Look what came in the mail!--Raisin Crumb Bars

Raisin Crumb Bars
Gooseberry Patch Family Favorite Recipes with Sun-Maid Raisins and Dried Fruit Copyright 2005

1-3/4 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sliced and softened butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional) I didn't use these
1-1/2 cup sour cream I use lite
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups Sun-Maid Natural Raisins I used golden raisins


Blend oats, flour, brown sugar, butter and baking soda with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. If desired, blend in nuts. Press 3 cups of mixture into a 13"x9" baking pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and set aside.

Stir sour cream and egg yolks together in a medium saucepan. Add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt; stir until well combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is the thickness of stirred yogurt, about 10 minutes. Add raisins to sour cream mixture.

Spread over baked crust and sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until topping is golden. Cool before cutting into bars.
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A few weeks ago I started musing about free recipe pamphlets and whether or not companies were still making these. I set out on an internet search and I found a few offers for them. It's so fun to come home and find recipes in my mail! This recipe is from one of two Sun-Maid pamplets I requested and received. They have a partnership with Gooseberry Patch.

I run hot and cold with raisins. I like raisins yet I'm usually not in the mood for anything with raisins. I prefer chocolate chips in my oatmeal cookies. I prefer my mom's rice pudding (it's a custard, really) without the raisins. I'd rather have carrot cake and pumpkin cake without raisins. Every once and a while though, a raisin recipe catches my eye and this one did just that.

I had a little trouble with these. My crumb was too dry. I should have worked the butter in a bit more. I knew I had too much crumb left for the top but I piled it all on and hoped for the best. There was a lot of loose crumb on these. That didn't affect the taste but it made them sort of messy to cut and eat. I thought these were delicious - like an oatmeal cookie with a gooey center. They were quite sweet. Using regular raisins instead of the golden ones might cut down a little bit on the sweetness but I'm not sure if that would make any difference. I used golden raisins because that happened to be what I had on hand. These were even better the second day after the raisins softened up even more.

I was worried that the lite sour cream might not work in the recipe so I went out and bought regular. Well, I tried. I came home with another container of lite sour cream! I remember reaching for the regular so I have no idea how that happened but it worked out fine.

Question of the Day: Are you getting less junk mail? I've noticed a decrease. They seem to have given up on the credit offers or at least cut back quite a bit.