A lot of people I know laugh at me because I always have a freezer packed with food. It’s that old “just in case company comes” mentality I learned from my mother.

Or maybe it’s a “just in case” a hurricane comes and you don’t have power for 6 days and not only do you need to eat up food that would otherwise spoil, you also want something sweet and delicious as a sort of consolation for not having light, heat, hot water and so on.

So I was really happy that my “just in case” packed freezer had some cookies. Among them, these oat-based bars, topped with crispy edged orange marmalade and stuffed with lots of chopped dried fruit.

I still have some left over, and that’s good because they will make for excellent nibbling on election night.

Orange Marmalade Cookies

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups quick cooking oats

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine

• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

• 1/2 cup chopped dates

• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

• 13-14 ounce jar orange marmalade (1-1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”x13” cake pan. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the oats and brown sugar and mix the ingredients thoroughly to distribute them evenly. Cut the butter into chunks and work into the dry ingredients (with fingers or process on pulse in a food processor) until the butter is completely mixed in and the mixture looks crumbly. Mix in the apricots, dates and cranberries. Press the mixture evenly inside the prepared pan. Spread the marmalade evenly on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pan. Cut into bars or squares.

Makes 24-36