Almond Cream Cheese Bars

My husband has been travel ing some this month, which is very different for us. For the first time since we’ve been married (almost 12 years) I have been home alone some of the time. I’ve traveled and gone to conferences, but this time he was the one that was gone. It’s been a change making dinner for myself and taking care of the house. I’m so glad that he gets home today and doesn’t have any other trips planned.

I made my grocery list and planned to make these bars. Not too hard, not too many different ingredients. All this week, I’ve been thinking of what else I could bake. For some reason, I wasn’t really feeling it this week for this recipe. I ultimately couldn’t find a different recipe that inspired me this week, so I went ahead and made these. They came together well and weren’t too hard. I guess I should have started them right when I got home so that they would have had more time to cool.

Despite having three layers, these bars are fairly thin. Don’t let that fool you because they are a decadent little thing! You’ve got the buttery base layer, the tangy cream cheese layer and the sweet icing topping. I really like these a lot, and I’m glad I got through my recipe selection malaise and decided to bake these. They are just wonderful.

Almond Cream Cheese Bars

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract
1-3 tablespoons milk
Sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” baking pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl beat the flour, powdered sugar, and butter on medium until the dough comes together. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling. In the same mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese, eggs, sugar and almond extract on medium until smooth.

Once the crust has come out of the oven, pour the filling on top of the hot crust. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until set. The bars will be lightly browned around the edges. Allow the bars to cool completely before glazing.

Once the bars are cool, make the glaze: in a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar, almond extract, and enough milk to make a glaze. Spread over the cooled bars and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Allow the glaze to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Cookin’ Up North