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These vanilla bean plum butter crumble bars are the perfect salute to the end of summer. They have a shortbread crust covered in homemade vanilla bean plum butter and a nutty crumble topping.
Remember that vanilla bean plum butter I made on Tuesday? Today, I’m showing you how to use it if you’re not keen on slathering it on toast. These bars have a simple shortbread bottom topped with plum butter and a brown sugar pecan topping. These bars are crunchy and plum buttery (is that word?) all at the same time.
Of course, store-bought would be fine here if you’re not a fan of making your plum butter. Although I’m not sure I have ever seen store-bought plum butter, I’m just throwing it out there.
Vanilla bean paste is what makes these bars GOOD!
I used the same crust for the crust of these vanilla bean plum butter crumble bars for my homemade lemon bars. It’s sturdy, slightly sweet, and works for just about any bar recipe I make.
The trick to making any shortbread crust is not to give up too soon. The first time I 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.
It’s amazing how that works sometimes.
Am I right?
If I’m being 100% honest, I added too much vanilla bean plum butter to this batch.
They tasted amazing but were a little gooey when cut and then sat there for a while.
However, I didn’t mind because it only seemed to matter when I tried to assemble the first picture. The bars were a little heavy to be stacking, so they oozed.
Then again, I’m guessing most people don’t go 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 so long in the kitchen.
More bar dessert recipes
Vanilla Bean Plum Butter Crumble Bars
Ingredients
For crust:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For filling:
- 1 cup vanilla bean plum butter
For topping:
- ⅓ cup flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
For crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together unsalted butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- 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:
- Add flour, brown sugar, and diced cold butter to a small mixing bowl. 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 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 and will crumble.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love the slightly sweet crust! These look like heaven.
Wow! These look absolutely perfect!
Ahhh! This looks amazing! I’m not really sure what I love most — so many great components! Nice!
Now all I need is a cup of coffee to go with this! Looks perfect. 🙂
These look like the perfect way to send off summer! So many delicious layers.
If I don’t want to use vanilla plum butter, what suggestions do you have as substitutions, they look amazing and I love shortbread and crumb topping desserts. Thanks.