Ginger Orange Bars Recipes

GINGER-ORANGE BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°. Spray jelly roll pan, 15 1/2x10 1/2x1 inch, with cooking spray.
• Beat sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg.
• Mix all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda and ginger in small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating on low speed until blended. Stir in orange peel. Spread in pan.
• Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix all frosting ingredients until smooth, adding enough orange juice for desired spreading consistency. Spread over cooled bars. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows.

GINGER AND ALMOND BARS

Steps:

• Center a rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line the pan with baking parchment, letting the parchment hang over the sides. (This will make it easier to remove the dessert once baked.)
• Prepare the base:
• In the saucepan, melt the butter. Add the almond meal, fresh ginger, honey, egg, salt, and vanilla. Stir until well combined. The mixture should be thick and sticky.
• Turn the mixture out into the prepared pan. To help make a level and even base, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the base. Using a flat-bottomed glass (or your fingers), smooth out the base by pressing gently to evenly cover the bottom of the pan. Remove and discard the plastic wrap. Bake until the base is slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the topping:
• In the same saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the almonds, candied ginger, honey, salt, and vanilla. Stir just until the ingredients are incorporated.
• When the base is baked, spread the topping evenly over the base and bake until the topping is dark and sizzling, 12 to 15 minutes. Do not underbake.
• Transfer the pan to the baking rack to cool. When the dessert is completely cool, remove it from the pan using the overhanging parchment as handles and cut it into 16 even squares.
• Do Ahead
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
• Variation:
• Chestnut Honey Squares: For the base, replace 1 cup (90g) almond meal with 3/4 cup (120 g) unbleached, all-purpose flour and use a strong honey, such as chestnut, in place of the mild honey. For the topping, replace the candied ginger with organic candied orange or lemon peel, cut into tiny cubes.

CRYSTALLIZED-GINGER SPICE BARS

Steps:

• In a bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and ground spices. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg, flour mixture, crystallized ginger, and zest and beat until a dough forms.
• On a sheet of wax paper pat dough into an 8-by-5 inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Chill dough, wrapped in wax paper, 4 hours, or until firm.
• (After the dough has been formed into a rectangle it can be kept in the refrigerator for one week or the freezer for one month. Thaw the frozen dough in the refrigerator until sliceable, about four hours. The baked cookies keep in airtight containers at room temperature for four days.)
• Preheat oven to 350° F. and lightly butter 2 baking sheets.
• Cut dough crosswise into slices about 1/6 inch thick and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake bars in batches in middle of oven until deep golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes, and transfer to racks to cool. The baked cookies keep in airtight containers at room temperature for four days.

ORANGE-GINGERBREAD CHEESECAKE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with enough parchment paper to have overhang on all sides. Lightly grease parchment.
• Whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt for the gingerbread in a large bowl until combined.
• Cream brown sugar and butter in a separate bowl with an electric mixed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until thoroughly combined. Mix in molasses.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 separate additions, mixing only until just combined; dough will be fairly thick. Press 2/3 of the dough firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan, using floured hands to prevent sticking.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, and salt for the filling in a large bowl until completely smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla extract and orange zest. Pour filling evenly over gingerbread crust and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle remaining gingerbread dough over the filling and gently press down.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges are set and the center of the cheesecake only slightly jiggles, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Once cooled, remove from pan using parchment "handles" and slice into bars.

GLAZED GINGER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in raisins. , Spread into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. , Combine glaze ingredients until smooth; spread over warm bars. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into bars.