Spicy little gingerbread bars and a buttery frosting peppered with orange zest

Jeff said that he wanted this week's Wednesday Treat Day to involve gingerbread in some way - after giving him a bunch of options to choose from, he picked out a recipe for Gingerbread Bars with Orange Frosting. I think he actually just closed his eyes and pointed to this one as he looked a little overwhelmed when I gave him a list options.

These little bars have a spicy flavor from the addition of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and fresh grated nutmeg into the batter. Since gingerbread usually gets its dark rich flavor from molasses, we couldn't forget the good 2/3 cup used in this recipe. The bars are moist and somewhat soft, but they are sturdy enough so you can pick them up to eat if you wanted.

You could dust them lightly with confectioners' sugar if you wanted to keep these bars a little lighter, but what fun would that be? For a striking contrast to the deep, dark cake, we prepared a quick creamy frosting made simply from confectioners' sugar, butter, a little milk to thin and just a touch of fresh grated orange zest. The hint of orange from that bright zest was a nice boost to the generous sweet frosting and we both thought that it married well with the spices in the gingerbread. If you're feeling especially festive, add a little holiday cheer by scattering some sprinkles on top!

While tonight's dinner, Vegetable Enchiladas, makes quite a few servings, there is a point during assembly that you can stop and freeze half to bake off at a later time.

The sauce for these stuffed white corn tortillas is made first - to start it off, cumin, flour and tomato paste are toasted in a bit of olive oil. Vegetable broth and water are added and the mixture bubbles away until it slightly thickens and reduces a bit.

Meanwhile, the filling is prepared by mixing a hearty combination of cheese, black beans, spinach, corn, scallions and smoky cumin. You could just use pepper Jack cheese, but we used a blend of Cheddar, Jack, Asadero and Queso Blanco to get a depth of flavor. The tortillas, filled to the brim, are rolled up, divided between two baking dishes and topped with additional cheese. A lot of enchilada recipes have you dip the tortillas in hot oil before filling - in the interest of keeping this dish somewhat lighter, we warmed the tortillas, wrapped in moist paper towels, in the microwave for a minute to make them pliable enough to roll without cracking or breaking.

At this point, you can stop and freeze both or one of the baking dishes, well covered, and top with the sauce just before baking. If you do decide to do this, freeze the sauce separately and thaw just the sauce before baking. You will want to cook it at the same temperature, but cook it covered for 30 minutes and then remove the cover and continue to cook until bubbly, about 15 minutes more.

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Recipes
Gingerbread Bars with Orange Frosting
Vegetable Enchiladas