Honey Spice Bars

My Grandmother has made these easy dessert bars for years. She keeps them in a sealed container on her buffet waiting for lucky guests to stop by and enjoy along with her famous cheese straws. These bars take 30 minutes or less to prepare and cook. You probably have the short list of ingredients in your pantry!

Bars:

1 c Sugar

3/4 c Oil

1/4 c Honey (Vanilla Bean Bear Hug Honey)

1 large Egg

2 c All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Salt

1 c Pecans chopped

Glaze:

1 c Powdered Sugar

2 Tbs. Mayonnaise

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Tbs Honey

1-2 Tbs Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all bar ingredients in a bowl and mix until just combined. Pour mixture into greased 9x13 baking dish. Batter is very thick. Spread batter with spatula or hands to edges of pan. Bake 12-15 minutes. While bars are baking place all glaze ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Remove bars from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Pour glaze over bars and spread until the top of bars are completely covered. Let cool completely and slice into bite size bars.

Bourbon Vanilla

You will NEVER buy vanilla flavoring again! This simple recipe for creating your very own vanilla extract is a small investment that will last for years or months depending on how much you bake. I accidentally stumbled across this gem of a recipe by complete necessity. I had a small glass vial that housed two long forgotten vanilla beans on my bakery shelf. The beans had become dried out after several months. Vanilla beans are pretty expensive so I hated to toss them. I knew traditional vanilla extract is made with alcohol. I always keep a stash of bourbon on my kitchen shelves for cooking, baking, or tasting. I filled the vial up with bourbon and let the beans soak for about a week. This experiment resulted in the best vanilla extract I had ever tasted. I quickly used up the small vial and after many refills I decided to make a larger version of the recipe. I hope this recipe yields many tasty treats for you and your family.

750mL Bulleit Bourbon

10-12 Vanilla Beans

I use Bulleit Bourbon because its my favorite! You can use any bourbon you like. I have also used Jack Daniels to rave reviews. Uncork your bourbon and remove a shot worth. Drink it, cook with it, but don’t toss it! Add vanilla beans. Let beans soak for at least a week. A month is even better. Use double the amount for any recipe that calls for vanilla ectract. If you want extra vanilla flavor split one of the pods and scrape the seeds into your favorite recipe. This bottle will last indefinitely as long as you replace the bourbon and beans after each use.