peanut butter and cranberry bars

I made these over the weekend, and le husband claims they're the best cookies I've ever made. That's saying something, seeing the way he obsessively snuffles up molasses cookies. The recipe comes froma Quaker Oats booklet that we've had for some time, and I modified it to suit my preferences. This is also a very good way to use up cranberries, wether left over from thanksgiving or picked up for cheap in the store. The cranberry jam came from Nigella Lawson's "Feast" (which is a fabulous cookbook, in case you're wondering) and is just as easy as can be. It's also good on whatever else needs jam at the moment: english muffins, toasts, croissants. Have at it! Note: I didn't use a full batch of the jam in the pictured bars, and ended up spreading the extra over the top as I ate them. Don't make the same mistake!
1 C brown sugar
3/4 C shortening
1/2 C peanut butter
2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C rolled oats, uncooked
1/3 c water
1 batch cranberry jam (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 13x9 inch pan.
Cream together brown sugar, shortening, and peanut butter. Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda; beat until well blended. Stir in oats. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Mixture should be clumpy.
Press half the dough into the bottom of the pan. Spread with cranberry jam. Sprinkle remaining dough on top.
Bake at 400 for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Cut into bars.

Cranberry Jam
4 C cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 1/4 C granulated sugar

Put enough water in pan to cover the bottom. Add sugar and cranberries, and stir over low until sugar is dissolved. This takes a little while. When the sugar is completely dissolved, turn up the heat and boil the cranberries carefully until the have thickened, about 7 minutes.

That's it! So yummy, and so pretty.