Buttermilk Bars

Buttermilk Bars

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Been to Starbucks and tried their special coffee cake? Well, these Buttermilk Bars are pretty darn close to that. Plus, they are easy to make, taste better, and cost less!

Buttermilk Bars

2 c. flour

¾ c. brown sugar

½ c. chopped walnuts

1-1/4 c. white sugar (or less)

½ c. shortening (I prefer butter flavor Crisco)

Mix together like a pie crust, until crumbly. Take out 2 cups of the mixture – use 1-1/2 cups of this and press into a 9”x13” cake pan. Save the other ½ cup for topping.

To the rest of the mixture, add:

1 egg

½ t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. soda

1 c. buttermilk

Blend well and pour this mixture over the crust mix. Spread out evenly with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle remaining ½ c. of crumbs on top. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Fruit Kuchen

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Growing up on a farm in the Columbia Basin of Washington, we had an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables available nearly year-round. This old German recipe is an easy way to use up fresh, ripe fruit. My favorites were always raspberry and apricot. Consider making two pans of it, there’s hardly any more effort and it will disappear quickly!

Fruit Kuchen

1 c. butter or margarine, softened

1 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1-1/2 c. flour

2-1/2 t. baking powder

Fruit of choice (see below)

Sugar & cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar together, add eggs one at a time, until well blended. Then add vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder. Blend into creamed mixture slowly. Pat this dough into an ungreased 10”x15” cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (pan should have edges on it, not the edgeless sheet type). Overlap fruit pieces onto dough, or put spoonfuls of puree on top of the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350° for 40-55 minutes. Let cool in pan and cut into squares for serving. Kuchen also freezes well.

Fruit that works well:

2 quarts canned apricots, drained (or fresh apricots, quartered)

About 3 c. fresh rasperries, blackberries, marionberries or blueberries

3 c. thinly sliced apples (sprinkle with more sugar if of the tart variety)