Vanilla Bean Plum Butter Crumble Bars

These vanilla bean plum butter crumble bars the perfect salute to the end of summer. Shortbread crust covered in homemade vanilla bean plum butter and topped with a nutty crumble topping. You’ll love how sweet and fruity these bars taste.

Remember that vanilla bean plum butter I made on Tuesday? Well, today I’m showing you how to use it up if you’re not keen on just slathering it on toast. These bars have a simple shortbread bottom topped with plum butter and then topped with a brown sugar pecan topping. These bars are crunchy and plum buttery (is that word?) all at the same time.

Of course, if you’re not a fan of making your own plum butter I think store bought would be fine here. Although, I’m not sure I have ever actually seen store bought plum butter. But I’m just throwing it out there.

{Vanilla bean paste is what makes this bars CRAZY good!}

For the crust of these vanilla bean plum butter crumble bars, I used the same crust I use for my homemade lemon bars. It’s sturdy, slightly sweet and works for just about any bar recipe I make. I think the trick to making any shortbread crust is to not give up too soon. The first time I ever made shortbread I looked at the mixture and thought “it’s too crumbly! It’s not going to work!” then a minute later it came together and was beautifully smooth. Amazing how that works sometimes.

Am I right?

If I’m being 100% honest I would say I added just a smidgen too much vanilla bean plum butter to this batch. They tasted amazing but were a little gooey when they were cut and then sat there for awhile. However, I didn’t really mind because it only seemed to really matter when I trying to put together the first picture. The bars were a little heavy to be stacking so they sorta oozed. Then again I’m guessing most people aren’t going around stacking their bars before eating them.

Just remember that if you want to make the vanilla bean plum butter it’s best to do it the day before so it’s not such a long day in the kitchen.

Looking for more delicious treats? Try my Peanut Butter Marshmallow Krispie Topped Brownies, Peanut Butter Nutella Rice Krispie Treats, Pumpkin Pie Cake Bars, Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats, Blueberry Crumb Bars, or my Salted Nut Roll Bars. All of these recipes can be made in 9×13 or 8×8 dishes!

Vanilla Bean Plum Butter Crumble Bars

These vanilla bean plum butter crumble bars the perfect salute to the end of summer. Shortbread crust covered in homemade vanilla bean plum butter and topped with a nutty crumble topping. You'll love how sweet and fruity these bars taste.

Yield: 8x8 dish

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

For crust: 

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For filling: 

• 1 cup vanilla bean plum butter

For topping:

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Slightly adapted from House of Brinson

Directions:

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl of an electric mixer add butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

Add in flour and kosher salt and mix just until the dough comes together. This may take a few minutes. The mixture will look crumbly at first but should come together and become moist. The mixture should easily press together.

Press into the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

For filling:
Make your vanilla bean plum butter ahead of time and use it either room temperature or cold from the refrigerator.

For topping:
In a bowl add flour, dark brown sugar and diced cold butter. Using a pastry blender (or fork) blend the butter into the mixture until the butter is in tiny pieces and the mixture resembles wet sand.

Stir in the pecans and keep cold until ready to use.

For assembly:
After your crust has baked and cooled slightly, spread the vanilla bean plum butter over the top and sprinkle the top with cold topping.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the topping is browned.

Let the bars cool completely before trying to cut the bars. If you cut the bars while they are hot they will not hold up that well.