When you’re trying to survive winter in eastern Canada, making a batch of my EASY WINTER FRUIT BAR COOKIES is a good distraction.
To date we’ve shoveled let me rephrase Ralph has shoveled, while I’ve watched from the comfort and warmth of my kitchen, 314 centimetres of snow, so far this year. He’s outside right now, in a windchill of -25 celsius, cleaning up yesterday’s storm. There is nothing fun or magical about living on the east coast of Canada in February. Back to back blizzards, frigid temperatures and treacherous walking and driving conditions make us hostages in our own homes. If I didn’t have Ralph, I wouldn’t leave my house til spring.
These bars/cookies are a snap to make, smell and taste delicious and are a perfect way to use up left-over glacé fruit from your Christmas baking. Because I always buy more candied fruit than I need for my fruitcake, I adapted this recipe from an old fashioned fruit bar from Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes by Jeanne Kelly as a way to use it up. You could make drop cookies if you wanted but I like the simplicity of dumping the cookie dough on my baking sheet, flattening it out and popping them in the oven. When they’re baked, I quickly cut them into bars and they’re done. They couldn’t be easier!
Easy Candied Fruit Bar Cookies – adapted from Blue Egga and Yellow Tomatoes
Preheat oven 350*F
½ cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 heaping cup glacé fruit mix
THE STEPS:
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until light.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and ground spices.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well blended.
- Fold in glacé fruit mix, until blended.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Drop cookie dough onto parchment paper.
- Cover with waxed or parchment paper and press out to 1/3 inch thickness using your hand or a rolling-pin.
- Remove the top piece of paper and tidy up the edges.
- Bake cookies for 22-25 minutes – cookies should be golden brown at the edges.
- Remove to a cutting board.
- Using a sharp knife, cut cookie dough into bars and allow them to cool.
- Store in a tightly covered container for up to 1 week.
THE LOVE: Make sure that you’re using fresh spices. Contrary to the old wives tale ‘ground spices last forever’; they do not. If your spices have been sitting in your cupboard longer than one year, it’s time to replace them.
Thanks for reading.
photography by michelle
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 heaping cup glacé fruit mix
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until light.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and ground spices.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well blended.
- Fold in glacé fruit mix, until blended.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Drop cookie dough onto parchment paper.
- Cover with waxed or parchment paper and press out to 1/3 inch thickness using your hand or a rolling pin.
- Remove the top piece of paper and tidy up the edges.
- Bake cookies for 22-25 minutes – cookies should be golden brown at the edges.
- Remove to a cutting board.
- Using a sharp knife, cut cookie dough into bars and allow them to cool.
- Store in a tightly covered container for up to 1 week.