This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy.
These oatmeal cookie pear bars come with a warning: the moment the pan emerges from the oven and you inhale the aroma of brown butter and oatmeal crust, you’ll be plotting ways to enjoy them throughout the day. Jazzed up with cinnamon, allspice, and cardamom, I like to think of these bars as a cross between an oatmeal cookie and a pear crisp.

You may find yourself warming a bar for breakfast (with oats and pears, there’s no judgment here!) or nibbling on one with your afternoon coffee.
And for dessert, try adding a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. No matter when you feast on these bars, you’ll find them irresistible.


Oatmeal Cookie Pear Bars
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 15 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These oatmeal cookie pear bars are a cross between an oatmeal cookie and pear crisp! Serve bars with scoops of vanilla ice cream for a delicious fall treat!
Ingredients
Crust & Crumbs
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
Filling
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- generous pinch of salt
- 1–2 small pears, cored and thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 7 x 11-inch baking pan with parchment paper. 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 brown butter into a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Whisk in sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined.
- Whisk together flour, rolled oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cardamom in a medium bowl; add to butter mixture and fold in until incorporated. Reserve 1 cup of dough for topping (keep chilled); press remaining dough evenly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust for 15 to 16 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
- For the filling, combine brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until butter has melted completely. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and salt until smooth. Pour sauce into a glass measuring cup and let cool to room temperature.
- Layer pear slices over cooled crust and drizzle with caramel sauce. Crumble reserved dough over filling and bake for another 40 minutes, until topping is golden and filling slightly bubbly. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 10 minutes. Carefully lift parchment and place bars on a cutting board; cut into squares with a sharp knife.
I know this is an older post from 2016, but I wanted to make something delicious with the pears I just got and this looks like just the ticket. However, did you happen to mean an 8×11 pan? I haven’t seen an 7×11 pan before. Or how would you suggest modifying for either 8×8 or 8×11 pans?
Hi Heather, these bars should work just fine in an 8×8″ square pan – they may just bake up slightly taller. Hope that helps! 🙂
oh awesome, thanks so much for your reply!