Mincemeat Bars

I know, I know...most people cringe at just the thought of mincemeat, but I (and several family members) love it. Made this over the weekend while I was visiting my family so we had several different tasters. Everyone enjoyed it and it was a nice change from the traditional mincemeat pie. So, if there are any mincemeat pie lovers in your family, you might try substituting bars for pie this year for the holidays. My mother found this recipe in one of those newspaper inserts. There are several other dessert recipes from the same insert that I plan on trying. And yes, we forgot to take pictures. So sorry.

3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 (27-ounce) jar mincemeat

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch-square baking pan.

Combine sugar, molasses, flour, oats and salt in a large bowl. Using 2 knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Press half the oat mixture into prepared pan. Spoon mincemeat over top. Crumble remaining oat mixture evenly over mincemeat. Bake 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Mincemeat is a spicy preserve made of chopped fruits, nuts, beef suet, spices, and brandy or rum. Originally it was made with cooked lean meat that was finely chopped or minced. Most modern recipes do not include the meat. Check the ingredient list on the label. We used the "NoneSuch" brand and it did list beef as an ingredient.