Rhubarb-Cranberry Oatmeal Bars - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Filling:
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup cranberry juice
3 cups frozen rhubarb (do not thaw)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup quick tapioca
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 drops red food coloring, optional
Crust & Topping:
2 cups quick rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose unbleached white flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup canola oil
6 Tablespoons cranberry juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0 F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and set aside.

Prepare Filling: In medium sized saucepan, heat 1/2 cup cranberry juice and dried cranberries just until simmering. Turn off heat and cover to keep moisture in. Let sit 15 minutes to plump cranberries.
Add frozen rhubarb, sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, salt, red food coloring if using.
Over med heat, cook slowly stirring occasionally until mixture starts to thicken (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat.

While filling cooks, prepare crust/topping mixture: In a large bowl, work together oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda with your fingertips until brown sugar is blended well with other ingredients and there are not lumps. Drizzle oil and cranberry juice over oat mixture and continue blending with fingers until it all comes together.

Reserve 1 cup of oat mixture for streusel topping.

Put remaining oat mixture into prepared pan pressing with fingers to evenly cover bottom of pan. Pour filling over crust and spread evenly. Sprinkle reserved oat mixture over filling.

Bake at 350\u00b0 until filling is bubbly and topping is lightly browned. Let cool before cutting into bars.