Nutella Crumb Bars

Summer is great and I have time, and I want to bake, but then the house is warm, and it really drains all the energy that I have. Sometimes I will go to work, as even my office with big sunny windows (but with air conditioning) is more comfortable that home. At least we have portable air conditioners at home, which helps somewhat. It makes me long for rainy weather, which makes my California friends shake their heads. What can I say?

When I do go to work, I can take treats for folks, which I love to do. Sometimes there is enough for everyone to share, and other times I just bring in a couple of treats for different individuals. I had these bars on my radar for a while. I regularly have all of the ingredients on hand, although I will say I get a bit nervous when my butter supply is low! I also checked my Nutella supply, and I was good.

While the house is warm, I hoped that having the oven on for a short while would be ok, and it was. I think I get warm when I am up and about, doing things. I baked these in the morning, and that helped a lot. These cookies have a shortbread base, you par-bake that and then top with Nutella and a crumb topping. There are several steps, but they are all very simple. I refrigerated the bars before cutting, and I would advise you not to skip that step. These bars are a bit crumbly, with the perfect flavor of Nutella shining through.

Nutella Crumb Bars
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup Nutella
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Mix until the dough forms, which may be a bit crumbly. Press the dough into the prepared pan.

Bake the base for 20-25 minutes, until set. Remove the pan from the oven but keep the oven at temperature.

Spread the Nutella (carefully) over the partially based base. 

Make the crumb topping: in a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir to combine. Add the melted butter and mix until the topping looks like wet sand. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the Nutella. 

Bake for 15-18 additional minutes, until golden. 

Cool the bars completely before cutting them into bars. I placed the bars in the refrigerator in order to make sure that the bars were as cool as possible.

Recipe from Just So Tasty