Recipe: The Best Way to Warm Up--Enjoy a Taste of Paradise With My Incredible Tropical Pineapple-Carrot Bars!

Today I want to share a really wonderful cookie bar recipe with you.  Imagine the deliciousness of biting into a spicy carrot-pineapple bar that is moist and chewy with a luscious cream cheese icing would be right about now with a cup of hot coffee?  Sounds tempting, doesn't it? 

You're probably thinking something sounding that good must be complicated to make.  I hate to disappoint you, but my recipe is very easy.  Though I love good food,  I have no patience or time to spend laboring when there are simpler ways to do things.

The most involved this recipe gets after shredding your carrots is gathering the ingredients and lining them up along with bowls, pans, and the tools you will need.   Once you finish, you're halfway done because after that is mixing all the ingredients together and baking.  I told you it was easy.

I do hope you try my recipe because it is scrumptious.  If you hurry, you can get a batch made in time for the big Super Bowl game today!

My Tropical Carrot-Pineapple Bars

Bars:

2 cups of uncooked quick oats or old-fashioned oats
1-3/4 cups of flour
1 small can (8-oz.) of crushed pineapple in unsweetened pineapple juice
1 cup of shredded carrot
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup of canola or corn oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
2 tablespoons of molasses (any variety)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, leveled
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/3 cup of raisins (optional)

Icing:

3-oz. of cream cheese
1 cup of confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
reserved pineapple juice

Preheat your oven to 375-degrees.

Drain your pineapple, but save the juice.  You will need it to include in the icing.

In a large mixing bowl, you will sift the flour with your soda before mixing all the cookie ingredients until well combined.

Pour into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, depending on how your oven is regulated.  Insert a tooth pick, cake tester, or slender knife to see if anything sticks will tell you if it is done.

While yours bars are cooling, you need to make the icing.  Beat your icing ingredients together with your electric mixer until creamy and a nice consistency for spreading over your cool bars.

ENJOY!