Nom Nom - King Cake Bars Recipe

It's mid-January in Louisiana, and king cake is everywhere! I've been trying to eat better (86ed soda, candy, and most fast and junk food), but did a lot around the house this weekend and decided to indulge myself once I found a recipe for king cake bars here.

Recipe:

Crust Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cubed
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk (I used 2%)

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoon milk
• Purple, green, and gold sugar or sprinkles (I just dyed granulated sugar with a few drops of food coloring)

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and spray a 9x13" glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. For the crust, mix the flour and sugar into a bowl and add the butter cubes. Beat with an electric mixer on low until the mixture is crumbly, then add the milk and mix until it begins to stick together. Press the mixture into the bottom of the baking dish until it covers it with no gaps.
3. For the filling, mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into the baking dish so it covers the whole crust. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the filling has set and is a golden brown. 
4. While your bars are baking, combine the confectioners' sugar and milk in a small bowl and stir until smooth. 
5. As soon as the bars are done baking, pour the prepared glaze so it covers all of the bars and immediately decorate with your colored sugar. Wait until bars have cooled completely before slicing. Enjoy!

The ingredients

The crust after I pressed it into the bottom of the baking dish

The filling poured over the crust before baking

The glaze and colored sugar

The prepared bars cooling before slicing

They turned out so good and satisfied my king cake craving! I'll definitely make again - enjoy!