Bavarian Torte Bars - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 flour
2/3 cup coarsely ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Filling
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 (1 lb) can pear halves in natural juice (drained)
Topping
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350\u00b0. Prepare crust by creaming butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla, flour and almonds.
Press crust into 8x8 square pan (I use glass).
Pierce crust all over with fork and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Meanwhile prepare filling by beating cream cheese until lumps are removed and add sugar.
Continue to beat for about 1 minute and then add egg and vanilla.
Beat until well combined.
Spread filling over crust.
Thinly slice drained pears lengthwise and arrange over cream cheese, slightly overlapping each slice in neat rows.
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar topping over the top.
Bake for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling has puffed up a little bit and almost set.
Cool completely and refrigerate until cold (at least 3 hours, overnight is recommended).
Slice into squares to serve.