Description
Luxurious yet simple cookie bars with a deep nutty taste and a hint of honey, perfect for sharing with friends.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: 1 cup (2 sticks or 226g), plus a little extra for greasing the pan
- All-Purpose Flour: 2 ½ cups (about 310g), spooned and leveled
- Baking Soda: 1 teaspoon
- Salt: ¾ teaspoon (use ½ teaspoon if using salted pistachios)
- Light Brown Sugar: ¾ cup (165g), packed
- Granulated Sugar: ½ cup (100g)
- Honey: ½ cup (170g)
- Large Eggs: 2, at room temperature
- Pure Vanilla Extract: 2 teaspoons
- Shelled Pistachios: 1 ½ cups (about 210g), raw, unsalted, roughly chopped (reserve ¼ cup for topping, optional)
- Flaky Sea Salt: For sprinkling on top (optional, but highly recommended)
Instructions
- Melt the butter over medium heat and watch as it foams and sizzles.
- Continue to cook, swirling the pan now and then so it browns evenly.
- When you see golden brown specks and smell a nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat.
- Pour the browned butter and all the toasty bits into a large heatproof bowl.
- Let the brown butter cool 15 to 20 minutes until it is cool to the touch but still liquid.
- Grease a 9×13 inch pan with a little extra butter.
- Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides, and grease the paper lightly.
- Stir the cooled brown butter with both sugars until the mix is smooth.
- Beat the mixture on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes until it lightens slightly.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each and scraping the bowl as needed.
- Stir in the vanilla until it is fully mixed.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the dry mix to the wet mix and stop as soon as you no longer see big streaks of flour.
- Fold in the chopped pistachios gently so you do not overwork the dough.
- Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan, smoothing the top for even baking.
- Scatter the reserved ¼ cup chopped pistachios over the top if you like.
- Sprinkle a little flaky sea salt over the top for contrast.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges are set and the center is just slightly underbaked.
- Check at 23 minutes and aim to underbake a bit for chewier bars.
- Let the bars cool completely in the pan for at least 2 to 3 hours so they set.
- Use the parchment sling to lift the slab out and cut with a sharp knife into bars.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
For a gluten-free version, use a one-to-one gluten-free flour blend and handle the dough gently.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 21g
- Sodium: 200mg
- Fat: 15g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 40g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 40mg
Keywords: cookie bars, pistachio, brown butter, dessert, sweet treat