End of Summer: Peach Cobbler

All summer I was craving peach cobbler. It is probably one of my favorite desserts. Anytime I can use peaches (especially fresh ones when they are in season) I jump on it. It's quite obvious I love peaches by making so many different things like this salad, these pancakes, these muffins, and this chicken. While some of those recipes are untraditional ways to use peaches, I went for a classic this time. This cobbler is from Betty Crocker so you know it doesn't disappoint. It satisfied my craving for cobbler for a minute but left me wanting more. You can't have peach cobbler without homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I chose the whipped cream but I don't think you could go wrong either way.

Random thought/fact: The other day Shawn and I were watching a movie where they were eating marzipan mushrooms. He asked me what marzipan was and I had no idea. I know I'm ashamed, I should actually know as much about food as I pretend to...I mean I watch hours of the Food Network a week and cook most of my meals. So I googled it and learned that it is a confection consisting mostly of sugar and almond meal. It is used mostly for sweets...who knew?!

Fresh Peach Cobbler
From Betty Crocker: Baking Basics

Ingredients:

For the Cobbler:
6 medium peaches
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup AP flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the Sweetened Whipped Cream (makes 2 cups):
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

For the Cobbler:
Heat the oven to 400F. Cut each peach in half, and remove the pit. Peel each peach half using a pairing knife. Cut peaches into slices to measure 4 cups.

In a 2-quart saucepan, stir 1/2 cup sugar, the cornstarch and cinnamon until mixed. Stir in the peaches and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until moisture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Pour into and ungreased 2-quart casserole; keep peach mixture hot in oven while making dough.

In a medium bowl, stir flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, the baking powder and salt until mixed. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or fork, until mixture looks like fine crumbs, Stir in the milk. Drop dough by 6 spoonfuls onto the hot peach mixture. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Meanwhile make sweetened whipped cream. Serve cobbler with whipped cream.

For the Whipped Cream:
Always start with cold cream from the refrigerator. Beat all the ingredients with an electric mixer until peaks form. Overbeating the whipped cream will curdle and separate the cream so only beat until soft peaks are formed (when the cream will hold its own shape when beaters are lifted from the cream).

End of Summer: Ultimate BBQ Chicken

This here is another one of those meals that screams summer to me. I had a mini potluck with some lady friends of mine at me new apartment. The theme was "indoor bbq". I made the bbq chicken, cornbread and peach cobbler (up next!). The girls brought salad, baked beans and potato salad. It was nice to catch up with the friends I haven't seen as much as I'm used to since graduating college over good food and wine. I'm hoping to be able to host these little potlucks more often. Come this thursday some of my girlfriends are coming to my place to watch Greys Anatomy and Jersey Shore (guilty pleasure, I know, I'm insane) and enjoy some pumpkin bread. Can't wait!

This bbq chicken has gotten RAVE reviews on the food network and I wanted to try it because I had never made bbq sauce from scratch. Big BIG fan of this recipe. Making sauces from scratch is so worth the extra effort.

Ultimate BBQ Chicken
From foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

Brine:
2 quarts water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a large knife
4 sprigs fresh thyme
6 chicken legs and thighs, still connected, bone in, skin on, about 10 ounces each

The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce:
1 slice bacon
1 bunch fresh thyme
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika or smoked paprika if available
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

For the brine, in a mixing bowl combine the water, salt, sugar, garlic, and thyme. Transfer the brine to a 2-gallon sized re-sealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, close the bag and refrigerate 2 hours (if you've only got 15 minutes, that's fine) to allow the salt and seasonings to penetrate the chicken.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Wrap the bacon around the bunch of thyme and tie with kitchen twine so you have a nice bundle. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the thyme and cook slowly 3 to 4 minutes to render the bacon fat and give the sauce a nice smoky taste. Add the onion and garlic and cook slowly without coloring for 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, give the sauce a stir, and turn the heat down to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes to meld the flavors. Once the sauce is done cooking, remove about 1 1/2 cups of the sauce and reserve for serving along side the chicken at the table. The rest of the barbecue sauce will be used for basing the legs.

