Moist and chewy bars filled with warm spices, nuts and raisins.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Bar Cookies, Fall Baking, Old Fashioned Cookies, Spice Cookies
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 16bars
Author Elizabeth at thewildolive.org
Ingredients
½cupbutter or plant butter
1cupbrown sugar
1egg
¼cupcold coffeefine to use instant or instant espresso
1 ¾cupsflour
½tsp.baking soda
½tsp.saltnot Kosher
1tsp.pumpkin pie spice blend OR
½tsp.cinnamon
½tsp.nutmeg
¾cupraisins
¾cupchopped walnuts
Vanilla Icing
1cuppowdered sugar
2Tbsp.soft butter
½tsp.vanilla bean pasteor regular vanilla
A pinch of kosher salt
A splash of half and half or milk – just enough to beat icing smooth
Instructions
For Bars
Preheat oven to 325 and spray a 9” x 9” baking pan with cooking spray.
On medium-low speed, cream butter/plant butter and sugar together until well combined and a little fluffy – 1-2 mins. Beat in egg, then beat in coffee (mixture will appear curdled).
In a separate bowl combine flour, soda, salt and spices. Add to creamed mixture and beat on lowest speed until almost combined. Add walnuts and raisins and beat on low till just combined. Finish mixing dough by folding with a spatula so you won’t overbeat it.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until they appear set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with a moist crumb or two. Allow to cool before frosting or serving. You can either serve plain, dust with powdered sugar or frost with a simple vanilla icing.
For Icing
Whisk together the sugar, butter and vanilla. Add a splash of milk or cream. Whisk, adding a few drops more of milk/cream until your icing is a soft, spreadable consistency. If you add too much milk, just tip in a little more powdered sugar