Pumpkin Butter Bars
Take a big bite out of fall with my pumpkin butter shortbread bars ~ grab the recipe for this buttery dessert and bake today!
Servings: 16
Equipment
- 9x9 square baking pan
- parchment paper (optional)
Ingredients
crust
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans, divided
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature, cut in pieces
filling
- 1 cup pumpkin butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Lightly spray or grease a 9x9 baking pan and line with a sling of parchment paper for easy removal from the pan later. (This step is optional.)
- In a food processor, pulse the flour, 1/2 cup of the pecans, sugars and salt a few times to combine and break up the nuts.
- Add the softened butter and pulse until the butter is thoroughly incorporated and the mixture has a large moist crumb texture. Keep pulsing until there is no dry flour left. It will be crumbly.
- Measure out about 1/2 cup of the mixture for the crumb topping and set aside. Turn the rest of the dough into your lined pan. Spread it out and pat down the crust with your fingers. Flour your hands if necessary to prevent sticking. Try to get the dough evenly spread across the bottom of the pan. I like to finish the process with an offset spatula to flatten and smooth the surface.
- Bake the crust for 15 minutes.
- Spread out the pumpkin butter evenly over the crust. Note: you can do this over the hot crust, no need to let it cool.
- Toss the remaining chopped pecans with the reserved crumb topping. Sprinkle over the pumpkin butter. I like to compact the crumbs in my hands to create larger crumbles first.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes more until the pumpkin butter is bubbling and the crust is starting to turn golden.
- Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then loosen the edges and remove the bars using the parchment paper sling. The bars will be soft while warm, and will firm up as they cool.
Notes
Tips for making shortbread dough
- Proper Butter Temperature: Butter should be at cool room temperature. It should be soft enough to mix easily but not so soft that it's greasy. This ensures the right texture in the final product.
- Don’t Overmix: Overmixing can lead to a tough shortbread. Mix the dough until just combined (expect it to be crumbly.) Once the flour is incorporated, stop mixing. Overmixing activates the gluten in the flour, which can make the shortbread tough.
- Cooling: Shortbread is delicate when it's hot, but firms up as it cools. Don't try to remove from the pan or slice until it's had a chance to cool down a bit.
Nutrition
Calories: 151 kcal · Carbohydrates: 14 g · Protein: 2 g · Fat: 10 g · Saturated Fat: 4 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g · Trans Fat: 0.2 g · Cholesterol: 15 mg · Sodium: 47 mg · Potassium: 71 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 7 g · Vitamin A: 1111 IU · Vitamin C: 2 mg · Calcium: 14 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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