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

Preheat a grill pan or an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue to a medium heat. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil on the paper towel and carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill to make a nonstick surface. Take the chicken out of the brine, pat it dry on paper towels. Arrange the chicken pieces on the preheated grill and cook, turn once mid-way, and cook for a total of 10 minutes. Transfer the grill marked chicken to a cookie sheet and then place in the oven. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and then brush liberally, coating every inch of the legs with the barbecue sauce and then return to the oven for 25 to 30 more minutes, basting the chicken for a second time half way through remaining cooking time. Serve with extra sauce.

End of Summer: Grilled Peach Spinach Salad

Towards the end of summer I made a couple meals that used some of my favorite summer foods like bbq chicken, peaches, fresh greens and the like. I was grilling things like crazy to get my summer food fix so that I could be totally prepared for fall. I am just madly in love with fall. Summer is great, but fall is wonderful.

While I may clearly favor fall over all other seasons, Summer does have one thing that beats them all and that is peaches are in season. Peaches are my favorite fruit (perhaps this is my 9th time declaring this but oh, well, its true). So I gathered a basket of peaches and got to work the last couple weeks of summer. Over the next few days I will be rapidly posting these before my blog is overflown with pumpkin, apple and holiday spiced recipes.

I know I say this everytime I make a salad but this might be my favorite salad recipe thus far. It features some of my alltime favorite ingredients: peaches, bacon, blue cheese, red onion and spinach. The ingredients seem odd and bizaar and that they can't possibly work together but they do, omigoodness they sure do. The dressing is easy and effortless and I just adore blue cheese. There's nothing about this salad I don't like.

 I typically don't care to add nuts to much, I like to just snack on palmfulls of them with bits of dried fruit and dark chocolate but toasted pecans are delicious and compliment all the other flavors. For those of you who like snacking on nuts like I do, try toasting pecans and popping them in your mouth when they are warm, addicting I tell you. Anyways, this salad is right up there with a Strawberry Mozzarella salad I made a while back, strange but fabulous.

Grilled Peach Spinach Salad
From Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

For the salad:
1/2 cup pecans
4 ripe peaches, pitted and quartered
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1/2 pound hickory-smoked bacon, roughly chopped
8 cups baby spinach
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

For the dressing:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) crumbled Danish blue cheese
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden and fragrant, 6 minutes; roughly chop.

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat on one side and medium heat on the other. Lightly brush the peaches with oil and grill over medium until nicely marked, about 4 minutes per side. Meanwhile, place a flat cast-iron skillet on the grill over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

Combine the spinach, red onion, grilled peaches, pecans and bacon in a large bowl.

Make the dressing: Mash the blue cheese with a fork in a bowl. Mix in the buttermilk, sour cream, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the salad just before serving.

Chocoholique

Back in the beginning of Summer Shawn and I were on one of our amazing date nights (amazing because I get to wear a dress and don't have to worry about unbuttoning my pants or having a bulging pooch from eating so much) at our first japanese hibachi grill (pretty cool by the way). The dessert selection was lacking so we, and by we I mean I, were on a quest for sweets.

We were taking a stroll through the Short North in Columbus...the art district where the night life is hot and the shops are interesting. We came across a little shop that had just opened that day called "Chocoholique" before Shawn could even ask if I wanted to go in I was drooling with my nose pressed to the display cases full of endless little chocolates, most of which were organic.

They had everything from traditional milk chocolate to chocolate covered bacon. They were a little pricey so Shawn and I each picked out two chocolates each (more like 4 chocolates for me of which he could take one bite, and only one, of each). I must say I was pleased with each and every one of our choices and really hope this family-owned business sticks around.

