Christmas Pecan, Raisins and Dates Cake Bars
- 1 cup pastry flour, whole wheat or white flour, or half white and half whole wheat pastry
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup butter, unsalted at room temperature
- 1/4 cup canola oil or olive oil
- 2 cups brown sugar light, packed
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
- 3 cups pecans chopped
- 1 cup raisins, seedless preferably golden
- 1 cup dates finely chopped and pitted
- Preheat oven to 300F.
- Coat the bottom and sides of a large (17-by-12-inch) baking sheet with cooking spray or greased with butter, then line with parchment paper.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Cream butter, oil and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed.
- Add eggs one at a time and beat until creamy.
- Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add half the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until well combined.
- Add cinnamon and nutmeg, stir until blended into the mixture completely.
- Add pecans, raisins and dates to the rest of the flour mixture.
- (Coating the dried fruit and nuts helps distribute them in the mix.)
- Add the flour-coated fruit and nuts into the batter, stir until jut combined.
- Do not overstir.
- Evenly spread the batter into the prepared baking pan with a spatula.
- (Coat the spatula with cooking spray, if necessary, to make spreading easier.)
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the sides.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 45 minutes.
- Invert onto a large cutting board and remove the parchment.
- Cut into 48 squares.
- Serve or store in an air-tight container, they can be frozen well too.
pastry flour, baking powder, salt, butter, canola oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon ground, nutmeg, pecans, raisins, dates
Taken from recipeland.com/recipe/v/christmas-pecan-raisins-dates-c-51323 (may not work)