Cranberry Bars
Cranberry filling
3 cups dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
1/2 cup natural honey
1 cup pomegranate juice
Base and topping
2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
3/4 cup coconut butter
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
To prepare filling, combine dried fruit, honey, and pomegranate juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir until mixture thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes.
To prepare base and topping, preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 by 13 in. baking pan. Mix together all base ingredients in a large bowl, blending in coconut butter with fingertips until mixture looks like moist crumbs. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of mixture for topping, and press remaining crubms firmly into bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and spread cranberry filling. Sprinkle remaining crumbs on top and bake another 30 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Makes 12 bars.
