Brown Butter Bars

View at dusk from my parents rooftop deck at their home in Carmel.

The little coastal town of Carmel has a love-hate relationship with the many tourists that frequent it. Sandwiched between Pebble Beach Golf Course and Big Sur, its certainly no secret. For the locals who live in Carmel there's a few places we'd love to rave about, but have to stop ourselves from being too excited for then more tourists might come. But then there are those places that you just have to share because you physically are unable to keep it secret. 

 

In California, we have Highway 1 - its a road that hugs the entire coast of California, and quite possibly one of the most amazing coastal drives in the world. It starts south of Los Angeles in Orange County where the locals call it PCH. That's Pacific Coast Highway for short. It weaves along the coast north, through Big Sur and Carmel. Here there is a mandatory stop that must be made - I'll tell you where in a second. Continuing on, Highway 1 goes through San Francisco and over the Golden Gate Bridge. 

 

Nate always said we would only ever leave San Francisco when driving over the Golden Gate Bridge didn't amaze him anymore. Tempted by the romance of Europe we left San Francisco, but not at all because the bridge crossing lost any luster. This is how I know we will be going back. Highway 1 continues north past Marin, Tomales Bay, and Sonoma County - places amazing all on their own. 

Back to the mandatory stop on Highway 1. Big Sur Bakery. Address: Big Sur Bakery, Highway One, California. They have the best jelly donuts, burgers, pizzas, cookies, wood-fired bread, pancakes... Everything is the world's best but these are extra special. Brown. Butter. Bars.

The original Brown Butter Bars are made with homemade fresh peach jam. Here is where I have to make a huge modification - in London, there is no way I'm going to get my produce greedy hands on fresh peaches, so I'm using the next best thing. The next best thing is jam made by my fellow classmate, Sky Cracknell, who is the co-founder (with her husband) of England Preserves. A post on Sky's jam is coming soon where I'll be giving away a few jars. This is hands down the best jam EVER. More on England Preserves in a few days because right now it's all about Brown Butter Bars. Read through the recipe before making - its simple, but there are a few steps which require chilling time.

BROWN BUTTER BARS,** adapted from Big Sur Bakery 

For the crust:

• 8 oz unsalted butter 
• 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted 
• 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour 

For the filling:

• 3 large eggs 
• 1 c sugar 
• 3/4 c + 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/2 vanilla pod, halved and seeds scraped  
• 5 oz unsalted butter 
• 1 c your favorite jam 

METHOD

For the crust: Melt the butter in a pan at medium-high heat till the butter starts to brown. When it turns a deep golden color and smells nutty strain through a fine sieve into a heat-proof container. Freeze till its solid - about one half-hour. Put the powdered sugar and flour in a large bowl. Cut bits of the cold brown butter into the sugar + flour. Using a pastry cutter or your hands mix together till you get a crumbly, sandy mixture. Press into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Chill for one half-hour. Preheat oven to 375F / 190C. Bake at that temperature for 18-20 minutes, or until golden in color. Set aside to cool.

For the filling: Whisk together eggs, sugar, salt and flour in a large bowl. Place the vanilla bean and seeds with the butter in a pan and heat till the butter starts to brown. When the butter turns a deep golden color and smells nutty, strain through a fine sieve. Careful! The butter will be really hot. Pour butter into the egg mixture, whisking as you do so.  Remove the vanilla bean.

Assemble the bars: Spread half the filling over the baked crust. Spoon large dollops of the jam over the filling, reserving a quarter. Then spread the rest of the filling over the jam. Use the remaining jam and small dollop over the top. The 1 cup of jam in the ingredients list is approximate, you may need more, depending on the consistency of the jam and how liberal you are with the dollops. Bake until the filling is golden brown in color, about 25 to 30 minutes, at 375F/ 190C. 

Let cool. Cut into squares and share if you can bear it. Perfect wrapped up in paper for a spring picnic. 

**The original recipe, found here, includes the zest of two oranges for the filling. It also includes the recipe and directions for the homemade peach jam. I omitted the orange zest because of the jam flavors I chose. I used two England Preserves flavors: Strawberry Days and Ruby's Redcurrant+Rhubarb+Vanilla. Take a look at Sky's Strawberry Days Jam. 

Come back next week for more on Sky's jams and a chance to win some!

If you happen to be lucky enough to drive past Big Sur Bakery, make sure to stop. It's hard to say what time of day is best. Early means you might get a jelly donut before they sell out. But lunchtime means wood-fired Greek pizza, or dinner might mean real clam chowder with an oak grilled Ribeye. Looks like you may have to hang out all day. I won't reveal the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy that happens to be in Carmel in this post, but if you are visiting the town, email me and I will share with you my secret.

Comments

[zerrin]

I was just looking for a recipe I can use the last half of strawberry jam we have. We made it ourselves last summer, and we want to finish it as we start to see new strawberries at our open market. This sounds easy and looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing. As we don't have the chance of tasting those at Big Sur Bakery, I should try yours. :)

[elra]

Delicious bars! I like to go to Carmel for the week end as well. Such a quaint small town, and pretty romantic as well.

