Oatmeal Blondies

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease or line with parchment paper an 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish. Make sure the paper hangs over the sides of the dish.
2. In a medium bowl stir together the first 8 ingredients (the all-purpose flour through raisins). Put these dry ingredients to the side.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and light brown sugar (or coconut palm sugar), stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture has cooled slightly (if using coconut palm sugar, the melted butter will sit on top of the sugar, but it will mostly mix in as the mixture cools). Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Stir in the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth it out. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top of the batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Oatmeal Blondies may be eaten warm or cooled. Store completely cooled leftovers in an airtight container.

Note: Coconut palm sugar is quite a bit less sweet tasting than regular brown sugar. So if you prefer your treats to be less sweet use coconut palm sugar. If you really love sugar, use light brown sugar.