Cranberry Raisinets and A Shabby Apple Giveaway (CLOSED)

December has flown by and Christmas is quickly sneaking up on me. Stop the time- I'm not ready! I need another 4 weeks to get ready, decorate the house, wraps gifts, send out cards and do my holiday baking. Surprisingly (or not) I haven't made a single cookie this month. Heck, my Christmas tree just got decorated yesterday! True story. Usually by this time of year, I have a stash of baked goods already in the freezer ready to be placed into cookie boxes. This year my freezer holds nothing but cartons of half eaten ice cream, frozen meals and a backstock of breastmilk. haha!

I did, however, make these cookie bars last week to take to my in-laws house for dinner. I discovered that Raisinets now makes a cranberry version and I couldn't wait to bake them into something. Instead of raisins covered in milk chocolate, they're dried cranberries in milk chocolate and they were really good. Very similar to the original, but a little more tart.

I bought a couple bags (found in the candy aisle) and incorporated them into some chewy buttery oatmeal bars. I added a handful of vibrant dried cranberries to the batter for color and added flavor. To say I liked them was an understatement. This entire pan was gone in 2 days. Just looking at the pictures makes me want to make them again. I bet they'd be good warmed slightly with a scoop of vanilla on top too. Good thing, I have some in the freezer. I'll just have to make another batch of these bars!

And the winner of Sugar, Sugar: Every Recipe Has A Story is #45 Jeanette of The Whimsical Cupcake. Congratulations Jeanette! I enjoyed your story about your meatball mishap and hope you enjoy this book. Please email me with your address and this book will be shipped out to you. For another giveaway, head down below.

Chocolate Cranberry Oat Bars adapted from Quaker and Monica h

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• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups Quaker Oats (old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 cup Cranberry Raisinets
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats, Cranberry Raisinets and dried cranberries; mix well.

Press dough onto bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Cut into bars. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

The generous folks at Shabby Apple would like to offer one of the readers here at Lick The Bowl Good one of their beautiful aprons! How cool is that?! Shabby Apple is an online boutique of women's dresses, aprons and accessories. They have such beautiful things and I could truly spend all day adding things to my cart on their site. But today we're talking aprons so let's get on with the giveaway. Their vintage-inspired cheery aprons are a part of the Boysenberry Pie Collection and each apron comes complete with a recipe for its namesake dessert. Click HERE to see their beautiful aprons. I am partial to the Wildberry Pie apron- so pretty!

In order to enter this giveaway, there are a few things you must do.

1. You must "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shabby-Apple/56291792791
2. Go to ShabbyApple.com and pick your favorite apron, then come back here and leave me a comment on this post telling me you "liked" them on Facebook and which apron you would like to have.

Winner must have a USA shipping address to be eligible for entry. Winner will be chosen in a few days. Best of luck!