This bars are quick to put together and use items most of us have on hand, creator Karen DeMasco says.

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup raspberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Spread the pecans on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Cool the sheet completely on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, and pecans. Pour in the melted butter, and using a wooden spoon, mix together until well combined.

Transfer about 2/3 of the dough to the prepared baking pan. Press the dough evenly into the pan, forming a firmly packed layer.

Using an offset or rubber spatula, spread the preserves over the dough. Evenly sprinkle the remaining dough over the preserves.

Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the top is golden brown and fragrant, about 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let it cool completely. Then cut into 2-inch squares.

The bars can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Makes 16 bars.

From “The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies and Other Sweets With Ideas for Inventing Your Own” by Karen DeMasco and Mindy Fox

Are you mad for granola?  Then you may want to check out the pumpkin spice blend granola that Cowgirl Granola has produced for this Thanksgiving.

The San Antonio company is offering a granola made with seasonal spices as well as dried orange-cranberries, perfect flavors for those who can’t enough during the holiday.

The special granola is only available through the end of the month. It sells for $8 for a 12-ounce package.

You can purchase it or the two regular flavors (Original with organic raisins and Cranberry with dried cranberries) by calling (210) 865-5900, online at www.cowgirlgranola.com or at the Leon Springs Farmers Market, 13222 Boerne Stage Road every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

Biga Crunch Granola

Fans of the farmers market each Saturday at the Pearl Brewery will likely have discovered Lilla Bernals’ granola from Bruce Auden’s Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s. If you want to make your own version of this treat at home, you can adapt it at will. Use whatever you have at home and shape it to your family’s tastes.

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Big pinch of salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a bowl combine oats, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl combine the oil, honey, brown sugar and vanilla. Stir with a whisk until combined, pour on top of dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add coconut, almonds, currants and cherries, and mix until all the fruit and nuts are lightly, evenly coated with the honey mixture. Spread the mix onto a lightly oiled, or parchment lined sheet tray. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola, return to the oven and continue baking about 15 more minutes, remove from the oven and break up any big clumps. Cool completely. Granola can be stored in an air tight container for 7 days.

For Tropical Crunch Granola substitute macadamia nuts for almonds and banana chips for dried cherries.

For Totally Nuts Granola try using only nuts and leaving out the dried fruit; pistachios and hazelnuts are a good combo.

From Biga on the Banks

Last Saturday morning, I took a cruise up I-10 to Boerne Stage Road and dropped by the farmers market at the Leon Springs Baptist Church parking lot. On a sunny morning it was easy to park and not yet steamy hot, so I could enjoy making the rounds of vendors.

Even at a distance, the plants and flowers displayed were a welcome eyeful of color in our currently dusty landscape. There were two tents with beautiful, healthy looking herbs, Hibiscus, and an intriguing flowering plant named a Rangoon Creeper.

I met Mario Obledo as I photographed some of the produce. He is the vice president of the Hill Country Farmers Market Association, the organization that promotes this market and three other markets in the area (see below for details). I learned that the Leon Springs market is year-round, 2 1/2 years into its growth and development, still with room for new additions and new ideas.

Every day you hear about “going green,” and at The Green Brownie company they are doing green in brownies! No, this isn’t a St. Patrick’s Day gimmick; these are delicious treats made with all-organic ingredients so you can feel good about indulging. Owner Tracy Carlson told me that they even used packaging that is eco-friendly. If you are in a more playful mood, the stand also has Brownies-on-a-stick (they are cute) as well as gluten-free brownies.

But the vision that most of us hold about a farmers market includes lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. As it should be, there were three well-stocked displays of bright, fresh, produce. I saw some good looking squash that were named Sunburst and White Scalloped, very much like a pattypan squash, at Bob Mishler’s Uncertain Farms. Lots of people were buying peaches and tomatoes, cucumbers and okra, potatoes and green beans, plums, bell peppers, jam, wow!

But there were baked breads, pecans (even pecan oils at Circle H Orchards), and some super yummy granola at Cowgirl Granola. Heather Hunter, the Head Cowgirl, has been making her toasty, oaty, nutty, tasty, amazing granola for about 8 years. She is out at Leon Springs every week, as well as the other three markets in the association. You can also contact her at cowgirlenterprises@gmail.com.

There is usually a grass-fed beef dealer, but he was out-of-town that morning. He’s expected back soon; meanwhile, there are other vendors with free-range eggs and various goodies to keep you busy until then.

I have been to a few farmers markets in our area and in other states — and even other countries. Leon Springs is not the biggest, but it has a good variety, easy to get service, and just a friendly, can-do, attitude. Go see for yourself and try something new!

Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Leon Springs Baptist Church
24133 Boerne Stage Road (behind the H-E-B)

The other markets affiliated are:

• Boerne, Kendall County Fairgrounds, 1307 River Road, Boerne TX  Wednesdays 2-6 p.m., now through Nov. 18
• Bulverde-Spring Branch, The Branches Church, 4594 Highway 281 North, Bulverde, TX  Saturdays, 2:30-5:30 p.m., year-round.
• Helotes-Grey Forest, Helotes Hills United Methodist Church, 13222 Bandera Road, Helotes, TX  2nd & 4th Fridays, 3-6 p.m., now through Nov. 13