Cherry Brown Butter Bars

I've made these bars twice now, and they are DEEEE-licious.  Not too sweet, surprisingly light (at least for me..the butter makes them taste a little rich but the texture is still light), and incredibly yummy, these bars are perfect for those overcast summer days when it's not too hot to turn your oven on.  Especially since they come together so quickly, and you really only have to dirty one bowl!

Cherry Brown Butter Bars

recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 16 2-inch square bars or 32 2×1-inch bars

Crust:
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
12 oz sweet cherries, pitted

Make crust: Preheat over to 375°F. Cut two 12-inch lengths of parchment paper and trim each to fit the 8-inch width of an 8×8-inch square baking pan. Press it into the bottom and sides of your pan in one direction, then use the second sheet to line the rest of the pan, perpendicular to the first sheet.  (I didn't do this, but I think it would make the remove-the-bars-from-the-pan process a bit easier.)

Mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl.  Add flour and salt and stir until incorporated. Transfer dough to your prepared pan, and use your fingertips to press the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden, about 18 minutes (it will puff slightly while baking). Transfer crust to rack and cool in pan. Maintain oven temperature.

Make the filling: Cook butter in heavy small saucepan (a lighter-colored one will make it easier to see the color changing, which happens quickly) over medium heat until deep nutty brown (do not burn), stirring often and watching carefully, about six minutes. Immediately pour browned butter into glass measuring cup to cool slightly.

Whisk sugar, eggs, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add flour and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Gradually whisk browned butter into sugar-egg mixture; whisk until well blended.

Arrange pitted cherries, or the berries of your choice, in bottom of cooled crust. I was a bit of a cherry glutton and used more than called for - not a great choice, since the bars turned out way too moist with the extra fruit.  If you have extra cherries, feel free to invite me over to eat them as is.  Carefully pour the browned butter mixture evenly over the fruit. Bake bars until filling is puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  (The original recipe said 40 minutes, mine cooked in about 25, so I split the difference.  Make sure to pay close attention.)   Cool bars completely in pan on rack.

Use the parchment paper overhang to carefully remove cooled bars from pan and place them on a cutting board and cut them into squares with a very sharp knife.

Cutting tip from Deb: "The cherries, if they fall over your slicing lines, will want to give you trouble but if you saw a sharp knife into them slowly before pressing down, they’ll cut neatly and with minimum carnage."