Cherry Walnut Bars

My mother-in-law is the Queen of Christmas Treats.  She has a whole arsenal of delicious Christmas recipes, and you better believe her four boys make sure she makes every single one every single year.  Since we are very sadly not going to see her this holiday season I'm trying to give Bryan a teeny tiny taste of what he's used to.

One day I made a dozen batches of chocolate chip cookies- a dozen batches of a dozen each.  Some were for a funeral and some for a baby shower, but our family ate an embarrassing number of the leftovers.  Next I made gingerbread cookies at Jilly's request.  We made and delivered these to many of our friends.  We had Santa's Cookies- a tasty recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip M&M cookies that my friend gave me.  And on Saturday morning I made gingerbread waffles.

But of all the Christmas delights, Cherry Walnut Bars are my very very favorite.  I had never tasted these until I married into the Martinez family but I immediately fell in love.  One year all my dirty, rotten in-laws (kidding!) ate all the cherry walnut bars before we got there and it just about ruined my Christmas.  I've since forgiven and let them know I will fight to the death for my annual cherry walnut bar (or bars... or the whole pan)  This year I made cherry walnut bars for the first time and they weren't quite up to The Queen's standard, but still delicious.

2 1/4 cups sifted flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 (12 oz) jar maraschino cherries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 tbl softened butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Mix flour, sugar, and butter til crumbly.  Press into a 13x9 pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or til crust is lightly browned (it took me a bit longer than 20 minutes.)  Blend eggs, sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.  Drain and chop the cherries, reserving the liquid.  Stir chopped cherries and walnuts into the mixture and place on top of baked crust.  Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  For the frosting: combine 1 tbl softened butter and 1 cup powdered sugar with enough cherry liquid to spread.  Frost, then sprinkle with coconut.  Wait til icing is firm to cut into bars (confession: I couldn't wait so they were pretty gooey but still delicious.)