Fruit bars #1

48 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
½ cup Butter; or margarine; softened
½ cup Sugar; granulated
½ cup Sugar; brown; firmly packed
2 Eggs
½ teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Flour; whole-wheat
1½ cup Flour; all-purpose
¼ cup Wheat germ; toasted; unsweetened
¼ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Baking soda
Fruit (see below)
½ cup Walnuts or almonds
⅓ cup Sugar
½ cup Water
1 teaspoon Lemon peel; grated
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
Recipe basic filling (above)
1 pounds Figs; dried; (about 2 cups lightly packed)
Recipe basic filling (above)
2 cups Prunes; pitted; (moist-pack)
¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
Recipe basic filling (above)
3 cups Apricots; dried; lightly packed (three 6 oz. bags)
1 teaspoon Orange peel; grated (instead of lemon peel)
Recipe basic filling (above)
1 pounds Dates; pitted
2 teaspoons Lemon peel; grated (instead of the 1 tsp called for)

Directions

DOUGH

BASIC FILLING

FIG FILLING

PRUNE FILLING

APRICOT FILLING

DATE FILLING

Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 09:48:56 +0000 From: "Wendy Lockman" <wlockman@...> FOR DOUGH: In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all- purpose flour, wheat germ, salt and baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture, blending thoroughly.

Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until easy to handle (at least 1 hour) or until the next day. Meanwhile, prepare filling of your choice; set aside.

Using a food processor or a food chopper fitted with a medium blade, grind together the dried fruit and nuts. Turn into a medium-size pan and add the sugar, water, lemon or orange peel, lemon juice and spices (if called for).

Place over medium heat and cook, stirring until mixture boils and becomes very thick (5 to 8 minutes). Mine never did really "boil", it was more like dry frying. Let cool completely. Divide the cookie dough into 2 equal portions; refrigerate ½ until ready to use. On a floured surface, roll out ½ of the dough to a straight-edged 9 x 15-inch rectangle, cut lengthwise into three strips. This wasn't that easy to do, that is, until I figured out that my board was exactly 15-inches wide. I rolled the dough the width of the board and measured 9-inches across using my long ruler. I held the ruler against the sides and used my fingers to press the dough into it. This is the hardest part of making these cookies. Divide cooked fruit filling into 6 equal portions (for the apricots it worked out to ½ cup per portion) and evenly distribute one portion down center of each strip, bringing it out to the ends. Using a long spatula, lift sides of each dough strip over filling, overlapping edges slightly on top.

****Original Posters Notes: I found this was hard to do so I cut each strip in half, then draped the dough over the filling--it never did overlap but that's OK. Press together lightly. Cut strips in half crosswise (I did that earlier on); lift and invert onto greased baking sheets (seam side should be down. Brush off excess flour with a pastry brush. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until the balance of the cookies are made. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Let cool on baking sheets on a rack for about 10 minutes; then cut each strip crosswise into 4 pieces. Transfer cookies to racks and let cool completely. Store covered.

The cookies keep well, becoming softer and more flavorful after they have stood at least 1 day. MAKES 4 DOZEN Food & Wine RT [*] Category 4, Topic 3 Message 234 Fri May 21, 1993 COOKIE-LADY [Cookie] at 10:49 EDT Formatted for MM:dianeE

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