• Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 10×15″ rimmed pan with parchment paper or other non-stick.

In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth. Beat in egg until well combined. Stir in cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, and cloves. Stir in flours, nuts, and dried fruit until evenly moistened. Spread dough in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until the bars begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool in pan on a rack, then cut into bars.

NOTES: The recipe is from Sunset Magazine’s May 1989 issue. I used to make these bars ALL THE TIME! They are super fast and easy. It seemed a healthy choice for school lunchbox snacks. I have used any manner of dried fruit and nuts. Today I didn’t have enough molasses so I used dark corn syrup to make up the difference. I can remember using honey before. The recipe is very forgiving for substitutions. It makes a thin, chewy cookie bar. The fruit you see pictured today is half cup of dried cranberries and half cup of dried apricots.