PUMPKIN BUTTER BARS

While cleaning out some travel paperwork, on our first rainy Sunday this winter, I found a recipe in the Apple Hill Cider Press from 1997/98 for Apple Butter Bars.  Since I had Pumpkin Butter on hand from Apple Hill I decided to give the recipe a try.  It was quite tasty but 2 cubes of butter in an 8x8 dish was a bit much to make it again as is.  I have a similar recipe for Raspberry Almond Bars but that is put in a 9x13 and it has no oats.  I guess I can try making a bigger batch to feel better about the amount of butter but truthfully that would mean we would still end up eating the two cubes of butter just in a larger thinner format.

Unlike my Raspberry Almond Squares this crust is more like a crumble vs a cookie.  My picture shows the nuts on top only because I forgot to add them to the dry mixture.

PUMPKIN BUTTER BARS

2 C. oatmeal, quick or regular, not instant

1 C. flour

1 C. sugar

1 C. (2 sticks) butter, cold

½ C. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 baking pan. IN a medium bowl, mix oatmeal, sugar and flour. Cut up butter into small cubes and add to dry ingredients and cut into mix or use hands to rub the mixture together till it looks crumbly with a small amount of lumps. Add walnuts, stir. Press half the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread the pumpkin butter over top. Sprinkle the rest of the dry ingredients over top of that. Pat gently so it is smooth. Bake for 30-45 minutes or till golden brown.

Note: After 30 minutes it was done and tasty but rather crumbly so I put it back in the oven for another 20 minutes. 

Variation: Use apple butter or your favorite fruit jam.