Brown Butter Pear Sugar Cookie Bars

  • 12

Ingredients

  • Cookie Crust:
  • 1 pouch sugar cookie mix
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 egg
  • Topping:
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 Anjou pears, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preparation

Step 1

1 Heat oven to 350°. Lightly spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

2 In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and 1 tablespoon flour. Add 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 egg; stir until soft dough forms. Gently press dough evenly in bottom of baking dish.

3 Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until dough is set and light golden brown on edges. Set aside to cool.

4 Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, melt 3/4 cup butter over medium heat. Once melted, cook butter about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until butter turns deep golden brown. (Be careful because this happens quickly!) Remove saucepan from heat; immediately pour butter into glass measuring cup. Set aside to cool slightly.

5 While butter is cooling, place sliced pears in single layer over cooled cookie crust.

6 In large bowl, beat remaining Topping ingredients with whisk until well blended. Gradually add brown butter, beating until smooth. Pour mixture evenly over pears.

7 Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour. With sharp knife, cut into 4 rows by 3 rows.

Expert Tips;
For even more brown butter flavor, brown 1/2 cup butter used for cookie crust. Pour it into measuring cup and place it in freezer for about 1 hour or until “softened butter” consistency.

Be sure pears aren’t too ripe. If they’re really soft, end result may be mushy.

Refrigerate any uneaten bars for up to 3 days. Don’t leave them at room temperature or they’ll get too mushy.