Caramel Cookie Bars

½ cup margarine (I use Blue Bonnet)
½ cup butter (one stick)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
18 graham crackers, halved

Line a jelly roll pan (15x10x1) with graham crackers. Combine margarine, butter, brown sugar, and nuts in medium saucepan. Bring it to a full boil over medium heat; boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Spoon boiled butter and sugar mixture over graham crackers. Bake at 350 F degrees for 13-15 minutes. Cool. Cut caramel graham cracker cookies into squares (or whatever shape you prefer).

Cranberry Crunch Bars

Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
½ cup water
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup raisins

Combine sugar, cornstarch, water, vanilla, cranberries, and raisins in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Crumb Topping:
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup butter (melted)

Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, and melted butter until combined. Sprinkle ~ ½ of crumbs in bottom half of a greased 8-inch square pan.* Spread cranberry filling over the crumbs, and top with the remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until edges are slightly brown and caramelized.

*For a 9x13 pan, I use one whole bag of fresh/frozen cranberries, 1 1/3 cup sugar, ~¾ cup raisins, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 to 1 ½ tsp vanilla, and ½ cup water for the filling; for the crumbs, I use 1 ½ cups oats, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, ¾ cup flour, and ½ cup (one stick) melted butter. Bake at 375 F for ~ 35 minutes or until edges are slightly brown and caramelized.

Paul Bunyan Cookies

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
½ cup vegetable shortening
½ cup sugar
½ cup molasses
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 12-once bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper. Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, and salt in medium bowl.

In bowl of electric mixer, cream vegetable shortening and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add molasses, and beat to combine. Add eggs and mix until fully incorporated. Add the flour mixture, one cup at a time, beating on low speed until dough comes together. Remove bowl and, using a wooden spoon, stir in chocolate chips, oats, raisins and walnuts.

Using a 2-inch scoop, drop dough onto prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake until firm, 15-18 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.