“Dirty” Chai Bars

• 1 cup Butter, Softened
• 2/3 cups Dark Brown Sugar (packed)
• 1 whole Egg
• 3/4 cups Chai Tea, Strongly Brewed
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoons Ground Cloves
• 3/4 teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon Ground Espresso Beans

1. 1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a baking pan; somewhere around 7"x11" will work, though 9"x12" is also fine (your bars will just be thinner).
2. 2) Cream the butter and sugar in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the egg, tea, and vanilla. Mix well.
3. 3) In a smaller bowl, thoroughly mix the flour, spices, and coffee. Add to the butter mixture a little at a time, fully combining before each addition, until you have a well-mixed "dough" (it's not quite a dough, nor is it a batter ... it's in between-ish).
4. 4) Press your dough into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula until it is nice and flat.
5. 5) Bake for 20-25 minutes until the dough appears slightly "golden" (it's whole wheat, so maybe "bronzed" is a better adjective?). If your oven heats unevenly like mine, rotate the pan 180 degrees halfway through baking. Let cool.
6. 6) If you so desire, you may frost these with a simple icing made of 1 cup of powdered sugar, a pinch or so of ginger, a pinch of espresso grounds, and some water. If you're like me, you'll just eat these plain, or maybe crumble them over applesauce for your breakfast. Either way, I hope you enjoy these. They really are delicious!
7. Note: I used salted butter, which worked fine for me. If you like, use unsalted butter and just add a pinch of salt with the flour mixture.

butter, brown sugar, egg, tea, vanilla, whole wheat flour, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground espresso beans

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/e2809cdirtye2809d-chai-bars/ (may not work)