Frugal Foodie Mama: Cookie Butter Pecan Bars {The Leftovers Club}

I will admit it. I am a full-on cookie butter addict. I spread it on granola bars, dip pretzels in it, and just eat it by the spoonful straight out of the jar. I knew it wouldn't be long before I was baking with it.

The inspiration for my Butter Pecan Cookie Butter Bars came to me when I was visiting the Wine and Glue blog and came across Lisa's recipe for Sugar Cookie Cookie Butter Bars. I am not going to lie- I REALLY wanted to make her cookie bar recipe, but I was feeling lazy and was short on butter for her recipe. So, I improvised! ;)

I had a box of Butter Pecan cake mix that had been sitting in my pantry for a few months now. Honestly, I had no clue why I even bought it. But it had been sitting there on my shelf for months staring at me, begging me to just do something with it. I figured cookie butter and butter pecan would go well together, so why not make some cookie bars combining the two flavors? (And finally get rid of that box of cake mix already! ;) )

And so I did and the results were ah-mazing! In fact when I was paired up with my April partner for The Leftovers Club, I knew I had to make a batch of these cookie bars again to send to Daphne of Go Gastronomy.

What you will need:

1 box of butter pecan cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional- I did not add pecans to either one of my batches of the cookie bars, but I plan to for my next batch.)

For the cookie butter layer:

1 stick of butter

1 cup of cookie butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 x 11.5 baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Dump the cake mix into a large mixing bowl. In your microwave, melt the 1/2 cup butter in a microwave safe bowl. Pour the melted butter over the cake mix and add the egg. Mix well. Fold in the chopped pecans if you decided to add them.

Press the butter pecan dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until the cookie layer is lightly golden brown.

Let it cool completely (pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the process if you are impatient like me).

Once the cookie layer is cooled, whip up the cookie butter layer. Place the stick of butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Nuke it for about 30 seconds. Add the cookie butter and microwave for another 30 seconds. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Spread the cookie butter mixture evenly over top of the cooled butter pecan cookie layer.

Pop in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until the cookie butter layer sets up.

I cut the cookie bars as needed, and left the entire pan wrapped tightly with plastic wrap at room temperature. You can refrigerate them if you would like, but be sure to let them come to room temperature before cutting or the cookie butter layer will break up.

I am not going to lie... I probably ate 80% of both of the batches of these Cookie Butter Pecan Bars that I made. They are addicting. And they were staring me in the face.

All day.

Every day.

Just sitting out on that kitchen counter beckoning me to cut off just one more tiny piece.

Note: All those tiny pieces add up to one huge hunk by the end of the day.... just saying. ;)

So I was more than happy to send a few bars Daphne's way for this month's The Leftovers Club swap.

Cookie Butter Pecan Bars

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients (12-16 bars)

For the cookie bar layer

1 box of butter pecan cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

For the cookie butter layer

1 stick of butter
1 cup of cookie butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 x 11.5 baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Press the butter pecan dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until the cookie layer is lightly golden brown.

Let it cool completely (pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the process if you are impatient like me).

Spread the cookie butter mixture evenly over top of the cooled butter pecan cookie layer.

Pop in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until the cookie butter layer sets up.

If you are a lover of cookie butter like me, make sure to check out my recipe for...