Spice Cookie Bars With Raisins

Although I haven't posted for awhile, I have been cooking good things for the Dutchess. She has been feeling kind of punk lately so I've been trying to entice her appetite with good smells. These cookie bars have a wonderful fragrance of fall spices that are sure to get her attention.

By the way, I've plated the cookie using my Yiayia's china. It was also the same pattern my mother chose for her wedding. So I have acquired two full sets; one for each daughter.

This recipe is one of those old fashioned types were there is not a lot of ingredients used, so it is easy to put together in no time flat. I found the recipe in the Penzey spice catalog which was submitted by Sally K Field from Hampden, Maine.

Ingredients consist of raisins, flour, sugar, oil, egg, baking soda and a spicy mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves and some optional nuts. The kitchen smelled heavenly while it was baking.



The first step when making these cookies will also add a ton of moisture to the bars. Take one cup of raisins and one cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Then set aside for 10 minutes. This really plumps up the raisins in the cookie. I suppose you could even use some rum or rum flavoring in the liquid as long as only one cup of liquid total is used.

After 10 minutes add the raisin mixture to your mixing bowl along with 1 cup of sugar, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup of oil. Mix well, but this won't beat up light and fluffy.

I also wanted to show you my mixer. I have had this mixer for 25 years. It has been a workhorse for me. It is an Oster mixer that has multiple attachments for it including a blender, food processor, salad prep, and even an ice cream maker. The mixer also came with dough hooks so I have made many loaves of bread with it too. It's been a useful machine for me for all these years. When looking for a mixer I recommend you get the best you can afford.


Sift together 1 3/4 cup of flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/4 tsp ground cloves. Add this to the raisin mixture and mix well. Add in 1/2 cup of nuts. I used a mixture of walnuts and pecans. Too hard to pick just one kind of nut since I love all nuts.


Spread batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan, making sure to level out the batter. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes until a nice golden brown. Cool pan on a rack and then cut into 24 (tiny) squares.


This recipe mixed up from start to finish in no time flat. Easy to make, and the flavors from the spices are divine. 4 paws up.

Enjoy!!