Holiday Bridal Shower Dessert

Another great way to include your guests in the celebration is to have them make holiday cookies and bring them to the shower . Then have index cards handy, so they can write down the recipes for the bride-to-be to keep.

Cranberry Cornmeal Bars

For our Holiday Shower, I made my mother's tart and tangy Christmas Cranberry Cornmeal Bars, which take only 10 minutes to prepare. Mom was so proud.

Makes 24 2" square bars

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup fresh cranberries
Confectioner's sugar

Instructions

In a bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy and light yellow in color. Add the egg, mixing just until blended. Add vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Add dry mixture to the butter mixture, combining just until blended. Add cranberries.

Butter and flour an 8" square baking pan. Pour cornmeal mixture into pan. Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes, until knife comes out clean. Allow 30 minutes to cool, then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before cutting into 2" squares.

Wedding Gazette