Almond Bars

If you want to make cookies or bars for a party but would like to find something other than plain sugar or chocolate chip, these almond bars are incredible in the very best way. They don’t take long to make at all, and they’re packed with almond flavor. The recipe is easy to double, and the bars freeze very well.

These almond bars use almond paste as a main ingredient. While almond extract provides a lot of flavor, almond paste gives the dough a chewy texture and adds a little more moisture. Almond paste is not overly sweet so it helps sweeten the dough without making the sweetness overwhelming. These bars will be a hit when you serve them.

Almond Bars Ingredients

• Butter: Butter gives the dough a rich texture and a wonderfully buttery aroma.
• Almond paste: Almond paste provides most of the almond flavor. Be sure to use almond paste and not marzipan, which is almond paste plus more sugar and egg whites. Almond paste is usually in the baking section in grocery stores, although some stores treat it as a seasonal item. If you’re unable to find it, you can make your own. Try this homemade almond paste recipe, which takes only a few minutes.
• Sugar: Added sugar makes the dough more tender and creaming the butter and sugar helps create flaky layers as the bars bake.
• Eggs: Eggs bind ingredients together. They also add structure and help the gluten in the flour make the baked pastry more stable.
• Almond extract: Adding almond extract intensifies the almond flavor and helps it spread throughout the entire dough.
• All-purpose flour: This will work with the egg, butter and sugar to create a stable and solid but not overly tough pastry.
• Slivered almonds: Garnish the tops of the bars with slivered almonds both for extra crunch and because the bars look nicer with them.

Directions

Step 1: Mix the dough

Cream the butter, almond paste and most of the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and the almond extract, and then carefully add flour until the mixture is just moistened.

Step 2: Assemble the unbaked bars

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9-inch baking dish. Spread the dough in the dish and sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the top of the dough. Place slivered almonds all over the top of the layer of sugar.

Step 3: Bake, cool and cut

Bake the bars for 30 to 35 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the bars should come out clean. Cool the bars on a wire rack and cut into squares. Store these in the refrigerator.

Almond Bars Variations

• Add a sweet glaze:  Drizzle a sweet powdered-sugar glaze over the top before cutting them after baking the bars and letting them cool.

How to Store Almond Bars

These bars do best when kept cool so store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Eat them within four days.

Can you freeze almond bars?

Like most bars and cookies, almond bars freeze well. Place them in freezer-safe bags or containers. If you stack them, separate the layers with a sheet of wax paper or parchment. If using a freezer bag, squeeze out as much air as you can without mashing the bars.

Almond Bars Tips

Can you use vanilla extract instead of almond?

You can use vanilla extract instead of almond extract. Keep two things in mind: First, they do have different flavors. While vanilla isn’t drastically different from almond, you may still notice that the almond flavor of the bars is not as intense as you had expected. Second, the flavor of almond extract is more concentrated than that of vanilla and means you need more vanilla extract to make up for the milder flavor. Use 1 1/2 to 2 times more vanilla than the amount of almond extract in the recipe.

How do you make it easier to remove these from the pan?

If greasing the baking pan still doesn’t make these bars release easily for you, then the next time you make them, line the pan with a large sheet of parchment paper. You’ll still need to grease the parchment paper, but lifting the bars out of the pan is going to be a lot simpler.

How do you cut evenly sized bars?

Believe it or not, cutting bars that are the same size doesn’t involve any special skills; all you need is a ruler. Decide what size you want the bars to be and mark them along each side while holding a ruler against the edge of the pan. If the ruler is long enough to span the width and/or length of the pan, place it so that it rests on the edges of the pan (wrap the ruler in clear plastic wrap first to avoid touching the food with it) and carefully cut the bars with a bench scraper, following the ruler. Check out this guide to cutting dessert bars to learn how to cut out different shapes.