I love love.
I also love cookies.
And furthermore, I adore a good story.
Naturally, I gravitated toward this recipe, since it combines all of the above in one tasty form. Adding to its intrigue was the fact that is was an award-winner: these bars are featured in the new book Holiday Cookies: Prize-Winning Family Recipes from the Chicago Tribune for Cookies, Bars, Brownies and More
These so-called "H-Bars" have a mysterious story:
Victoria Weisenberg won first place in 2012 for this recip and her tale of using them to woo "a very special man". Weisenberg created the recipe as a Hanukkah give for her former beau and said the "H" stands for the first letter of his first name, though she opted to leave that name a mystery.
This story is what intrigued me about the bars, which I might have otherwise passed over owing to the fact that they are made with a raisin filling. This t-shirt design sums up my thoughts on raisins in cookies:
Luckily (great timing!) I just received a package from the California Dried Plum Board (no, really). It didn't take me long to decide to swap the prunes for the raisins. I'm glad I did: they add a wonderful moisture and mellow flavor to the bars.
Yes, really.
The only other thing I did differently is I baked the bars in a loaf pan rather than the size specified in the recipe. Doing such, I had to increase the bake time by about 5 minutes. I have left the instructions intact though; if you want to make them look like mine, use a loaf pan, increase the bake time, and slice into fingers instead of bars.
Award-winning H-Bars
- Yield: 20 bars
- Prep time: 30 minutes
- Bake time: 37 to 40 minutes per batch
Shortbread base:
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
Middle layer
- ⅓ cup flour
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 4 ounces chopped dried plums (original recipe calls for ⅔ cup golden raisins)
Topping:
- ½ cup flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- ½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted
- butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Icing (I omitted this)
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1½–2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
Procedure
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Grease or coat with cooking spray a 7½-by-11-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
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For the shortbread, combine butter, flour and granulated sugar in a medium bowl until crumbly. Pack into the prepared pan; bake, 15 minutes.
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For raisin layer, stir together flour with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. In another bowl, beat brown sugar, eggs and vanilla together until blended. Stir in dry ingredients and dried plum bits. Pour over the baked shortbread layer.
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For the topping, combine ingredients in a bowl until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the middle layer. Bake, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool.
-
For the icing, combine confectioners’ sugar, 1½ tablespoons milk and vanilla in a small bowl. Add more milk, if needed, until you get a smooth, easy-to drizzle mixture. Drizzle over the top. Cut into 20 bars.
Food processor method: You do not have to wash the bowl of the processor between steps. Combine ingredients for the bottom layer with a few pulses until crumbly. Pack in pan. Bake as above. Prepare topping in the processor in the same way. Place in a bowl and set aside. Then, place brown sugar, eggs and vanilla in processor bowl and process until blended. Add dry ingredients and pulse a few times. Stir in raisins. Continue as above.