Cranberry Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting

Harlan fall — the maples and the poplars going gold and red. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 85. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Venison stew Sunday. From the freezer. Slow simmer.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called from Louisville. Hospital is busy. Floor nurse to charge nurse to nurse manager — she is the most successful Hensley alive.

The week held. The mountains were the mountains.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Sunday service at Harlan First Baptist when we go. Pastor preached about Ruth and Boaz. The choir sang. Connie wore her gray dress.

Connie made jam Saturday afternoon. Wild blackberries from the patch up the hollow. Twelve jars. The pantry is filling for winter.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

Connie put up twelve jars of wild blackberry jam Saturday — the patch up the hollow gave well this year — and watching her fill those jars reminded me that the pantry is its own kind of faith. These cranberry bars are what I reach for when the season turns and the shelves start filling: something bright and a little tart against the cream cheese frosting, sweet enough to share, simple enough that Mama would approve. You make them ahead, they keep, and they travel well if a neighbor needs something dropped off.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 can (14 oz) whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
Make the oat base. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Work in the cold butter pieces with your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining.
Press and reserve. Press about two-thirds of the oat mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Set the remaining third aside for the topping.
Prepare the filling. Stir together the cranberry sauce, orange juice, and orange zest in a small bowl until combined. Spread evenly over the pressed oat base, leaving a 1/4-inch border at the edges.
Add topping and bake. Scatter the reserved oat mixture evenly over the cranberry layer. Bake 28–32 minutes, until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling at the edges. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack—at least 1 hour.
Make the frosting. Beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla; beat on medium until fluffy and spreadable, about 2 minutes.
Frost and slice. Lift the cooled slab from the pan using the parchment overhang. Spread frosting evenly over the top. Refrigerate 20 minutes to set the frosting, then slice into 24 bars. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cranberry Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting — The Pantry Filling for Winter