Cranberry Pie Bars

Well, it seems that I forgot to post about this dessert that I created while at the farm.  As chef, I made a turkey for lunch on one of my last days there and thought there should be some sort of Thanksgiving-type dessert to go with it.  Since there were cans of cranberry sauce sitting around on the shelves, I decided to come up with something to do with them.  And this is the result:

The other special part of this dessert (besides the Thanksgiving-ness of it) is that it is topped with popped amaranth that was grown on the farm.  To pop amaranth, you take the grains and stir them around in a hot saucepan until they pop into what looks like itty-bitty popcorn.  Of course, if you have no amaranth, you can certainly do without.  But it was a fun addition.

Here is the recipe.  You begin by rolling out a pie crust onto a greased jelly-roll pan.  I needed to use my hands to press it out to make sure it got to all the edges and corners of the pan.  Then, you spread the cranberry topping over the crust.  Finally, sprinkle popped amaranth on the top and bake it.

Pie crust:
2 1/2 c. flour
2 sticks butter
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
7 Tbs. water
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt, then cut in the sticks of butter.  Finally, add the water until you have a dough of pie-crust consistency.

Topping:
Mix together
2 cans cranberry sauce (the jelly kind)
1 can whole cranberry sauce

1/2 c. popped amaranth

Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.