I wouldn't be afraid to substitute, but I'd probably cut back a little - maybe 1/2 cup of chopped fresh instead of 3/4 of the sweetened dried? Report back on your results; it sounds really good :)

BTW, I cooked with Julie (your link's blogger) in September - we were both finalists at a burger contest in Napa!

Since it is basically a crust with a fruit topping, you could sub fresh for the dried, but I would probably cut the cranberries in half rather than leaving them whole, and use them instead of part of the pears, adding some form or other of dried fruit instead of the dried cranberries to maintain the texture. Were it me, I might try a 2 to 1 ratio, pears to cranberries, and then add chopped, dried apricots to sub for the dried cranberries. It would make for a bar more tart than the original recipe, but I like tart flavors.

Thanks for both of your votes and suggestions. If I get up early tomorrow before heading off to work I'll bake them then..if not it'll be a day or two. Since I eat very little wheat based foods, I take a nibble, and the guys won't eat it..so I have to be headed somewhere I can take it to share and leave it. LOL