Brown Sugar Bars
Ultra buttery brown sugar cinnamon pop tart bars!! This recipe has a cinnamon brown sugar filling and shortbread base and topping. The dough is used as the base and topping making it super easy!
Equipment
- Handheld or stand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- 8X8 metal baking pan
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Kitchen Scale if weighing
Ingredients
- 17 tbsp (248 grams) salted butter room temperature (if you don't have salted butter, add an additional ½ teaspoon of fine kosher salt)
- ½ cup (104 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (31 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (315 grams) all purpose flour fluffed, spooned in the cups, and leveled if not weighing
- ¼ teaspoon fine kosher salt
Brown Sugar Filling
- ¾ cup (168 grams) dark brown sugar dark is best but you could use light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (6 grams) ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tablespoons (21 grams) salted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons (36 grams) maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon (10 grams) all purpose flour
Cinnamon icing for topping, optional. If you prefer them less sweet, skip the icing
- ⅔ cup (80 grams) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ Line an 8X8 pan with parchment paper.
- Beat the butter, vanilla, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk together the flour and salt, add the flour and salt in 2 separate batches, mixing until combined and a dough forms.
- Divide the dough in half. Press one half of the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan using your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- While the base is baking, make the filling.
Brown Sugar Filling
- Place all of the filling ingredients in a medium bowl, mix until combined and smooth.
- When the base comes out of the oven, dollop pieces of the filling evenly over the base.
Topping
- Using the other half of the dough, tear off small pieces of the dough, dollop them evenly over the filling. See photos above. You can flatten the pieces for a smoother look.
- Bake for 24 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before serving. Finish with flaky sea salt.
Cinnamon icing for topping, optional
- Mix all of the icing ingredients together until smooth, adding more or less milk as needed to reach your desired consistency.
Notes
*if using table salt, cut the total amount of salt in half
Baking the base layer before adding the cinnamon filling is key to creating a crisp crust. If you skip this step the bars will be soggy.
The top of the bars will be golden brown when done, they shouldn't be blonde. There's nothing worse than a soggy shortbread bar.
Storage
Room Temperature Instructions
Store the cinnamon bars in a cookie tin or airtight container for up to 5 days.
Freezing Instructions
Store in an airtight freezer safe container for up to 2 months. Let thaw at room temperature before eating.
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