Pumpkin Bars with Cranberry Sauce

What’s more fall than pumpkin and cranberry? You can get both of these seasonal favorites with SLO CSA shares! We have pie pumpkins and cranberries available for Fall CSA members. You can also add lard and eggs to your order to get more of the ingredients for this recipe locally.

Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of puree of pie pumpkin (see below for directions on how to make puree from a raw pie pumpkin)
• 2 large duck eggs
• 1 cup Crisco or animal lard
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 oz fresh cranberries, rinsed

DIRECTIONS

To make pumpkin puree:

1. Half the pumpkin, remove seeds (save to bake as a snack!) and guts, place cut sides down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until you can poke a fork through the skin with ease.
2. Scoop out the flesh and puree with an immersion blender until smooth.

To make pumpkin bars and cranberry sauce:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt
3. In a second bowl, whisk or beat on low, eggs, 1 ½ cups sugar, Crisco, pumpkin, and vanilla until combined (a couple small lumps from Crisco or lard is normal).
4. Stir in dry ingredients and pour into a greased 9 by 13 pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until the edges are just a little crispy and a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Bring 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour in cranberries and reduce to a medium heat until the berries pop.
6. Finely strain sauce while still warm and spread on cooled bars.

Items Available from SLO:

You can get organic and local ingredients for this recipe with a SLO CSA share. We have pie pumpkins, cranberries, lard, and eggs. Produce availability varies by season.