Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars

These are the best oatmeal raisin cookies I've ever had, and it's nice because by making them in bar form, you only bake them once and yield a lot of cookie bars! Perfect for kids, they are moist yet are not crumbly and travel well. You can also substitute some chocolate chips or dried cranberries in place of part or all of the raisins.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars
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2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 cups raisins*

In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt and soda; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening, sugars, egg, milk and vanilla. Add in flour mixture until combined. Stir in oats and raisins. Pat dough into a greased 13x9 in. or 15x10x1 in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 23-28 minutes (less time for the 15x10 in. pan) or until top of bars is a light golden brown color. When bars are cool, cut into squares. Makes 16-24 bars, depending on size.

* for moister raisins, soak raisins in 1 cup of very hot water for 5 minutes before using. Dry raisins and mix into cookie dough as directed. - OR - spread dry raisins on a baking sheet and bake in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes to plump. Allow to cool for a few minutes before dropping into dough. Although it is a bit of extra work, I do one of these steps everytime I make these bars and it makes them taste SO much better!