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crust ~ flour & sugar
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crust ~ add butter & milk
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crust ~ ready to put in pan
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crust spread in pan
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filling ingredients
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filling ~ ready to spread
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filling on crust before baking
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hot from the oven
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spread with glaze
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The flavors of a traditional KING CAKE for MARDI GRAS, but much easier to make in a bar form (your food processor does all the work). It's a buttery crust on the bottom (similar to pie crust) with a cheesecake-type topping ~ spread with a simple glaze and sprinkled with colored sugar in purple, green and gold. ** Easy to do! **
King Cake Bars
Crust:
2 cups flour…………………………….………….….1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter
6 TB sugar……………………………………….….…2 TB milk or cream
Filling:
2 (8-oz.) rectangles cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar…………………………………………...1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract………………………………..1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar……………………………..2 TB milk or cream * (NOTE: A more authentic NOLA flavor is to use Crème Brulee flavored liquid coffee creamer)
Colored sugar, edible glitter or sprinkles (purple, green and gold)
***
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13” pan with non-stick baking spray.
Pulse together the flour and sugar in a food processor. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and looks a bit like wet sand. Add the milk and pulse until it starts to stick together (should come together around the blade). Spread and press it down evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside.
Pulse the filling ingredients together in the food processor until completely smooth. Spread the filling evenly over the crust.
Bake the bars for 17-23 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set. (Don't worry if it cracks a little ~ the glaze will cover the cracks)
While the bars are cooking, whisk together the glaze ingredients until completely smooth (add the milk about 1 tsp. at a time, until desired consistency). Spread the glaze in an even layer across the top of the HOT bars (as soon as they come out of the oven), and let it drip down between the sides of the bars and the pan (so the sides don't have a hard baked crust). Immediately sprinkle the colored sugar in stripes across the top. Let the bars cool completely, then slice. * Makes 15-24 bars (depends how big you slice them)
NOTE: You might want to stick these into the refrigerator to firm them up a little, if the glaze and/or topping seems too soft when they're cooled.
King Cake Bars
Crust:
2 cups flour…………………………….………….….1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter
6 TB sugar……………………………………….….…2 TB milk or cream
Filling:
2 (8-oz.) rectangles cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar…………………………………………...1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract………………………………..1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar……………………………..2 TB milk or cream * (NOTE: A more authentic NOLA flavor is to use Crème Brulee flavored liquid coffee creamer)
Colored sugar, edible glitter or sprinkles (purple, green and gold)
***
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13” pan with non-stick baking spray.
Pulse together the flour and sugar in a food processor. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and looks a bit like wet sand. Add the milk and pulse until it starts to stick together (should come together around the blade). Spread and press it down evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Set aside.
Pulse the filling ingredients together in the food processor until completely smooth. Spread the filling evenly over the crust.
Bake the bars for 17-23 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling is set. (Don't worry if it cracks a little ~ the glaze will cover the cracks)
While the bars are cooking, whisk together the glaze ingredients until completely smooth (add the milk about 1 tsp. at a time, until desired consistency). Spread the glaze in an even layer across the top of the HOT bars (as soon as they come out of the oven), and let it drip down between the sides of the bars and the pan (so the sides don't have a hard baked crust). Immediately sprinkle the colored sugar in stripes across the top. Let the bars cool completely, then slice. * Makes 15-24 bars (depends how big you slice them)
NOTE: You might want to stick these into the refrigerator to firm them up a little, if the glaze and/or topping seems too soft when they're cooled.
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