Cranberry Crunch....the recipe

After posting yesterday, I received a request to share the entire recipe for cranberry crunch.  Of course I will oblige....

But first, a little history....

Back when my husband and I were still dating or maybe newly married, my FIL would talk about this cranberry crunch that used to be served by the local school lunchroom back when he and my MIL were in school.  Of course, he always took great care to make it known that he would always get second and third helpings from the girls sitting next to him who were watching their weight.  Even at church I would hear people talk about cranberry crunch.  Everyone locally seemed to remember it from school, but no one ever mentioned making it and, if they did, they never brought it to church pot-lucks.  The school no longer makes cranberry crunch, and I always assumed the recipe was lost somewhere along the way.  Although curious about this treat that was so loved by all the school children (except those watching their weight, apparently), I figured I would never experience it myself. 

Fast forward about 5 years.....Our local church ladies were compiling a church cookbook.  I was organizing and proofreading recipes, when lo and behold, there's "Mrs. Willie Mae McCutcheon's Cranberry Crunch."  Without letting my in-laws know that I happened upon such a treasure, I made the treat about a month later at Thanksgiving.  Needless to say, my in-laws were quite surprised that their daughter-in-law from the city could recreate such a local favorite.  It's always good to score brownie points with the in-laws :)

So, here it is....

1lb Oats
1lb brown sugar
1lb flour
1lb butter (or just 3 sticks)
1 tsp salt
2 cans cranberry sauce (jellied or whole, the original reciple did not specify, and I've used both)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix first 5 ingredients together.  Press 1/2 of mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Spread cranberry sauce over mixture and then top with remaining oat mixture crumbles.  Bake until golden on top, 30 minutes or so. 

One day, I might actually measure out the ingredients after I weigh them, so that I will know how many cups of oats and flour, but that day hasn't come yet.  This is for a full recipe.  If you go trying to cut the recipe in half, you're on your own!

Although, it was served by itself in the school cafeteria, we like to serve it with vanilla ice cream around here.  Of course, we like to add vanilla ice cream to lots of things around here!  It has almost become a Thanksgiving tradition at our house.

It is a basic "crisp" recipe that could also be substituted with apple, cherry, blueberry or peach. 

Enjoy!