I felt the need to have my ancestors close last week (specifically my Swedish ancestors), so I made up a recipe for Lingonberry Almond Bars. Our family usually keeps lingonberry recipes for holiday time, but occasionally we'll opt for something new at other times of the year. This is one of those times. I love this photo of my great-grandmother's youngest sister picking water lilies in Sweden when she took her mother back home for a visit. As we found on our trip to Sweden and Norway several years ago, the countryside looks a lot like where we live now!
This photo doesn't look posed at all, does it?! 
She's so cute - I love her hat and of course, I love that she's by a lake.
Back to the bars - I have made the recipe for Chocolate Revel Bars for the blog in the past, and this is how I decided to try this new recipe - I just used lingonberry jam in place of the chocolate fudge middle in the bars. This recipe also just makes a 9" x 9" pan instead of a cake pan - the bars are so rich, you really only need a small one. At least that's what I keep telling myself!
Here is the recipe as I made it:
Lingonberry Almond Bars
Cream together:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Add:
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup flour
1 /2 cup oatmeal
Pat 2/3 of mixture into the bottom of a 9" x 9" pan, saving the remaining 1/3 for the topping.
Put on top of crust:
1 10-ounce jar of Lingonberry jam (the jar I have just says "Lingonberries" on it, but it is jam)
Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over top.
Top with:
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (I went an extra 3 minutes because I've never made these before and I wondered if the jam would be runnier than the fudge in the original).
Cool and cut into small squares.
I used a smaller pan, but the steps are the same. Pat 2/3 of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of the pan and reserve the rest.
I found my hand worked best for patting it in.
Next, dump the whole jar of jam right onto the crust and spread it out.
The rest of the oatmeal mixture goes on and then sprinkle on the sliced almonds. Ready for the oven!
Out of the oven it's golden and looks delicious!
Oh, wow. I can't wait to try one of these!
Lingonberry and almond is right up Grandma's alley! I'm sure she'd say this is such a "Swedish thing"! Ha!
The whole family agreed that these are just gross - NOT! They are full of flavor - the tartness of the lingonberries with all that butter and brown sugar, and then the almond. They are perfection, and just what I needed. Sometimes you just have to bake up a little love - even if it's for yourself! Don't be afraid to try a little tweaking to some of your favorite recipes and make something just a little bit different. If I hadn't tried that with the Chocolate Revel Bars, I wouldn't have this delicious recipe for Lingonberry Almond Bars!
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