Raisin Shortbread Bars

It has been already the end of the third week on our incredible journey of A-Z themed Blogging Marathon. I have reached the alphabet R without any hurdle and God help me to cross the next week too. Today for the alphabet R, I was not at all ready with a post. I had bookmarked a recipe from Joy of Baking and it was in my bookmarks till noon today. But I had to make it. So gathering up some strength, I baked these shortbread bars with lots and lots of raisins. If you are a raisin lover like my daughter, then this would be a perfect bake for you. The bars turned out light and crispy and the raisins added the softness in between the crispness. 



Talking about my daughter, I wanted to share with you an incident a year back when she was in first standard. I used to go through Joy of Baking website regularly and she would join me watching the videos. One day, there was a speech she had to recite in a function and she was practicing it at home. I forgot the speech but I remember that it ended with joy of learning. When she was reciting it to me, she ended it with Joy of Baking. We just couldn't control our laughter. She was so much into watching the videos that anything starting with joy should end with baking. I used to tease her a lot with this incident and today I thought I would share with you all.




Recipe Source: Joy Of Baking
Makes 36 Bars
Ingredients:
Butter-1 cup
Icing Sugar-1 cup
Vanilla Essence-1 tsp
Flour/ Maida-2 1/2 cups
Salt-1/2 tsp
Black Raisins-2 cups ( I used a combination of golden and black raisins)]

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Butter a 9" * 13" tray.
3. In a bowl cream together butter and vanilla until soft and creamy.
4. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
5. Mix flour and salt in another bowl.
6. Add it to the butter mixture and knead into a soft dough.
7. Now divide it into two portions, one slightly larger than the other.
8. Take the smaller portion and press it into a thin layer with your fingers on the tray.
9. Evenly spread the raisins on the dough layer.
10. Press it into the dough using your fingers.
11. Now crumble the remaining dough and spread it evenly on the raisins.
12. Press well to incorporate it into the raisins.
13. Brush the top with a coating of milk. This gives a nice colour to the bars.
14. Now with a fork, make lines on the surface.
15. Bake this in oven for 30-35 minutes.
16. When the crust is golden, remove from oven, and using a serrated knife cut into bars.
17. Allow it to cool completely.
18. Remove bars and store in airtight jar.
19. Serve with a cup of coffee.





Cream together butter and vanilla.




Add sugar.




Cream until fluffy.




Add flour salt mixture.




Prepare a soft dough.




Divide it into two portions.




Spread the smaller portion on a tray.




Spread the raisins on it evenly and press.




Now crumble the remaining dough and spread it on the raisins.




Press it into the raisins.




Brush with milk.




Make lines with a fork.




Bake until golden.




Cut into bars and allow it to cool.




Remove bars from the tray.




Serve it with a cup of coffee...






Logo courtesy : Preeti

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

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