Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Bars

My husband bought me an awesome, fantastic, beautiful KitchenAid mixer for my Birthday this year.  I have been admiring the mixer as it sits reagally on my kitchen counter for the past three weeks now, but I have yet to use it.  Today I decided that had to change.  I needed to see just what this puppy could do, I needed to get it dirty and see what all the hub-bub was all about when it came to these mixers. 

I wanted to choose a recipe that I otherwise would hate to mix up by shear hand power alone.  I always hated making oatmeal raisin cookies because of just how tough it was to stir by hand after adding in all those darn oats and raisins into the batter.  What sucks about this is they are mine and my husbands most favorite cookies, but due to my lack of any real upper body strength,  I rarely make them.  I didn't want to do a cookie, but I found a recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Bars, that I thought would be perfect to use while putting my mixer to the test.

The KitchenAid mixer quite simply ROCKS!!  If you don't have one yet...splurge and get one.  You will not be disappointed in the least.  You also won't be disappointed in these bars.  They are moist, soft, chewy and unbelievably delicious.  Oh, and since the have oatmeal and raisins in them, they are healthy for you.  Really, they are! ;^)

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Bars - adapted from bakingbites.com

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 cups quick cooking (not instant) oats
1 1/2 cups raisins


Directions:
1.  Toss the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in your large mixer bowl and mix until combined.

2.  Mix in the vanilla, egg and melted butter until smooth. Stir in oats and raisins until well combined.
3.  Dump the mixture into a greased 8x8 baking pan, and bake at 350F for 23-27 minutes. 
4.  Allow to cool before digging in.