Hummingbird Cookie Bars

Photography by Stephen DeVries

These party-perfect bars are creamy, crumbly, and crispy all at once. For the best results, we suggest refrigerating overnight. But if you’re in a hurry, you can cut that time down to at least 1 hour before serving. Grab our May/June 2018 Southern Themed Issue for more ways with Hummingbird!

Hummingbird Cookie Bars
 
Makes 24
Ingredients
  • 12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese, softened
  • ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs (100 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (114 grams) mashed banana
  • Spiced Cookie Crust (recipe follows)
  • 2 cups (400 grams) diced fresh pineapple
  • 1⅓ cups (80 grams) sweetened flaked coconut
  • 1 cup (113 grams) chopped pecans
  • ½ cup (44 grams) broken banana chips
  • ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined. Fold in mashed banana. Spread cream cheese mixture onto prepared Spiced Cookie Crust. Sprinkle with pineapple.
  3. In a medium bowl, stir together coconut, pecans, banana chips, and melted butter until well combined. Sprinkle over pineapple.
  4. Bake until filling is set, 35 to 40 minutes, covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight before serving. Using excess parchment as handles, remove from pan, and cut into bars.

Spiced Cookie Crust
 
Makes 1 (13x9-inch) crust
Ingredients
  • 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon (1.5 grams) ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened and cubed
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter and flour a 13x9-inch baking dish. Line pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend over sides of pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Firmly press mixture into bottom of prepared pan.
  3. Bake until lightly golden, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely.

 

Previous articleZesty Lemon Bars
Next articleCherry Tomato Focaccia Bread

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Rate this recipe:  

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