Ambrosia Streusel Bars – a shortbread crust with a pineapple, orange, and cherry filling and topped with delicious coconut streusel!
Another Christmas cookie!
Errr… kind of.
These count, right?
Bar cookies are my absolute fave because there’s minimal hands on time.
I mean, with cookies, you have to bake batch after batch after batch and who can remember to come back to the oven every 10 minutes to pull cookies out?
Not me.
But we’re not gonna talk about how many cookies I’ve burned in my life.
Because we would be here all day.
Ambrosia Streusel Bars!
These Ambrosia Streusel Bars are perfect for people like me, who want dessert but don’t want to fuss with scooping cookie dough and using multiple baking sheets.
It’s a simple shortbread crust (which is my faaaaave kind of cookie) with a filling made of pineapple, orange, and cherries and then it’s all topped with a coconut streusel.
It’s also a great dessert for this time of year when fresh fruit is pretty bleh for the most part. This one uses all canned or jarred stuff.
I’m not a fruity dessert person – you know this about me – but I am all about these.
More Bar Recipes
- Avalanche Bars
- Blueberry Crumb Bars
- Salted Nut Roll Bars
- Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Cake Batter Blondie Bars
- Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars
- Pineapple Cheesecake Bars
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Ambrosia Streusel Bars
adapted from Southern Living
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ cups cold butter, cut into pieces
- 2 large egg yolks
For the filling:
- 1 ½ cups crushed pineapple
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup drained maraschino cherries, coarsely chopped
For the streusel:
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup sweetened coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line a 9x13-inch pan with aluminum foil. Spray with baking spray. Set aside.
- To make the crust, pulse first 4 ingredients in a food processor 2 to 3 times or until combined. Add 1 ¼ cups cold butter pieces, 2 or 3 pieces at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, pulsing after each addition. Process until mixture is crumbly.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in preheated oven to 10 minutes.
- To make the filling, bring crushed pineapple, marmalade, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring often, 1 minute. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Stir in cherries, and spread in prepared crust.
- To make the streusel, stir together ½ cup sugar and next 2 ingredients; cut butter into sugar mixture with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in coconut; sprinkle over pineapple mixture.
- Bake for 30 minutes, covering with foil halfway through if the coconut starts to burn. Cool completely before removing from pan and slicing into bars.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 385Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 298mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 2gSugar: 31gProtein: 4g
Jenn Peas and Crayons says
OMG THOSE BARS! I’m obsessed with ambrosia and I know I’d love it even more in this recipe!
Robin Christine says
My favorite holiday treat is my Dad’s homemade stickie buns! He only makes them this time of year – the gooey caramel sauce with pecans on top. Delish!
Marcia S. says
I love cut out sugar cookies!
Dayna Kellam says
These look wonderful!
Medha @ Whisk & Shout says
I’ve never heard of ambrosia bars! These look fabulous- I love anything with coconut :)
nicole @ I am a Honey Bee says
ugh, I can totally relate to burning cookies.
I often make cookie bars instead too!
These bars look yummy!!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
I love these bars!!! love the trio of fruit in that filling and love the coconut streusel!!!