I apologize for the poor quality picture but here are 3 of the chocolates. On the bottom was a milk chocolate covered graham cracker filled with peanut butter. The round one on the left was called "The Cupcake" so I had to get it. The cone looking one on the right was called "Cookies and Cream". The fourth one was this guy...

Yep thats right folks, chocolate covered bacon. I was dying to try it because I had heard so many things about it. It was surprisingly tasty. It reminded me of chocolate covered pretzels because of the hint of saltiness. It was really a lot of chocolate and a little bacon so it worked. I recommend that everyone at least try it.

Some other interesting and bizaar flavors they had were a white peach champagne chocolate (THIS I HAVE TO TRY!), a margarita truffle, coconut curry bar, peanut butter and jelly truffle, and chocolate covered potato chips just to name a few of the maybe 700. I recommend checking out some pictured on their website since mine were so poor, I couldn't bear to take pictures of them when all I wanted to do was devour them...so the blog suffers, meh, oh well! To visit their site you can go here http://www.lechocoholique.com/

Happy Fall! Homemade Spiced Applesauce

Today is the first day of my favorite season, fall! I love fall for an endless list of reasons...its football season, (hotdogs, cheeseburgers, nachos and beer? yes please!) cool weather, the leaves and colors outside are beautiful (I'm drawn to warm colors), Halloween (getting to dress up, scary movies and CANDY!), Thanksgiving (duh), fashion (theres nothing I'm more comfortable in, aside from my cupcake apron, than a cardigan and a pair of booties), and my birthday (10/9/1987, it counts down, kinda cool huh? yeah I think so).

I wanted to make something to celebrate the coming of my favorite season and decided on a homemade applesauce. I was torn between that and baking something with pumpkin (as it is one of my favorites) but I figured I have all of October and November to use pumpkin (and I will, and you will get sick of it but I will not apologize). I think homemade applesauce is totally appropriate for fall. I always grew up eating cinnamon on my applesauce (never without!) and thought I would try to recreate that with a little more holiday spice!

This was comforting to eat and just warmed my soul. It's incredibly easy so try it! Also, I was just making it for myself so I only made enough for 2 servings...but this can be easily multiplied. Oh and one more thing, most homemade applesauce recipes want you to peel the apple but I was intrigued to leave the peel on and see how it worked out, believe it or not, I don't hate it! I just pureed half, and kept half of the chunks so that it wasn't too chunky. If you make this, prepare for your house to smell like fall, its amazing.

Homemade Spiced Applesauce
Dame Good

Ingredients:

2 apples (use any sweet apple), cored and diced
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon agave nectar (I wanted to leave out the sugar as the apples are plenty sweet on their own but felt agave nectar would be an interesting and more healthy alternative to sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cover. Heat over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until apples are tender. When cooked, divide the apples in half. Puree half of the apples in a food processor and smash the other half with a fork. Combine the two mixtures and stir together. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and serve warm.

Chunky Guacamole with Homemade Lime Tortilla Chips

Does anyone else hate those effortlessly thin and perfectly toned girls that show up in the middle of your workout only to make you feel fat and totally discouraged? This girl came into the gym today and I envied her body, she hopped on the eliptical for 20 minutes without breaking a sweat and then left. Is that all it takes?! Meanwhile, I've been going at it for 40 minutes with 20 to go sweating buckets with my thighs full of chocolate, vodka and buffalo chicken bouncing all over the place. I'm convinced these girls starve themselves because while I do enjoy indulging, and aside from my compulsive baking, I generally eat pretty healthy, reasonably portioned meals but can pack on a pound like nobodies business.

I can't give up food because quite frankly IM HUNGRY! I miss the days when my metablolism was so fast that I couldn't even keep up with it. I could eat whatever I wanted in large quantities and still be too skinny. At the tender age of 22 I'm already suffering the lovely effects of a slower metabolism...this is crap. But don't think I'm going to stop baking up pieces of heaven that temporarily excuse being fat because let's face it, I will die of chocolate shock.

