Cookie Monster
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[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]

In these tropical bar cookies, a buttery shortbread base is topped with sweet guava paste, then finished with a lightly crunchy oat topping.

About the author: Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. She likes to peruse her large collection of cookbooks while eating jam from the jar. You can follow her on Twitter @carrievasios

Every recipe we publish is tested, tasted, and Serious Eats-approved by our staff. Never miss a recipe again by following @SeriousRecipes on Twitter!

About This Recipe

Yield: makes 24 small or 12 large bars
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Special equipment: food processor or electric mixer, 13- by 9-inch baking pan

Ingredients

  • For Crust:
  • 16 tablespoons (1 cup/1 pound) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups (about 10 ounces) all purpose flour
  •  
  • For Topping:
  • 16 ounces guava paste, sliced to 1/4 inch thick slices
  • 1 cup old fashioned oats
  • 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup (about 5 ounces) all-purpose flour

Procedures

  1. Grease baking pan with butter. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. For Crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand held mixer, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add salt and flour and beat until dough comes together. Press dough evenly into prepared pan.

  3. For Topping: Cover dough with slices of guava paste. In the bowl of a food processor, combine oats, butter, salt, and sugar. Pulse 10 times. Add flour and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand. Sprinkle over evenly over top of pan. Bake until top is golden, about 45 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.