Blueberry Oatmeal Bars (with Spinach)

If you think that I'm on a Deceptively Delicious kick, you're absolutely right. I'm completely intrigued by the idea of adding vegetables to sweet slices and cakes. One of the nicest slices that I've made is a pumpkin slice which is so deliciously moist and stays that way for several days that I know that vegetables can giveth the most dry sounding cake a humectant quality.

I altered these from their original recipe in that I substituted blueberry preserves with Morello Cherry preserves as I love Morello cherries. The slices themselves aren't particularly low fat or low sugar, especially if you take heed of the amount of butter in the below picture, though I suppose if you divide 3/4 of a cup of butter or a cup of low sugar jam into 12 its not so bad.... well ok who am I kidding, they aren't light at all.

Jessica Seinfeld's Blueberry...I mean Morello Cherry Oatmeal Bars (with Spinach) from Deceptively Delicious

Crunchy and sweet, but full of spinach! Let the bars cool completely before serving so that the taste of the spinach has a chance to disappear completely.

INGREDIENTS

• Nonstick cooking spray

• 2 cups old-fashioned oats

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp. baking powder

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 3/4 cup Balance trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, chilled

• 1 cup low-sugar blueberry preserves (I used Morello Cherry fruit spread)

• 1/2 cup spinach puree

Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8" x 8" baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and vanilla and stir to mix well.

Add the margarine and cut it quickly into dry ingredients with two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal and is no longer powdery. Do not overmix—bits of margarine will still be visible.

Set aside about half of the oat mixture; press the rest firmly into the pan. Bake until lightly browned at the edges (but not fully baked), 13 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the preserves with the spinach puree in a small bowl (it looks like minted cranberry jelly!)

Spread blueberry mixture over the partially baked oat layer, then sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Bake until topping is slightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool completely before cutting into 12 bars.

How to puree spinach

PREP

No prep at all for baby spinach. For mature spinach, fold leaves in half lengthwise with the stem outside, then strip the stem off the leaf.

COOK

Steam for 30 to 40 seconds, or cook in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of water for about 90 seconds, or just until wilted.

PUREE

In a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.

By Jessica Seinfeld from Deceptively Delicious