Saturday, January 9, 2010

And Now for Something Baked--A Recipe in Honor of my Mom

Nearby is a bakery called Sugar, Butter, Flour, and I think it's clever marketing, considering that pretty much everything with that combination of ingredients is likely to be tasty.

My latest culinary production is made with these, and some other delectable ingredients. Interestingly, I only made these for the first time in mid-December, after somewhat mysteriously asking Dear Sister (Kate) for some of our mom's recipes, if she had any that Mom had handwritten.*  She only came up with two (which is strange, but I have zero, so I guess Mom is hanging onto her gold for now). One was for Raisin Bars,

and I immediately made the cookie bars, forgetting all about the project. I also skipped the glaze as superfluous, but of course they would be even tastier with it.

You may notice the recipe calls for molasses: here's my tip for the post. When you need to measure out a sticky liquid, use spray oil on the inside of the measuring cup before you pour the molasses or honey in, and then immediately add the liquid to whatever you're mixing up. This minimizes how much of the liquid is "lost" by sticking to the sides of the measuring cup.

*I was going to make a Christmas giftie for Kate that I got straight from my friend Martha Stewart, from the December issue. It involved getting muslin transfer sheets and using the printer to make the transfer of a family recipe, then sewing it, as a pocket, to an apron. I'll still get around to it sometime, but for now, I'm enjoying this recipe. (I know she said to use margarine, but that was a generation ago. Sorry, Mom, I like butter better!) Funny, I don't remember her making them when I was a kid, but that doesn't mean much. I remember chocolate things much more vividly.

Here is today's batch:

Cream together sugar and butter.
A mixer would work even better. I was lazy.


Add eggs and beat again; add molasses and vanilla and stir until smooth.

When it was time to spread them in the pan and bake them, I had had a bit of trouble combining the flour mixture and the dough so it was pretty crumbly; again, the mixer would work better here. Even so, the final product tastes divine. One great thing about these cookie bars is the small amounts of spice in the recipe--tasty and distinct flavors, but no one spice overpowers the cookie. A note: I used yellow raisins (some call them sultanas) as I love the flavor. They are easily replaced with regular raisins.


I consider them raisin-pecan bars, but Mom's way works fine too, of course.
"Delicious!" says Molly, my official taste-tester. She also mentioned how buttery they are. 8^)

Here are some other great combos: walnut-dried cranberry; almond-dried cranberry; pecan-date; or walnut-prune (the last two, with chopped fruit of course).
Love you, Mom!
And thanks for the recipe, Kate.

1 comment:

  1. Oh, what a clever gihl! I think you've done a great job, here, Stacie. And maybe Mom will release her handwritten recipes for Oatmeal cake, choc/oat refridg. cookies, and goulash! (I know she gave that recipe to brother Chris, too, who loves it.) --Kate

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