Photo by rephiddy Delicious pear and cream cheese filling on a sweet, buttery crust.
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients
Bars:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Filling/Topping:
1 pkg. (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 can (15 1/4 ounces) pear halves, drained
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Directions
In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat flour and vanilla until combined. Stir in nuts. Press into greased 8-inch square baking pan.
Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.
Increase heat to 375 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Pour over crust. Cut pears into 1/8-inch slices. Arrange in a single layer over filling. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over pears.
Bake at 375 degrees for 28-30 minutes (center will be soft set and will become firmer upon cooling).
Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting. Store in refrigerator.
** For 13 x 9-inch pan double the filling recipe. I also use chopped pecans when I don’t have macadamia nuts.
Categories: Cookies & Bars, Desserts, Puddings & Custards
Submitted by: kentuckyfarmgirl on June 8, 2010
rephiddy says:
I made this a couple of nights ago. I have been asked not to make it too often. It is very, very good. Nearest thing I can compare it to is cheesecake as a bar cookie. Thank you for posting it here as I got it on an RSS feed from your blog. I tried to upload (without success) a picture of what remained after DH had some. But, no luck. Thanks for posting this and keep ’em coming.
Phyllis
On June 10, 2010 at 8:20 am
KentuckyFarmGirl says:
I made these over the weekend and used fresh sliced peaches instead of pears and I doubled the bar part as well as the filling for a 9 x 13. It was so good and a HUGE hit at our annual church homecoming!
On July 19, 2010 at 11:58 am
Sharon mommafox says:
Made this, but added bluberries. Next time will double the recipe. Very yummy!!!!
On August 3, 2010 at 1:32 am
LisaAJB says:
Do you think this would work with apples instead? It’s hard to find pears at my small town store. The blueberry idea sounds really good. Any other fruit you think would be good? The picture looks so delicious I think I may have already gained 10 lbs. Thanks for sharing this one.
On August 26, 2010 at 9:54 pm
KentuckyFarmGirl says:
Hi Lisa, I definitely think this would be delicious with apples and I plan on trying it soon since our apples are ripe.
As above, I also made it with fresh peaches and it was DELICIOUS!! I’ve been freezing quarts bags of peaches and apples just for this recipe. The recipe originally says to double the filling for a 13 x 9 inch pan but I’ve been doubling the bar part as well to make it a little thicker for the bigger pan. Doesn’t matter where I take this, someone always asks for the recipe.
I honestly can’t think of a fruit that this wouldn’t be good with!
On August 28, 2010 at 1:45 pm