Fruit Nut Bars

Carlyn’s Fruit and Nut Bars

This is a quick cookie if you are using a jar of Ira Wilkins’ Pear Mincemeat or Borden’s Nonesuch Mincemeat filling.  If you don’t think your guests will care for the taste of spiced pears, rasins and walnuts, then it can also be made with canned pie filling in various fruit flavors.  The longest part of preparation will be consumed if you have to mix up a thick filling with canned or fresh fruit.

  • 3 cups juicy but not runny fruit pie filling, or 32 oz canned fruit in juice or water plus 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1-1/3 cups roughly chopped pecans, walnuts or slivered almonds
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk (regular milk will do in a pinch)
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • parchment paper to line 9 x 13 pan

Prepare fruit pie filling

You need 3 cups of a juicy but thick and chunky fruit filling.  Cherry, blueberry, peach, and spiced fruit such as Ira Wilkin’s Pear Mincemeat all work very well straight out of the can or jar. If all you have is canned fruit in juice or water, you need to thicken it up.  Pour all the juice off the fruit into a small skillet.  Measure remaining fruit to see if you have enough.  You need 3 cups without the liquid.  Add fresh chopped fruit to bring the quantity to 3 cups.  Heat the juice in the pan over low heat and when it becomes warm, add 2 Tablespoons the warm juice to 2 Tablespoons cornstarch.  Stir to combine and add 1 more Tablespoon warm juice and stir again.  Continue adding 1 Tablespoon warm juice and stirring until you have an opaque liquid and then add that to the pot of warm juice.  Increase heat to medium and stir constantly while heating to a boil.  When the liquid boils, remove from heat and cover with a tight fitting lid.  Allow to cool to room temperature and then add fruit to the warm, thick filling.

Prepare crust and crumbled topping

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift the flour, soda, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Add in the oil and 1/4 cup buttermilk and beat on low to medium speed until all the dry ingredients are moist and begin to cling together.  This mixture will be crumbly, not a paste.

Add 1 cup of the crumbles to the chopped nuts, mix well and set aside.

Cut  parchment paper to fit inside 9 x 13 pan with about 1 inch of the paper rising up the sides.  Dump remaining crumble mixture onto paper in the baking pan and press flat with fingertips, working to edges of the pan but not going up the sides.

Spread fruit filling over this crust.

Sprinkle the nut-crumb topping over the fruit filling and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool pan on trivets or wire rack that allows air to cool the bottom as well as the sides.  When pan is cool to touch, cut into bars and serve.

If you want to serve this dish warm, scoop out servings with a large spoon and top with vanilla ice cream.  It will resemble a Brown Betty (quick and easy cobbler that doesn’t require making a pie crust).

Carlyn Foshee Chatfield