With a caffeine-fueled, dark chocolate filling and buttery, flaky brown sugar crust, baker Cheryl Day’s decadent pie bars are irresistible. They’re also practical: portable, crowd-pleasing and make-ahead. Slideshow: More Dessert Bar Recipes
How to Make It
Make the crust Preheat the oven to 350°. Brush a large rimmed baking sheet with melted butter. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang.
In a large bowl, using your fingers, combine the flour with the brown sugar and salt. Drizzle in the 4 sticks of melted butter and stir with a fork until a lumpy dough forms. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Line the pie shell with parchment paper and fill to the top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Transfer the crust to a wire rack to cool, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the filling Reduce the oven temperature to 325°. In a heatproof medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the diced butter with the chocolate chips, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and remove the bowl from the heat. Whisk in the granulated sugar, espresso, cinnamon and salt until blended. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the center is set and the top begins to crack. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.
Cut the pie into 2-inch-square bars. Dust the top with confectioners’ sugar and serve.
Make Ahead
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Aggregate Rating value: 4
Review Count: 2
Worst Rating: 0
Best Rating: 5
Author Name: DBR9801
Review Body: Seriously good. I did use the 7 sticks of butter, increased the chocolate to 2 cups, reduced the sugar to 2 cups. They were a huge hit - I cut them into bite-sized diamonds so got a million of them. I'll definitely make them again, but a half-recipe is plenty. I'm going to freeze the leftovers and see if that works out ok.
Review Rating: 5
Date Published: 2017-10-07
Author Name: Karen Pasley
Review Body: *Seven* sticks of butter? Wow, I know we're rehabilitating fat in the diet, but that verges on the ridiculous.
Review Rating:
Date Published: 2017-09-21
Author Name: Melinda Mahon
Review Body: Recipe does NOT say what size pan???
Review Rating:
Date Published: 2017-09-18
Author Name: robert gilley
Review Body: These tasted best "frozen". Oh my were they good that way where our taste testers just rated them as "good" when not frozen.
Review Rating: 3
Date Published: 2018-01-04
Author Name: mcgilly
Review Body: These are very tasty and totally overkill on the butter. The recipe above would be for a classic, rimmed baking sheet, jellyroll pan. And following the recipe exactly would produce way to much of a crust for me! I did this recipe in a 13x9 pan and made the crust from 1.5 sticks of butter and 1.75 cups flour. I then halved the filling ingredients. I cut these into 28, smaller squares. They are super rich, so smaller is better.
Review Rating:
Date Published: 2017-11-26
