I think Pears are woefully underrated. Apple Pies, peach cobbler, but less often do you find pears in the dessert spectrum. Well, the other day, I came across some Caramel Cardamom Honey Spread and thought it matched well with pears, so I decided to make some of my usual crumble bars. Success! These are great and I will definitely make them again.
Ingredients
1 cup plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to just warm
2 large egg yolks
i teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons flour
2 large pears (variety it up to you), cut to 3/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup Caramel Pear Cardamom Honey Spread
1/2 cup chopped pecans sliced almonds
Directions
Create a foil or parchment sling for your 9 x 13-inch baking dish or spray generously with baking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together butter, vanilla, sugar, salt, and egg yolks with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour and mix until just combined. Remove 2 1/2 cups of the crust mixture and press into the lined pan. Set the unused portion of the crust aside covered with plastic wrap, but not in the refrigerator.
Place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes or so; the chilling of the crust prevents it from expanding and rising too much during baking. During this time, preheat oven to 325F.
Remove the crust from the freezer and place in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the sides are lightly browned. During this bake time, combine chopped pears and the honey spread in a medium work bowl. It’s ok if the pears break down a bit, or if they stay in whole chunks; either way is fine.
Remove the crust from the oven, and increase oven temperature to 350F. Spread the honey pear over the whole surface and sprinkle the leftover crust mixture and sliced almonds on top. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the streusel is lightly browned.
Allow the pan to cool completely before taking the bars out of the pan. Remove the bars by lifting out with the sling and cut.
