These unbelievably delicious almond dessert bars are so good, they won 1st place at a local baking contest. The baker of these bars was kind enough to share the recipe with us.
Almond Dessert Bars
It’s awesome to be back in the rhythm of routine on our stomping grounds of Minneapolis. After an epic trip to Berlin+ 3 long flights back home, I’m almost over the jet lag. I’m happily back at my local coffee shop with laptop, armed with hot decaf and nuts that I can’t stop eating.
Talk about eating. These Award Winning Almond Dessert Bars are no joke. These custardy, shortbready, almondy bars were entered into a local bake-off contest and won 1st place.
There were a lot of taste-testers judging these bars among tables full of delicious baked goods. I personally had a [couple] plates full of like 75 treats to taste-test. Don’t feel sorry for me.
It’s no surprise these Almond Dessert Bars took home the prize. Lucky for me, I took home the recipe. Special thanks to Jim Schmidt, who was kind enough to let me share his recipe with y’all…he’s not only a fab baker, he’s got major skills behind the camera as well. Go check out his photography and then come back for the recipe…
How to Make Almond Dessert Bars:
There are 3 basic layers to these delicious almond dessert bars: crust, filling, and frosting.
The crust is essentially a simple 3-ingredient shortbread. Butter, flour, and sugar are combined and pressed into a 9×13 pan. Bake until it transforms into a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crust. It’s insanely delish. So happy it’s the thickest layer.
The filling is a 4-ingredient combination of eggs, cream cheese, sugar, and almond extract. It is SO SO GOOD. After a bit of baking, the filling becomes an irresistible creamy almond-flavored custard.
The frosting is a simple combo of sugar, butter, milk, and almond extract. No baking needed here; just frost and chill. If you haven’t tried almond infused frosting…OMG. It’s time.
Why We love Almond Dessert Bars:
- They’re a triple threat of YUM, with 3 delicious AND easy layers
- Thick buttery shortbread crust
- Creamy custardy center
- Easy almond infused frosting
- Perfect for all the parties, get togethers, and bake-offs 😉
Enjoy – it’s officially baking season!
You’ll want to bookmark this recipe, too:
Award Winning Almond Dessert Bars
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 16-20 1x
Description
These unbelievably delicious almond dessert bars are so good, they won a 1st place at a local baking contest. The baker of these bars was kind enough to share the recipe with us.
Ingredients
- For the Crust:
- 1 cup salted butter, softened to room temp
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- For Filling:
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 1 (8oz) package regular cream cheese, fully softened
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- For Frosting:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup salted butter, softened to room temp
- 1 1/2 TB milk (I used whole milk)
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- Garnish: Almond slices or slivers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position. Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside.
- Make the Crust: In a large bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar; using electric (or stand) mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together on medium high speed until light and fluffy, 3-4min. Gently add flour and mix on low speed just until combined. Mixture will be crumbly, so use hands to form a dough ball. Press evenly into prepared glass pan to form bottom crust (I use bottom of a flat glass cup to press down evenly.) Bake 18 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Remove from oven, but leave oven on.
- While the crust is baking, make Filling: In a large bowl, combine eggs, very-soft cream cheese, and sugar. Whisk together until creamy and no lumps remain (it really helps if your cream cheese is quite soft to start with.) Add almond extract and mix to combine. Evenly pour the filling over crust, using rubber spatula to scrape all filling. Bake 15-20 min or until set. Let dessert cool completely on wire rack.
- Frost the Bars: In a bowl, combine all frosting ingredients. Whisk until smooth and no more lumps. Evenly frost over cooled dessert bars (be sure bars have cooled completely before frosting.) Cover, chill, and serve with almond slices on top.
Notes
This Almond Dessert Bars recipe can be made a day ahead of time. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Plan for the cooling time needed before frosting.
Dessert is easiest to slice if you take it out of the fridge 30 min before serving.
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: dessert, treats, bars, almond, shortbread, custard, frosting, vegetarian
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Double Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
These look delicious!!
I’ve been looking for a new party snack to make and these will be perfect!
WOW these look so YUMMY! I can;’t wait to make them!
I can totally see my daughter making these for the holidays– she’s become quite the family baker and these are simple enough that she could do on her own.
