Sugar-Free Cookies

Oatmeal Bars
Courtesy of AllSugar-Free.com, a Free Recipe Exchange for All Sugar-Free Recipes! 

I have a recipe that I use around the holidays for Oatmeal Bars. I love this one very much. It is in the Land O Lakes® Cookie Lover's Cookbook but I have substituted the sugar with Splenda® and I use sugar-free preserves. The recipe also calls for Apricot but we like raspberry better. They are always a hit. I go one step further and add chopped walnuts to the topping. These are great and tasty as well. I made these for the nurses at the hospital where my husband was having dialysis. We did not tell them at first that the bars where sugar free. They loved them. I hope you will too. 

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Ingredients:

Crumb mixture...

11/4 c. all-purpose flour
11/4 c. quick cooking oats
1/2 c. Splenda®
3/4 c. Land O Lakes® Sweet Cream Butter, melted
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla

Filling...

10-oz. jar sugar free preserves (apricot, raspberry, or strawberry)
1/2 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan. In 3-qt. mixer bowl combine all crumb ingredients. Beat at low speed, scraping sides of bowl often, until mixture is crumbly, for 1-2 minutes.  Reserve 1 c. crumb mixture and press remaining crumb mixture into greased pan. Spread preserves to within 1/2-inch from edges of unbaked crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture and chopped walnuts and coconut. Bake near center of 350 degree oven for 22 to 27 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.  Makes about 3 dozen.

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Submitted by Christine Castonguay