Try these fruity dessert recipes

Pat Koch
Published: June 28, 2008

In the mood for a fruity dessert? Try strawberries or cherries Jan asked for a recipe for a strawberry treat from CoolWhip.com and the Strawberry Whipped Sensation is what I found. It looks great.

The bar cookies are some I’ve made when I had some dried cherries I wanted to bake with. You can find dried cherries at Bi-Lo and Food Lion. Piggly Wiggly carries a dried cherry and cranberry combination. Try either of these recipes for a special dessert tonight.

Strawberry Whipped Sensation

4 cups fresh strawberries, divided
1 can (14-oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tub (8-oz.) Cool whip topping, thawed, divided
8 chocolate sandwich cookies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mash 2 cups of the strawberries in a large bowl. Add condensed milk, juice and 2 cups of the whipped topping; mix well. Pour into prepared pan. Mix chopped cookies and butter, Spoon over whipped topping mixture.

Cover with ends of foil and gently press cookie mixture into whipped topping mixture. Freeze 6 hours or until firm. Invert dessert onto serving plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil.
Spread remaining whipped topping onto top and sides of dessert like you were icing a cake. Slice remaining 2 cups of strawberries; arrange over dessert. Store leftovers in freezer.

Serves: 12; Source: kraftfoods.com (Internet)

Chocolate Cherry Pecan Oatmeal Cookie Bars

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries (could also use dried cranberries)
1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, oats and brown sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in cooled melted butter, egg and vanilla. Stir to combine. Mixture should be wet, but may still be a bit crumbly. Stir in nuts, cherries and chocolate chunks. Scrape dough into prepared pan and press down into an even layer. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown and just set in the center. Cool on a wire rack completely before slicing into bars.

Yield: 20 bars; Source:  bakingbites.com (Internet)

By the way, the original recipe was called Pistachio Cherry Oatmeal Cookie Bars. Note: I doubled the recipe and used a 9x13-inch pan and baked it for a little longer.