They look so yummy! Too pretty to bite. I love me some shortbread crust. Great job!
Yum. I’m so excited for cozy weather, tea and snack like this to dip in my tea lol!
Dessert bars always looks so intricate and delicate ! Especially almond bars lol
I just made this and made sure to wait until the bars were completely cooled off, but the frosting is kind of runny on top. I covered them and have them im the refrigerator to see if that helps harden the frosting. Any tips on what to do if it is still a little runny?
Thank you
After covering and chilling in the fridge, it should set well.
I’m a terrible baker! But these look really good so I may have to give them a go!
Oh my gosh, these look insanely delicious! They would go perfect with the cup of coffee that I’m drinking right now, or with the tea I’m planning to have later in the day. I’m pinning this bar recipe for later, I need to make these!
I can see why these are award-winning! Looks absolutely delicious
I can imagine how gooey these are just by reading your description. I love almond and bakewell tarts are one of my favorite treats. I should definitely try making these almond desert bars.
These look delicious! I love almond flavour so I am going to add these to my list of recipes to try!
I love almonds and these dessert bars look amazing. I’ve saved the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
You can definitely see why they won first place, they look incredibly delicious! I’m always looking for tasty desserts for the family, we’re definitely going to be giving these a try!
I love almonds. I cant wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
These look so good. I have a baking competition coming up! (it isn’t that serious but who doesn’t want to make a good showing?)
This looks so delightful and tasty. I just love everything about this!. This would disappear in no time at our house!.
these look amazing! a few bars and a good cup of coffee sounds pretty good now!
I can see why they won an award! My family would love these for a snack.
These almond bars look amazing. The perfect recipe for Fall.
This looks so easy to make. I can’t wait to try.
These look awesome! I will have to try them soon- my youngest daughter is on an elimination diet and we’re going to try re-introducing almonds soon!
This looks so delicious and tasty. and thanks for sharing it, really want to try.
xo Corina
https://unbouquetdamour.com/body-and-sexuality/
I just saved these to make! They look outstanding! I am not surprised they are award winning…cannot wait to try!
These look amazing. Almonds are my favorite garnish for desserts.
This has come across my feed so many times that i need to try it. Today is as good as any day.
I am a huge fan of almond flavours so I would love to try these out, they sound delicious.
These look terrific! I normally don’t work with almond but I’d absolutely love to try making these.
They look really delicious.
I have been looking for a good snacks for my party.
I guess I have seen it here and recipe is so simple
These look yummy, I would love to make some of these.
Love that these have a short bread crust. Shortbread is one of my favourite things in the world!
These look delicious! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love love love almond! Will definitely have to try these soon.
Wow! Wish someone who made these would comment on them not just those looking at the photos.
These were great!! Couldn’t stop eating them and others I served them to loved them as well! Thanks!
That’s awesome, Mary! So happy you guys liked this
Does anyone know the calories for this dessert?
My wife made it and it is good by the way
These almond dessert bars look really tasty. I would love to try making these.
★★★★★
They’re soooo good 🙂
I made these a few times and everyone who eats them raves about them! Thanks for the recipe!
So great to hear you all love this recipe, Mary!! Makes me so happy! Thanks for coming back to let us know 🙂 🙂
Have you tried freezing these?
Mary, I’ve been told they freeze well. I’d wrap them airtight before freezing and use within 1-2 weeks. Enjoy and happy baking! 🙂
I’m coming back on here to change my review! Initially I rated this recipe lower as it wasn’t a fave right upon making it BUT we discovered, once it chilled overnight, that was a game changer! So if you like almond, this is worth it 🙂
★★★★★
Super happy you came back for this recipe again – awesome!! 🙂 🙂
I just made these almond bars and they are delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe. How long do they keep in the fridge?
★★★★★
They’ll keep nicely for 4-5 days in fridge, and can also be frozen in airtight container. So glad you liked these, Velma!
These are very good! I put significantly more almond extract in the frosting than it called for, and it seemed to separate, (I would assume because of the alcohol), so make sure not to do that. The flavor was still great, but the texture of the frosting was not what I’d like.
★★★★★
I don’t blame you for loving almond extract! 🙂