Greetings all and Happy New Year!
Are you as excited as I am that January is coming to a close? January, 2025 has felt like the longest month and not because hubs and I have done dry-January either! I think it’s because the holidays felt so abbreviated, right?
On the contrary, I adore February. Always have, always will. My birthday is in February which, I’m sure I’ve mentioned once over the course of our 11 years together. And it ALWAYS fell during school vacation week which left me feeling completely ripped off. No locker decorated and no day of excuses because “it’s my birthday”. Nonetheless, we often celebrated birthdays with our extended family, my grandparents and cousins in attendance for a fancy home cooked meal, finished off with a cake made by my mother. The cake was usually served on a small, wooden, musical cake stand that revolved and played “happy birthday” while the candles burned brightly and everyone sang. In later years after my cousins and I had attended camp together, we removed a ring from one of our fingers to place over a candle of our choosing. This allowed you to participate in the wishing along with the person celebrating their birthday!
Also in February was my father’s birthday which we always celebrated in style, and Valentine’s Day which one year at college I combined with my birthday to have a Val’s Day Party. My college friends still tease me about it, rightfully so! And February feels synonymous with the color pink, one of my favorites.
Oh February, you are my sweetest month. So, today II am sharing a recipe I recently came across which, if you like my recipe for Marcella’s Butter Almond Cake and I know many of you do, then you absolutely have to try these bars. They are SO delicious, especially if you adore the flavor of almonds as much as I do.
They are named Almond Croissant Bars and truth be told while I’ve enjoyed many a croissant in my days, I’ve never had an almond flavored croissant! But as I understand it, there is a creamy component inside a traditional croissant with that glorious almond flavor. That is bascially what this bar is trying to achieve. In fact, the original name of the recipe was Almond Croissant Blondies, but I felt like blondies was misleading so I changed it to bars. Blondies are more cake like, and the resulting texture of this recipe is softer and creamier.
First you prepare the base which is a basic dough of butter, two sugars, flour, etc. and press that into an 8-inch square pan. Then you prepare the frangipane or almond paste if you will with butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and almond extracts and almond flour and spread it over the bottom layer. The entire pan is sprinkled with sliced almonds and then baked until golden.
Please make sure you have others to share these with because otherwise you may end up eating the whole pan – they really are delicious and even better the next day so plan ahead.
They also freeze very well if carefully wrapped. You can get 16 good sized bars from the recipe, or cut them smaller – they may not be as pretty because you will be cutting through the sliced almonds but who cares if they are delish, right?
So, who’s making them? Enjoy!
Until next time…
One Year Ago: Alison Roman’s Creamy Cauliflower Galette
Two Years Ago: Review of Moeca in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Three Years Ago: Kung Pao Chicken
Four Years Ago: Shrimp Fried Cauliflower Rice
Five Years Ago: Sheet Pan Salmon Fajitas
Six Years Ago: Double Stuffed Potato Bites
Seven Years Ago: In Conversation with Emily Keneally, founder of Alice Walk
Eight Years Ago: Slow Cooker Beef Ragu with Pappardelle
Nine Years Ago: Farro, Citrus and Arugula Salad
Ten Years Ago: Turkey and White Bean Chili
Eleven Years Ago: Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
This recipe comes from Laura Vitale's website, Laura in the Kitchen. I have edited it ever so slightly and renamed the recipe Bars, rather than Blondies due to the texture of the final product. If you like the flavor of almond, or have made my recipe for Marcella's Almond Cake (on the website), or enjoy the occasional almond croissant, then I'm sure you will love these bars. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup almond flour (Bob's Red Mill Super Fine)
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle.
- Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper along one side. Spray the sides with some non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until combined, and then add the egg. Whisk together for about 30 seconds before adding in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
- Using lightly floured hands, press the sticky dough into your prepared pan making sure it is even and set aside. Use the same bowl for the next step.
- Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg and both extracts and combine. Add the almond flour, all-purpose flour and the salt and whisk until combined.
- Smooth the filling over the base, again spreading it to an even layer with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes (mine took 40 due to my oven) or until golden brown and edges are set. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.
- Enjoy!
1 Comment
OMG Val – Love almond croissants and these sounds heavenly! Can’t wait to try 🙂