Buttery Pineapple Crumble Bars

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These bar cookies will stand out at any bake sale or dessert spread.

Buttery Pineapple Crumble Bars
Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Active Time:
20 mins
Cool Time:
1 hrs 30 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 30 mins
Yield:
16 serves

These rich and gooey Pineapple Crumble Bars just might replace your usual lemon squares. Our Test Kitchen recommends using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make the crust and crumble topping because a hand mixer will send flour flying everywhere.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

  • ¾ cup butter, softened

  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 ⅓ cups granulated sugar, divided

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided

  • 4 cups chopped fresh pineapple (about 22 ½ oz.)

  • ¼ cup cornstarch

  • 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

  • ¼ cup slivered almonds

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Beat flour, butter, vanilla, 1 cup of the sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of the salt with a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 1 minute. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture in a small bowl for the topping. Press remaining crumb mixture evenly into bottom of prepared pan.

  2. Bake crust until golden brown, about 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and cool crust completely, about 30 minutes. (Do not turn off oven.)

  3. Meanwhile, gently stir together chopped pineapple, cornstarch, lemon juice, and remaining ⅓ cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Spread pineapple mixture evenly over cooled crust.

  4. Stir together almonds and reserved crumb mixture in a small bowl until combined. Sprinkle almond mixture evenly over pineapple mixture on crust. Bake at 375°F until the filling is bubbly and the topping is lightly browned, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour, and cut into 16 squares.

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