Baking Recipes,  Brownies & Bars

Cookie Butter madness, part 2

Well, two of my younger brothers have officially converted into cookie butter lovers! And while I remain to be a solid peanut butter girl, I can’t deny I’ve rather enjoyed baking with cookie butter. It just has the most amazing smell once it is added to the batter, and I would keep making speculoos treats if only to get a whiff of that mouth-watering scent.

Ironically I had given up on getting my hands on any Speculoos spread because of how popular they are right now, making them always sold out wherever I look. My passing curiosity wasn’t enough to fuel any sort of persistence on my part to keep searching for a source, so I kind of just forgot about it. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t even like to wait in line in restaurants unless it’s a restaurant I really really like or really really want to try. Funny how it’s a gigantic contradiction to my attitude when it comes to accomplishing things I set my mind to. Or I guess I just never thought about cookie spreads as something I’ll never be at peace without.

Yet thanks to my friend Sherly from Go Seek Shop, I got the chance to try both the creamy and crunchy Cookie Butters. In the end, I discovered how wonderful they are to bake with! I previously made this amazing banana bread variation by adding in the warm flavours of creamy Cookie Butter. It smelled like heaven, I tell ya! And the taste was no less divine! These sweet bars today are my second foray into baking with Cookie Butter, this time with the crunchy version.

Frankly I don’t feel much difference between the creamy and crunchy version aside from the very small pieces of solid cookies very sparingly included. I had anticipated there to be more so that my bars would have a surprise crunch inside but hey, I ain’t complaining especially with how these bars turned out.

The bars looked a bit different fresh from the oven. I couldn’t resist cutting into them as soon as they were cool enough to handle but still a little warm inside. Ooey-gooey is the only way to describe them warm.

I took the above photo in the evening with our yellow dining room light so the colour looks a bit different from the other photos on this post. I wanted to see how the texture would differ once the bars have fully set. After spending a night atop the dining table, the bars were firmer to the bite with a more pronounced crust on top– a little less gooey but still very chewy. Sweet but with the light notes of gingerbread flavour, these bars are quite enjoyable to munch on. At the bottom is a buttery crust, and on the top is a chewy and moist cookie butter and brown sugar-based body.

Can you already imagine how yummy this is?

Cookie Butter-Brown Sugar Bars

Sweet but with the light notes of gingerbread flavour, these bars are quite enjoyable to munch on. At the bottom is a buttery crust, and on the top is a chewy and moist cookie butter and brown sugar-based body.

Makes one 8x8-inch pan

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 1 stick, 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • Pinch salt

For the filling

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup Cookie Butter spread, or other Speculoos spread
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour

Instructions

Make the crust

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C). Line an 8x8-inch* baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both sides. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
  • 2. In a large bowl, using a whisk or an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar, flour, and salt until mixture is well combined and moistened. Using a spatula, spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.
  • 3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool.

Make the filling

  • 4. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the eggs, sugar, cookie spread, and flour until well-combined and smooth.
  • 5. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust and bake for 30 minutes, or until the middle is just set but still a bit jiggly. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into even-sized bars to serve.
  • Storage: Bars can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Notes

* The pan I used is bigger than the one indicated in the recipe so my bars are a lot thinner than normal.
Adapted from Handle The Heat blog
A big hug to Go Seek Shop for furnishing me with my Cookie Butters! Go check out the shop if you live in the Philippines and are looking for a place to buy Cookie Butter or Biscoff spread.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.