[OysterCulture]

I love the depth brown butter adds and these bars sound incredible. I've been on a baking kick lately despite the frustrations of dealing with a less than trusty oven in an apartment. Fresh peach jam is an incredible thing, but your substitute sounds divine.

I know what you mean about it being a special experience crossing the bridge. I almost do not mind getting caught in traffic to enjoy the experience - almost!

Even without these incredible baked goods you've introduced us to, Big Sur is such an awesome experience. Thanks for a lovely sunny post to start the weekend!

[Tangled Noodle]

It's been so long since I've been in San Francisco (25 years?) but I remember the weekend drives when my uncle would take me and my sisters to Carmel and other surrounding communities.

I'd love to try Big Sur Bakery's treats in person but I'll content myself with your recipe until then. And I can't wait to hear more about England Preserves!

[gastroanthropologist]

zerrin - It is quite easy with a just a few ingredients and the brown butter smell that will fill your kitchen is divine.

elra - It is quite romantic there, my favorite time is in the early morning...walking along the beach with coffee and few others around.

OysterCulture - Getting stuck in traffic on the Golden Gate is the best. I love looking up through the sunroof and seeing those massive red bridge parts shooting up into the sky...when the cars are going fast you can't really enjoy it!

Tangled Noodle - I know Oyster's been prodding you to get out to San Fran. You are so overdue for a trip west!

[Darina]

These look delicious. I'm going to have to try these very soon!

[Sophie]

MMMMM...Adrienne! These little treats look excellent!! Yum Yum Yum!
Thank you for that lovely information! It is noted down!

[Lori]

All I can say is - Yum! This is my kind of sweet. I can't wait to learn more about the jam.

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

These bars look really really delicious! Do you think they'll also be good with cherry jam? (that's my most favorite one!)

[gastroanthropologist]

5 Star Foodie - Yes, I think these would be great with cherry jam. I love cherry jam...I may have to make another batch now!

[Jamie]

That photo of the Golden Gate Bridge is stunning and I can understand why you would want to one day move back.

These Brown Butter Bars look wonderful and the recipe is so interesting. They look chewy and flavorful. I would personally lean towards Ruby's Redcurrant+Rhubarb+Vanilla. Yum!

[Jenni]

Dear lord, but that sounds amazing! My favorite dessert (non-chocolate) is a Thing called Peach Kuchen at a little dive of a place in Charlotte, NC. I think you've just helped to unlock the secret. Theirs has a buttery shortbready crust, some sliced peaches and custard all baked together. Brown Butter Bars sounds like the ticket, though. Now I will print this off and Make Some as soon as I'm done giving birth to a wedding cake!

[Sam]

I'd love to go to San Francisco one day, it looks beautiful. The photo of the golden gate bring is fantastic - very dramatic!

I'm looking forward to the jam post...

[lisaiscooking]

Sadly, I've only been on that highway in the Los Angeles area. I'd love to drive on it farther north. These bars look incredible, and the jam must be delicious.

[Sophia]

this looks fab! I wold love to try this with the black cherry jam I have! I've only been to SF once...my cousin's there right now...I should go visit her!

[lisa from dandysugar]

These bars looks so yummy! I've had the Big Sur bars too. Great recipe!

I like your point about knowing how you will go back to SF some day. Just reading your post makes me really miss it! But, I know I'm going back so I'm just making the most of my LA experience for the time being. What a beautiful city Carmel is too!

[Sophia]

kabocha grows like weeds in your mom's garden? can I come live with her? lol!

[The Duo Dishes]

How did we miss this one? This looks like the best thing ever. It's that darn brown butter!

[Sapuche]

I loved Carmel when I visited it about…jeez, has it really been 15 years ago? Big Sur was definitely the highlight. When I lived in the Marina neighborhood of SF, I used to do that crossing quite often – it was a short bike ride away. And it was always, always breathtaking. I never stopped at Big Sur Bakery, but it sure looks amazing. And the same goes for those brown butter bars. How can they not be awesome if they use the best jam ever? :)

[Daily Spud]

Coming to this post way late (ironically because I was traveling in the States and letting my blog reading slide). I just had to say that, having been back in SF recently after a long absence, I can understand completely Nate's sentiments about that drive across the Golden Gate. It always took my breath away and it was no different this time around.

[OysterCulture]

In a recent issue of American Vogue, Jeffery Steingarten did a neat piece on brown butter that you might be interested in

[gastroanthropologist]

Oyster - Thanks for the tip...I've been trying to find it online but Vogue keeps directing me to the UK site and to no avail.
I often go to the bookstore and flip through the super marked up American mags so I'll look for Vogue next time. =)

[valentina]

I've bought the Big Sur bakery cookbook because of you and all the lovely recipes and posts that i read over here. I've never been to San Francisco but I have noticed that the GGB makes quite an impression on people. As for the jam, I had already seen this jam but had not had the opportunity to purchase it. i'll make sure that next time I come across it i'll get a pot.