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Rich and nutty brown butter is a perfect match to pears in these indulgent brown butter pear bars! With a brown butter pear filling and cinnamon graham crust, these bars are a crowd pleaser.
These pear bars are a the cozy fall variation of my reader favorite brown butter cherry bars.
I love the way the creamy Bartlett pears almost melt into the spiced brown butter filling; I’m convinced pears plus brown butter is a combination of pure magic.
Perfectly spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg, these are the most delicious fall dessert bar.
Brown Butter Pear Bars
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 56 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
- Yield: 32 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Brown butter pears bars are the perfect dessert bar for pear season! With a brown butter pear filling and cinnamon graham crust, these bars are a crowd pleaser.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup graham flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 Tbsp flour
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 cups diced pears
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- Make crust: Whisk together flours, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Combine melted butter, sugars, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture and fold in until incorporated. Press dough evenly into bottom of prepared baking dish and bake for 18 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes.
- Make filling: Cook butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns a deep brown, about 6 minutes. Pour browned butter into a glass measuring cup and cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl; add flour, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt and whisk until smooth. Gradually pour in cooled brown butter; whisk until completely blended. Fold in pears and pour filling over crust.
- Return pan to oven and bake for 37 to 38 minutes, until filling is puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
- Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Carefully lift parchment to remove bars from pan and place on a cutting board; cut into squares using a serrated knife.
- Store bars in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator; let come to room temperature before serving.
My daughter said this was the BEST thing she has ever put in her mouth and it was all she could do to not eat the entire pan!! It did totally turn out delicious and it is a new favorite for our family! And I did follow the recipe exactly. You can’t mess with perfection after all! 😉
Thanks so much, Denise! 🙂 That’s so great to hear!
I made these today and they came out amazing! I added a little glaze to the tops when they cooled. My coworkers finished almost the entire tray already! This is a wonderul recipe and I will definitely be making them again.
Hi Angie, thanks so much for letting me know. So glad you liked the bars! 🙂
This looks great. What is graham flour? I’ve never seen that before. I have graham cracker crumbs. It that the same? Thanks, Deb
Hi Deb, graham flour is a type of whole wheat flour. You can substitute whole wheat flour, or simply use all-purpose flour. I haven’t tested the recipe with graham cracker crumbs, but you’re welcome to try that too!
I am expecting a lot of company over the holidays and love a bar that I can make ahead, freeze and pull out later. Do you know if these freeze well?
Hi Roberta, I don’t recommend freezing this particular bar as it will change the texture of the filling. If you like cranberries, these bars (and generally most crumb bars) freeze well. Hope that helps!
Made this last night and it was fabulous! Thanks for such a delicious recipe.
Thanks Jenna, so glad you liked the bars! 🙂
These were delicious! They were so good in fact, I made them twice in a week. I did not need to deviate from the recipe either time.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My family [and neighbors] are now hooked.
So glad you liked the bars, Katie! Thanks for letting me know and how sweet of you to share them with your neighbors :).
Just wanted to know if it would ruin the bars if I reduced the sugar? I don’t like very sweet deserts…..These look amazing!
Hi Anna, I don’t like very sweet desserts either so I usually use the least amount of sugar I can get away with. If your pears are very sweet, you could try the filling with 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 2/3 cup. I’ve never tried the crust with less sugar so I can’t say how it would affect the final texture. Hope that helps!