Honey sweetened and studded with candied fruit, these Honey Bars have the taste and look of Christmas. After patting the dough into the pan, lightly score the top to define the squares then decorate with blanched almonds, candied cherries and pineapple pieces. Once baked and cooled, they are ready to serve and brighten up your holiday cookie tray. For those on special diets, these bars are dairy-free.

Honey Bars

Ingredients:

Dough:

4½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1½ cups unblanched almonds, finely ground

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup mixed candied fruit (fruitcake mix)

Topping:

Whole blanched almonds

Whole candied cherries

Pieces of candied or dried lemon peel or pineapple

1 large egg white

Directions:

Dough:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, ground almonds, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. Set aside.
   
   
2. In a medium heavy saucepan, combine honey, vegetable oil, and sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
   
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk the eggs to break them up. Add the cooled honey mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Add the flour mixture and stir until well blended; the mixture will be stiff. Stir in the candied fruit.
   
   
4. Turn dough out on a large piece of plastic wrap. Form dough into a flattened disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour to make dough easier to handle.
   
   
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare one 12x17x1 inch Jelly Roll pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening.
   
   
6. Remove dough from refrigerator. With floured hands, press dough into pan, smoothing the surface and spreading in the pan as evenly as possible.
   
   Topping:
7. Using a kitchen knife or dough scraper, lightly score the dough into 3 inch squares. Decorate each square with almonds, cherries and pieces of candied lemon peel or pineapple.
   
   
8. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg white to break it up. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush egg white over the entire top of the dough. Discard any unused egg white.
   
   Bake:
9. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over-bake. Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack to cool for 1 hour, and then cut the bars into 3 inch bars where you scored the dough previously.
   
   Tip: My favorite tool to cut bar cookies is a stainless steel dough scraper; simply push the dough scraper straight down into the cookie for straight cuts. Or use a pizza cutter or small kitchen knife to cut the cookie into bars.
   
   Makes 20 to 24 bars
   
   TheBakingPan.com
   
   Adapted From: Wolter, Annette, Teubner, Christian, Best of Baking, Fisher Publishing, 1980
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