It's that time of year when I start baking in earnest, making cookies by the dozen and filling my freezer with sugary treats to give to friends and family over the holidays. I know you can easily bake cookies in your dutch oven, seeing as I am a little on the impatient side and prefer to bake them in large batches, I'll save cookie baking for the campsite with store bought cookie dough. In the meantime, a good way to utilize your dutch oven is to make bar cookies, you can bake a batch in one fell swoop and I can honestly say they bake as well as they would in your conventional oven. I have several raspberry bar recipes in my cookie arsenal but this one is so incredibly simple and easy I couldn't pass it up. It's as good, if not better, than the buttery versions I make from scratch. Unless you plan on serving them directly from your camp oven, line it with parchment paper, press in the bottom layer, cover with raspberry or whatever flavor jam you like, sprinkle on the topping and bake. In my 12 inch oven these baked for 25 minutes with 12 coals in a ring around the bottom and 24-26 briquettes on the lid. Let them cool for a good half hour before removing from your oven and allow them to cool completely before slicing as they're quite crumbly when warm. Like the elves in Santa's kitchen, fire up your dutch oven and start your holiday baking with these sweet and buttery Easy Raspberry Bars.
Easy Raspberry Bars
1 package (18 oz.) yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 12 oz. jar raspberry jam
1 Tblsp water
Lightly oil or spray 12 inch dutch oven; line with parchment paper.
In large bowl, combine cake mix and oats.
Stir in melted butter until mixture is crumbly and well combined.
Press about two thirds of oat mixture into bottom of dutch oven until evenly covered.
Combine jam and water; spoon over crumb mixture, spreading evenly.
Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over raspberry filling.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and jam is bubbling.
Cool for 30 minutes before lifting from oven.
Cool completely before cutting into bars.
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Press two thirds of oat mixture evenly in bottom of dutch oven   |
Made these last week but used homemade apricot jam instead. They turned out really good. Such an easy recipe and a great result. They also kept really well, as I was still enjoying them four days later. I need to stock up on cake mixes and jam! This will be a staple cookie bar.
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