I suppose this story has little relevance to guacamole but it is something to feel less guilty about and I needed a little space to rant. Also, I love mexican food and dips so this makes me happy :) The guacamole is nice and fresh (I'm a sucker for guacamole...and most other dips for that matter) and I love the idea of baking your own tortilla chips. They're easy! Something I have learned with avacados is that when you are working with them, sometimes it is easier to handle them when you allow them to come to room temperature first.

Is anyone else as obsessed with Chipotle's Chips and Guac as me?! This is my homemade take on that :)

Chunky Guacamole
Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

4 ripe Haas avocados
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (1 lime)
8 dashes hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium tomato, seeded, and small-diced
2 jalepenos, seeded and diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Cut the avocados in 1/2, remove the pits, and scoop the flesh out of their shells into a large bowl. (I use my hands.) Immediately add the lime juice, hot pepper sauce, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper and toss well. Using a sharp knife, slice through the avocados in the bowl until they are finely diced. Add the tomatoes, jalepenos, and cilantro. Mix well and taste for salt and pepper.

Homemade Baked Whole Wheat Tortillas with Seasalt and Lime
Dame Good

Ingredients:

1 package whole wheat tortillas (or corn if you prefer)
1-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lime for juice and zest
seasalt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small boil. Zest one lime and add to bowl. Brush each tortilla on both side with oil and lime mixture. Cut each tortilla into about 8 triangles (almost as you would with a pizza. Arrange evenly on a baking sheet. If you have a rack I recomend putting them on a baking rack to that they bake evenly. Sprinkle tortillas with salt. Bake about 15 minutes or until the chips are golden brown on the edges. Remove and squeeze fresh lime juice (from the lime you zested) onto the chips. Allow chips to cool about 5 minutes. (If you want extra crispy chips, turn the oven off when they brown and allow them to remain in the oven for a few minutes)

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

For those of you who have not tried nutella, you are crazy and missing out on one of the best things ever made. I love having a piece of peanut butter toast topped with nutella or dipping pretzels in it. It is a chocolate hazelnut spread that is just divine! I saw this recipe and knew I just HAD to make them! These are pretty chewy so if you don't like chewy cookies, perhaps they are not for you. If you cook them a little too long they become crunchy so be careful, it happens quickly!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
From lovintheoven.com

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temp.
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

Cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in Nutella and vanilla extract. Mix in egg.

Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chips.

Chill for at least 1 hour.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for about 11 minutes until the edges look set. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then carefully remove to cooling racks.

Since finally living alone I have been able to destroy the kitchen with no guilt and bake and cook even more so I have plenty of posts coming up...I am going to try my best to post them but I will be rather busy. Tomorrow morning I am heading up to Minnesota to see my dad, him and his side of the family live up there and I miss them tons. We're going to eat good German food and celebrate my graduation :) The following week, I start up classes again...so this shall be a challenge, but I can do it...

COMING SOON!

Chunky Guacamole with Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips

Lightened Buffalo Chicken Dip

Lemon Blossoms

S'more Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies

Dog Treats

Lemon Icebox Bars

I have been on a bar kick, I think you all may be seeing a plethora of bars coming up. I can't quite put my finger on why I love not only making but eating them as well. I was browsing Ellie Kriegers healthy dessert recipes and came across these. I love anything lemon...always have. I also love anything with cream cheese so these guys right here were a done deal.

