Gluten Free Cherry Bars

Butter a 9×13 baking pan and set it aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free baking mix, oats, and brown sugar, baking powder, salt and mix well. Add nuts if desired. Then use a pastry tool to cut the butter cubes into the flour/sugar/oat mixture. Be patient, this takes a few minutes. Mixture should be crumbly in texture.

Pour half of the mixture into the buttered pan and press firmly to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Then spread the preserves over the oat mixture. Top with remaining oat mixture and gently press to flatten the top layer. Place pan in a preheated 350ºF oven for approximately 35 minutes, until bars are golden brown and bubbly. Let bars cool completely before cutting.

Note: This recipe is adapted from Pioneer Woman’s Strawberry Bars. I’ve substituted gluten-free baking mix but one could certainly use plain flour instead. Our family prefers the cherry preserves over strawberry. And since I added the pecans, I increased the butter to 2 sticks. Finally, PW used 10-12 ounces of preserves and I used a full pint jar (16 ounces) of cherry preserves, which turned out fine for us.