Kickin' it into gear

Things have been a little slow in this belle's kitchen. I've made a couple of pots of soup this week, but other than that, I've spent many hours at the library. And I'll be honest with you, I haven't even kicked things into gear yet. Things are about to become really crazy. Thanksgiving will be an all too brief respite.

Meanwhile, I just had to share this recipe with you! We made these bars last weekend for our dinner with friends. They have only gotten better throughout this week. They are just sweet enough to cut the tartness of the cranberries, and the almond crust and crumble is so good! We originally served them with vanilla ice cream, but they are great on their own. 

Our Thanksgiving plans will be quite unique (for us) this year.  I'll fill you in on those details later, but for now, just know that these little cranberry bars will probably make the trip (hint, hint!).

Cranberry Almond Bars

Adapted slightly from goodLife{eats}

1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almonds
2 sticks cold butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided
juice of 1/2 orange
4 cups fresh cranberries
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Grease a 9×13 inch pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang of 1 inch on all sides.

Place the almonds in the bowl of your food processor.  Run the processor for a minute or so, until the almonds are finely ground.  Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 cup sugar.  Pulse once or twice.  Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the bowl.  Pulse until the butter is pea-sized.  Add the egg and pulse until it is mixed through the flour mixture.  Put half of the dough into the prepared pan.  

In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, orange juice, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon.  Mix in the cranberries. Sprinkle the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough in the pan.

Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the remaining dough.  Crumble the dough over the berries.  Bake for 45-55 minutes at 375 degrees, or until top is a light golden brown.  Allow to cool in the pan, and then refrigerate for 4 hours (or overnight).  Using the parchment, remove the bars from the pan to a cutting board and cut into squares.  Store in the refrigerator, or freeze.