A couple of months ago, an item from King Arthur Flour popped up in my Facebook newsfeed and caught my eye: a photo of some Sticky Ginger Squares in honor of Gingerbread Day. I added the recipe to my to-bake list and finally got around to trying it last week.
These bars have a chewy gingerbread-like layer on the bottom, with a ginger streusel on top. To make the bottom layer, you mix together the dry ingredients (flour, ground ginger, allspice, salt, baking soda, crystallized ginger) in one bowl, the wet ingredients (molasses, eggs, brown sugar, melted butter) in another, and then combine the dry and wet ingredients together. You spread the batter into a parchment-lined pan and bake.
While the bottom layer is in the oven, you make the streusel by cutting butter into flour, salt, and brown sugar, and then stirring in crystallized ginger. You pull the partially-baked base out of the oven, sprinkle on the streusel, and then put the bars back in the oven to finish baking.
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Given their name, I thought that the bars might be sticky and difficult to cut, but they weren't at all. Still, the base layer is incredibly, wonderfully, delightfully chewy, especially around the edges (I am one of those people who always prefers the edges and corners). The streusel topping is crunchy and delicious. You can definitely taste the ginger in both layers, and the sweet-hot gingery flavor is addictive.
I loved these bars -- the contrasting textures are so interesting and they are simply delicious. And you get an awful lot of bang for your buck, given how quick and easy these are to make. The crystallized ginger is a bit of an investment (I get mine from Penzey's, where it's about $24 a pound), but these bars are worth every penny, and then some!
Recipe: "Sticky Ginger Squares" from King Arthur Flour.
These bars have a chewy gingerbread-like layer on the bottom, with a ginger streusel on top. To make the bottom layer, you mix together the dry ingredients (flour, ground ginger, allspice, salt, baking soda, crystallized ginger) in one bowl, the wet ingredients (molasses, eggs, brown sugar, melted butter) in another, and then combine the dry and wet ingredients together. You spread the batter into a parchment-lined pan and bake.
While the bottom layer is in the oven, you make the streusel by cutting butter into flour, salt, and brown sugar, and then stirring in crystallized ginger. You pull the partially-baked base out of the oven, sprinkle on the streusel, and then put the bars back in the oven to finish baking.
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I loved these bars -- the contrasting textures are so interesting and they are simply delicious. And you get an awful lot of bang for your buck, given how quick and easy these are to make. The crystallized ginger is a bit of an investment (I get mine from Penzey's, where it's about $24 a pound), but these bars are worth every penny, and then some!
Recipe: "Sticky Ginger Squares" from King Arthur Flour.
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