Honey Nut Bars
A layer of buttery shortbread topped with a gooey mixture of honey and nuts, these bars are easier to make than you'd think and so yummy! It's a great recipe for the holiday season and as a finger dessert for parties.
Servings 9 squares
Ingredients
For shortbread base:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
For the filling:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup runny honey
- 1 cup walnuts very coarsely chopped, or in halves
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest about ½ a lemon
Instructions
For the shortbread base:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Butter or spray an 8-inch square pan and line with a wide strip of parchment paper, covering the bottom and two sides. The other two will be greased but not lined.
- Mix soft ½ cup unsalted butter with ½ cup powdered sugar in a large bowl. It should be creamy.
- Add 1 cup all-purpose flour and patiently incorporate it all until you have a soft dough. I use a spatula or a wooden spoon.
- Place small mounds of this dough in the bottom of the prepared pan. With your fingers, press until it covers the whole surface.
- Prick with a fork and chill for 15 minutes in the freezer. Then bake for 15-20 minutes, until starting to dry and barely color. Reserve on a wire rack while making the filling.
- Leave the oven on.
For the filling:
- Put 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar and ½ cup runny honey in a medium saucepan.
- Cook on medium heat until it boils, stirring occasionally. It will foam, so you may want to lower the heat a bit.
- Remove from heat and immediately add 1 cup walnuts, ¼ cup heavy cream, pinch salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and ½ teaspoon lemon zest.
- Pour into the pre-baked crust and return to the oven for 20 minutes. It will be bubbling and still look wet and somewhat runny, but not as much as before baking. The filling hardens a lot when it cools down, and if you bake it too much it will become so hard it will be almost impossible to eat.
- Remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes on a wire rack.
- Carefully run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges so that they don't stick when you remove them.
- Let the pan cool completely on a wire rack and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Lift the paper to remove the whole block from the pan. Cut into squares and serve. The squares will hold better if they're chilled first.
Notes
Shortbread base: it can easily be frozen before baking. When I have a lot of baking to do, I prepare the base, prick it and freeze it in the pan. Then I bake directly from the freezer.
Filling: I think that honey and walnuts is the best combination, but you can use pecans.
Storing: these bars can be stored in the fridge for several days, always well wrapped to prevent drying out. Or keep them in a tin separated in layers by parchment paper.
