Monday Morning is here to welcome you with a sweet start to your week. I sure hope you had a wonderful weekend! We spent the last couple of days studying and getting caught up on housework. My husband was frequently found with his head buried in textbooks – preparing for the second out of three exams he has to take for his job this morning. I know you will do great, honey! While he was busy I was able to catch up on chores and fun projects. Sunday morning was filled with a family photo shoot of dear friends of ours . Fall is in full swing and we had to take advantage of its beauty. A Green Bay Packer win and a birthday party was the perfect way to end our days off. In hopes of sweetening the beginning of another week, I decided to make some scrumptiously Spiced Crumb Bars. I adore any dessert that’s topped with a crunchy and buttery topping. There’s just something about melting two layers of different textures together and enjoying both of them in one bite. Moist bars and crispy yumminess make a perfect team!
These bars a reminiscent of coffee cake and would pair perfectly with a cup of any hot beverage of your choice. The subtle sweetness of the base and sugary top are pretty hard to beat.
In order to make the bars more appropriate for the autumn season, I added lots of cinnamon and pumpkin spice to both layers. Yes and Yes! You can see the beautiful spice speckles throughout.
Monday Mornings have not only gotten sweeter, but beautiful to look at as well.
Make yourself a pan of these bars and you won’t be able to stop smiling for the rest of the week.
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- 1. Starting with the crumb topping, melt the 1/2 cup of butter and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients and make sure they are well blended. Add the butter to the topping and combine until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.
- 2. In a stand mixer, combine all the dry ingredients for the bars. Add the butter, egg and egg yolk and beat until creamy. Lastly, add the vanilla and buttermilk and combine.
- 3. Spread the batter for the bars into the prepared baking pan. Top with the crumb topping and put into oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- These bars will keep for 5 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months.
