Snickerdoodle Crumb Bars

(1)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
55 mins
Yield:
16 bars

For a bite of pure bliss, sink your teeth into this hybrid of coffee cake and a snickerdoodle cookie. Layers of rich batter, crumbly streusel, and a topping of crunchy cinnamon sugar add up to irresistible; cream of tartar lends a subtle tang and a nice chew. Better yet, the ingredients are pantry basics, so you can bake up a batch on demand.

Ingredients

Streusel

  • ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

  • ½ cup packed light-brown sugar

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  • ½ stick cold unsalted butter (4 tablespoons), cut into pieces

Topping

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Bars

  • 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for dish

  • 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

  • ½ cup packed light-brown sugar

  • ½ cup granulated sugar

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature

Directions

  1. Streusel: Whisk together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut in butter until small to medium clumps form. Refrigerate until ready to use.

  2. Topping: Stir together cinnamon and granulated sugar; set aside.

  3. Bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.

  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, both sugars, and eggs. Add flour mixture; stir to combine. Spread half of batter into bottom of dish. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon sugar. Dollop remaining batter on top; spread evenly with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle evenly with streusel, then remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake until a tester inserted in middle comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool completely. Transfer to a cutting board using parchment overhang and cut into bars to serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

    snickerdoodle crumb bars
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Cook's Notes

To keep the layers intact, let the cake cool completely before cutting it into bars.

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