I have enjoyed this work week. Everyday there has been some type of holiday festivity. One day the building gave all the tenants breakfast, we had a chile cook off for a charity, my office had a lunch and open house, and my smaller work unit is going out for lunch tomorrow.
It's no surprise that I gain weight during the holidays. When I go home to visit my family, I eat nonstop. There are multiple family parties, and we always end up baking. My dad and I are already planning on making an apple pie.
For Christmas Eve, we eat food, sing songs, and do some type of craft from a country. Last year we chose Spain, and this year we will be celebrating a Pilipino Christmas. I have been to the Philippines, but I'm still a little hazy about Pilipino food.
I made these cookies with rhubarb jam, but any jam would work. I had lots of rhubarb jam left over from the Icelandic happy marriage cake I made a few weeks ago. I couldn't find rhubarb jam in my local grocery store, so I made it myself.
The jam bar recipe came from Taste of Home. The recipe calls for strawberry jam. I'm sure strawberry jam would have been lovely, but I enjoyed the tart rhubarb jam.
The ingredients are 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 package white cake mix, 1 cup finely crushed cornflakes, and 1 cup rhubarb jam.
I creamed the softened butter and brown sugar until creamy and smooth.
I added the egg and mixed well.
I stirred in the white cake mix and crushed cornflakes. It's a dry batter.
I set aside one and a half cups of the dough. I evenly squashed the remaining dough into a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. I lined the dish with parchment paper and greased the parchment paper.
I poured the jam evenly over the base.
I sprinkled the remaining cup and a half of dough over the jam.
I baked the bars for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
The top becomes golden brown.
The jam center became thicker and more condensed. The jam was gooey, sticky, and sweet.
The cookie base and top tasted like cake batter. It was chewy and moist in the center, but the edges were a little crisp and caramelized.
The cornflakes gave the bars a little crunch and texture. The flakes soften a little in the dough, but they were still discernible in the bars.
The tart jam balanced out the sweet cookie base and topping. Overall, these were delicious bars.
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