Pear Pie Bars

Pear Pie Bars have a buttery shortbread crust topped with juicy pears and are finished off with a crumble topping.

This school year has been exhausting.  I feel like everyday I go to work, manage the kids, do a ton of paperwork, deal with behaviors, and check in with all the teachers to make sure they have everything that they need.  Then I come home and play with my 4 year old until he goes to bed. 

That means I haven't been doing as much baking as I'd like to do.   I used to be able to bake whenever he napped but he quit napping over the summer so the weekends are full of doing things with him as well.

I do miss baking as much as I used too.  I try to bake at least one thing, if not two, every weekend.   That is not as much as I'd like to bake but I try to keep it up because it's a good stress reliever and it makes me feel like myself.  So when I received a box of fall produce from Melissa's Produce I was thrilled to find some delicious looking pears in the box.

I love baking with pears.  They add a nice sweetness to baked goods and can be put into just about any recipe in place of apples but they give it a different flavor.  Pears are great with oats, cinnamon, and caramel.  It makes me think of fall just typing that!

Ingredients:

• butter
• flour
• sugar
• salt
• oats
• pears
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• caramel sauce

1. To make these bars preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 baking dish with foil. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients for the crust.  Press into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.
3. Toss the pears with the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.
4. Combine all ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl and mix until a coarse crumble results.
5. Once the crust is finished baking remove from oven. Place the pears on top of the crust. Sprinkle with the topping.
6. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the topping is browned. Remove from oven and cool completely.

These Pear Pie Bars are so good.   The crust is a buttery shortbread that is crumbly and delicious.  It's topped off with the diced pears tossed in cinnamon and sugar. 

Then there is the crunchy topping.   It is sprinkled over the bars like a tasty pie topping.   These bars come together pretty easily.

I don't have any pears.   Can I use something else?

You can always use apples in the place of the pears.   They have a similar texture and will result in a similar pie bar.  Use a sweeter apple to have a similar taste or a tart apple if you want more of an apple pie bar. 

Do I have to make the crust from scratch?   Is there a faster method?

You can use a tube of refrigerated sugar cookie dough or a bag of sugar cookie mix and press it into the bottom of the pan.  You will still need to make the topping as it is written.

What type of pears are best in this recipe?

You can use whatever your favorite type of pear is.   If you are looking for a good pie pear I would recommend red or green Anjou pear,  red or green Bartlett pears, Bosc, or Concorde.

My topping isn't very brown.  What can I do?

This happens a lot to me.  My trick is that once the bars are done I turn the broiler on in the oven and broil the top of the bars about 6 inches from the broiler for 1-2 minutes.   Watch the bars carefully so they get golden brown but don't burn.  Broiling this recipe can result in a burned topping if you aren't watching carefully.

Once the bars came out I cut them into pieces and drizzled half of them with caramel.  They were amazing.  The crust is buttery, the pears soft and juicy, and the topping gives it a sweet crunch.  The caramel adds additional sweetness and flavor. 

If you don't want to add caramel sauce you can just add a dusting off cinnamon or powdered sugar on the top of the bars.  This is a great way to get a taste of pie without having to make a pie crust!

More Pear Recipes:

• Apple Pear Crisp for 2
• Butterscotch Pear and Pecan Dumplings
• Pear and Pecan Winter Salad
• Pear Ginger Jam
• Pear Ginger Mini Cakes with Spiced Oat Crumble

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Yield: 12 bars

Pear Pie Bars

Print

A buttery shortbread crust topped with juicy pears and finished off with a crumble topping.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 ¼ c. flour
• ⅓ c. sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ c. oats

For the filling:

• 3 pears, diced
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the topping:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 c. flour
• 1 c. oats
• ½ c. brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ c. caramel sauce (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 baking dish with foil. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients for the crust and mix until combined. Press into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, toss the pears with the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.
4. Combine all ingredients for the topping in a medium bowl and mix with your fingers until a coarse crumble results.
5. Once the crust is finished baking remove from oven. Place the pears on top of the crust. Sprinkle with the topping.
6. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the topping is browned. Remove from oven and cool completely.
7. Cut into 12 squares and drizzle with caramel if desired.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust

I received a box of produce from Melissa's Produce but all opinions are 100% my own.

Pear-fect Recipes

• Caramelized Onion and Pear Tart from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Crustless Ginger Blueberry-Pear Pie from The Spiffy Cookie
• Dutch Pear Pie from House of Nash Eats
• Pear and Cranberry Mincemeat from That Recipe
• Pear Gingerbread Upside Down Cake from Art of Natural Living
• Pear Pie Bars from Hezzi-D"s Books and Cooks
• Pear, Persimmon, Pomegranate Salad With Maple Ginger Dressing from Magical Ingredients
• Smoked Sausage with Sauerkraut and Pear from Palatable Pastime

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