knew in this age of everything at our fingertips there was not even one frozen cranberry anywhere. I left the store ingredulous wondering what I was going to do. The cherries were a great idea and I bet the cookie tasted wonderful. It was a beautiful day yesterday. Angie was too cute and your dog looked tired after his big day outside. Great job once again. L. Sharon

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  2. I too have been waiting for this one and I absolutely love your Cherry-Caramel Bars! What fun pics you posted!

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  3. Nothing wrong with logical substitutions, and that's how you create your own recipes. Cranberries: red, round. Cherries: red, round. Perfect! Using the whole wheat flour made them a little healthier, too. Cookies look great and the dog looks like he has his best friend with him! Angie delivering her cookies to her friend - priceless.

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  4. These were wonderful!! I am thinking more of a coffee cake consistincy Nice job on all of the improvising I prefer cherries over cranberries anyway. You are going to be a baker before we are finished whether you want to or not:)
    Danielle G.

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  5. Forgot to tell you these where soooo yummy. I loved the substitution so much that I may keep it that way. Great idea.

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