There was one problem I had and that was that the graham crust was more like a graham dust, I would add more butter or less graham cracker next time (I changed the recipe here to accomodate that). Other than that, I loved them. I found them refreshing and addicting. They are not exactly low-calorie but they have a lot less fat than many other bar desserts out there. So if you are aching for some sweet lemony treat but am like me and have too much guilt because of how bad you've been (story of my life) try these out and cut them into small bite-size bars. I froze half of them so that I didn't devour them all at once and I could grab a little bite whenever an urge for lemon overtakes me :)

Lemon Icebox Bars
Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

Crust:
12 whole-grain graham cracker squares (6 full sheets)
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package 1/3 less-fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup pasteurized egg product (such as egg beaters)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
3 tablespoons boiling water

Directions:

Make Crust:

Place graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until crumbs are formed. Add butter, brown sugar and salt and pulse to incorporate, until crumbs resemble wet sand. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray and pack crumbs firmly into the bottom of it. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the filling:

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, condensed milk and pasteurized egg product and beat on high with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add lemon zest and juice and beat until fully incorporated, another 30 seconds. In a small bowl, combine the gelatin and boiling water and whisk until gelatin is entirely dissolved; let cool 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the gelatin into the cream cheese-lemon mixture until well incorporated. Pour the filling over the crust. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight, until filling is firm. Slice into 2-inch squares using a chilled knife coated with cooking spray.

Chicken with a Mango Barbeque Sauce

I am always looking for new and different chicken recipes to try. We all love chicken but lets face it, eating the same kind using the same recipe over and over can become rather dull. This recipe caught my eye for two reasons. One being, I love mango and two being that I enjoy making sauces from scratch. Its nice being able to make your own sauces and having control over the sodium content and heat level. The use of mangos and jalepenos in this sauce won me over, a perfect blend of heat and spice. I must admit though that I nibbled on a significant amount of the mango as I was chopping it for this sauce.

Chicken with a Mango Barebeque Sauce

From foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 red pepper, diced (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup low-sodium tomato sauce
1 mango, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 to 3 jalapenos, minced
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3/4 pound each)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the red peppers, garlic, salt and pepper, and allspice and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and tomato sauce and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer the mixture into a bender and add the mango and jalapeno. Blend until smooth.

Put 1 cup of the barbeque sauce into a sealable plastic bag with the chicken and marinate for 1 hour.

Preheat the broiler. Put the chicken on a broiler pan and discard the marinade. Broil the chicken on high for about 12 minutes, turning once. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Spoon about 1/2 cup of barbeque sauce over the meat slices and serve

Stone Fruit Bars: Cherry Oat

Once again, I am trying to bake and cook lighter because with the move and graduation I haven't had time to cook or really watch what I was eating. At the bakery I work at (Bakery Gingham) we have this cherry oat bar that is once of my favorite things to sell. It's delicious. Its saying a lot for me to declare that a favorite as I am less into fruity desserts and more into chocolate, peanut butter and cream cheese desserts. I searched for a similar recipe online because A.) I don't know the recipe at work and B.) if I did I wouldn't be a very good employee to go sharing it for all to see. The recipe I found satisfied my craving. I changed it up a bit to make it more my own. If I were to make these again (which I will with peaches) I will use a slightly smaller pan so the bars are thicker. These were pretty thin, which was okay because it gave them a nice crunch, but I like a thicker bar.

Stone Fruit Bars: Cherry Oat
Adapted from eatingwell.com

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Fruit Filling:
4 1/2 cups chopped cherries (any combination, fresh or frozen), divided
1 1/2 cups dried cherries
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

To prepare crust: Combine 3/4 cup nuts (or oats), whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter; pulse until well incorporated.

Whisk egg, oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl. With the motor running, add the mixture to the food processor. Process, then pulse, scraping down the sides, if necessary, until the mixture begins to clump, 30 to 45 seconds (it will look crumbly). Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and combine in a bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup chopped nuts (or oats). Set aside for the topping.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Generously coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

To prepare fruit filling & assemble bars: Combine 4 cups chopped fruit, orange juice, sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes. (It may take up to 10 minutes to get a thick result if you start with frozen fruit.) Stir in the remaining chopped fruit, the dried fruit and vanilla.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Spread the fruit filling over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the filling. Then sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the reserved topping.

Bake the bars for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and bake until the crust and topping are lightly brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours