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Poor Man’s Cookies
These poor man’s cookies are an old family recipe – spiced bar cookies with plump raisins and chopped walnuts.
These poor man’s cookies (actually bar cookies!) is a recipe that my great Aunt has been making for as long as I can remember. It’s her “signature dish”. Well, one of a few. She also makes a killer Jello that has baby food in it (secret ingredient!) and a mean broccoli casserole.
As you can see, this is not a cookie, but rather cookie bars! I always wondered about the name and the recipe’s origin, and then when going through a ton of my grandma’s old recipes, I found a yellowed newspaper clipping of a recipe for Poorman’s Cookies, which was nearly identical to my aunt’s, save for a few quantity changes. There wasn’t an explanation in the clipping about the origin of the recipe, so I am taking this for what it is – a beloved old-fashioned recipe.
The preparation of this cake starts with boiling the water, raisins and shortening for 20 minutes. Doing this results in raisins that are nice and plump, and water and shortening that have boiled down to a syrup. When this mixture is first added to the dry ingredients the batter will have the consistency of paste, but don’t worry, once the eggs are added the batter takes a familiar, cookie dough-type texture.
MY OTHER RECIPES We used to eat these in true bar form – on Sundays when my aunt would make these, everyone would wander in and out of the kitchen, poor man’s cookie in hand. You could definitely cut larger pieces and serve them with a fork as a simple piece of cake. I often forget what a recipe FEELS like until I smell it after years of going without. When I took these out of the oven last week, I was overcome with the smell of my aunt’s kitchen and, with it, Sunday dinners at my grandma’s house.
I love recipes that make you feel as cozy as your favorite fleece blanket, and these poor man’s cookies definitely fit the bill. I need to make them more regularly!
Six years ago: Lemon Burst Cookies
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These poor man's cookies are an old family recipe - spiced bar cookies with plump raisins and chopped walnuts.
For the Cookies:
- 2ยผ
cups
water
- 1ยฝ
cups
raisins
- 8
tablespoons
vegetable shortening
- 3
cups
all-purpose flour
- 1ยฝ
cups
sugar
- 1ยฝ
teaspoons
baking soda
- ยพ
teaspoons
baking powder
- ยฝ
teaspoon
salt
- ยฝ
teaspoon
cinnamon
- ยฝ
teaspoon
nutmeg
- ยฝ
teaspoon
cloves
- 2
eggs
(slightly beaten)
- ยฝ
cup
coarsely chopped walnuts
For the Glaze:
- 1
cup
powdered sugar
- 3
tablespoons
warm water
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
Combine water, raisins, and shortening in a medium saucepan. Boil over medium heat, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, remove the lid, and let cool for 10 minutes.
While the raisin mixture is boiling, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl.
Pour the slightly cooled raisin mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until mostly combined and moistened (the batter at this point will have the consistency of a paste). Add the beaten eggs and again stir with a spoon, until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until deeply browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean with some moist crumbs attached.
While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar and warm water in a small bowl. As soon as you take the pan out of the oven, drizzle the glaze over the cookies and quickly spread into an even layer.
Cool to room temperature before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Note: You can substitute unsalted butter for the vegetable shortening.
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Calories: 210kcal
Fat: 6g
Saturated fat: 1g
Cholesterol: 13mg
Sodium: 126mg
Potassium: 119mg
Carbohydrates: 37g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 17g
Protein: 2g
Vitamin A: 0.4%
Vitamin C: 0.6%
Calcium: 1.5%
Iron: 6.1%
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published June 15, 2009.
Excellent! It’s Fall and baking time and I’ve been craving a good old fashioned spice cake! This is the perfect ticket! Gonna keep this at the front of the recipe box. Delicious! I hope your Aunt is pleased that you are honoring her wonderful gift and talents by sharing such a great story and perfect cake recipe.
Oh my goodness! I cook once a week for a men’s rehab. I wanted a comfort autumn dessert and found yours while looking for spice cake.
It is absolutely delicious. I doubled the recipe and it worked great. The men loved it. A big hit, warm, smells wonderful while baking and even better the next day. Thanks for sharing. Next timeI will drizzle a little burnt sugar frosting on top for an added touch of sweetness. Loved it.
I have to write out the spice cake recipe as my printer for some reason will not do the job. I did print out the no bake chocolate peanut butter and oatmeal cookies but the cake will not respond to my printer…Oh well back to the old fashion way, write it by hand. Its worth it to me. thanks again
The cake was delicious. First time I tried it. The only problem now is that my husband and his co-workers want more. It was very high and fluffy, I think Id like it in a lil larger pan so it could be spread a bit thinner. I want a good choc. frosting this time.
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Turned out great! Next time I might try it with diced apples.
Hi, Michelle and Others…Looking at the newspaper clipping, my guess is that the name is “Poorman’s” rather than “Poor Man’s”….and I would further guess that “Poorman’s” was an eatery somewhere–Restaurant, cafeteria, et al. Or maybe a family’s last name. Whaddya think?
Can’t wait to try the cake, looks yummy!
Ann
thanks again for a stunning cake i made this cake twice now and found 2 and half cups of water left my batter just a bit wet so my currents sank, so the second time i made it i reduced the water to 2 cups and ad, a tbs of golden syrup to the boilin currents and ts of cinnamon to it and, then when my cake cool down i cut it and put in betty crockers vanilla icing wel, wot a cake best ever thanks a lot……………
comment! about old fashiond spice cake” i made this cake last week’ and it was so nice and tender…nice cake thaks////////////
Funny thing about this recipe is that growing up we always ate “Bachelor’s Cookies” which was actually a chocolate cake baked in a 9×13 pan. I remember asking my dad’s wife at the time why it was called “cookies” when it was actually cake, and she said it was because Bachelor’s could only be bothered to have one pan in their house, so they would just fit this recipe into whatever pan they had in the house – and they can’t be bothered to make actual “cookies” … batches? What?! Haha, anyway, just a little random (and probably false) background. Very Random…
I always enjoy reading about family recipes. The spice cake looks fantastic and I love the raisins in it!
stephchows – I love the idea of Amaretto to spike the raisins! I may try that next time!
Oh wow, I’ve never heard of such a process!! I’d be tempted to add some amaretto in the first step and spike the raisins hehe. My family signature dish would have to be the ravioli recipe passed down on my dad’s side. It’s SO GOOD!! And a total family affair when we make them :) We’ll make a good 14 dozen at a time and freeze them for later :)
we totally have a fab chocolate cake recipe that’s a fam secret. maybe one of these days i’ll blog about it! anyway – your ‘cookies’ look good! :-)
Heidi – That is such a cute story! My grandma has a recipe for pound cake with cherries and walnuts that she used to make around Christmas, so I’m anxious to see the “Pool Cake”!!
Old recipes are the best! My grandmother made something we called “Pool Cake” which was actually a pound cake with cherries. I thought we at it at the pool, but when I asked my 87 year old grandmother she told me she got the recipe from a lady at the pool and that’s how it got its name. I’m going to blog about it sometime this summer.
Meghan – I know what you mean about things going by taste – many of my grandma’s recipes are the same. There are just ingredients listed and then it’s “by feel”. Very difficult!
Avanika – Glad you like the recipe, and that paper for writing recipes came in a recipe book I got as a gift – “The Recipe File” – http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1841727628
I love old recipes. It is great that you still have the newspaper clipping.
The ‘cookies’ look great! I love finding new methods of making the same thing, so this boiling the raisins part has me intrigued.
Ooh, and I simply love the paper you have for writing recipes on. Very cool!
It’s so cool that your found that clipping! I love spice cake but have never made it from scratch myself. Your aunt’s version looks delicious. My aunt makes a famous buttercream frosting that I’ve been thinking about trying to duplicate recently…she just adjusts the amount of ingredients to taste so I’ve been hesitant to try!