King Cake Bars

Mardi Gras King Cake Bars are a fun rendition of the traditional Mardi Gras king cake. A soft buttery vanilla base with cinnamon sugar pecan mixture topped with a smooth icing glaze and sugar crystals.

Mardi Gras King Cake Bars

If these King Cake Bars don’t scream Mardi Gras, I don’t know what will! Today is King’s Day and it’s the official kickoff of the carnival season in New Orleans. This also happens to be the day many bakeries around New Orleans start selling their utterly delicious king cakes. We are utterly thrilled this year to be able to celebrate Mardi Gras again after the last year being canceled. But as of now, parades are scheduled to roll for many weeks and then full out party on Fat Tuesday with our purple, green, and gold attire, beads, cocktails, Popeyes chicken, and tons of other food and desserts! These King Cake bars will be the perfect addition to your Mardi Gras party.

It’s always fun to talk to people not from New Orleans about Mardi Gras, especially if they have never been to the Big Easy. As Christmas winds down, people are excited the holidays are over and they can get back to normal, but over here in NOLA, we gear right back up with sweet treats with Mardi Gras parades, balls, and parties on the horizon!

If you are able to come down to New Orleans, it will surely be a fun time. I have tons of info over here to make it the best time for you! But if you can’t make it, we will certainly miss seeing you but you can still celebrate by making these delicious bars at home.

Ingredients:

• butter
• granulated sugar
• brown sugar
• vanilla extract
• flour
• egg
• baking powder
• salt
• lemon juice
• ground cinnamon
• chopped pecans
• milk
• powdered sugar
• colored sugar crystals or sprinkles

How to Make Mardi Gras King Cake Bars

These Mardi Gras dessert bars are easy to make and don’t take long to whip up. They are perfect for taking to your next Mardi Gras parade or party. This recipe starts with a soft base made of a buttery vanilla flavor with just a hint of cinnamon. The filling is what really brings the king cake alive.

First, cream together your softened butter and both sugars. You can’t overdo this part. Next, add in egg and vanilla. Mix until the egg becomes fully combined. You don’t want to overdo this or it will become more cake-like. That’s not quite the consistency we want for this base. So only until it’s combined. Next mix in 1 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add in the last cup of flour. Finally, add in lemon juice. It might seem weird, but you don’t taste it. It just helps the dough come together as it should.

Grease an 8×8 pan and scoop 2/3 of the dough into the pan. Press down and then set aside.

Filling

Now, it’s time to make the filling. You can make the filling without or without the nuts. I’m not a nut fan but it is so good in this recipe.

In a medium-size bowl, mix melted butter and sugar. We want melted butter for this instead of softened. Then, add in vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. (This is when it starts smelling so good! ) Next is the nuts. If you love nuts, you can leave them just chopped pecans for the extra crunch, but I prefer to use my food processor to make them into tiny minced bits. Pour pecans, and flour into the filling mixture and stir.

Scoop filling onto the top of the dough in an 8×8 pan spread evenly. Then add the remaining 1/3 dough on top. Bake at 350F for 25-30 mins until set. It will continue to cook as it cools so don’t overcook.

Icing

While the base cools, let’s make the icing.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tbsp of milk together. Then add vanilla and a pinch of salt. Mix thoroughly. Then add the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and milk. Icing should be loose yet hold its shape a little bit so about honey consistency to a little thicker. Adjust by adding milk to thin it down, or more powdered sugar to thicken the mixture.

Pour and spread icing on top. Add colored sugar crystals for decoration or actual sprinkles.

**be mindful colored sugar is exactly that, sugar. It will make the dish very sweet depending on how much you put on top. So only sprinkle enough to add some color to your preference** You can also color the icing to decrease the amount of sugar crystals for color and decoration or these sprinkles.

More Mardi Gras Recipes:

• Mardi Gras Snack Mix
• King Cake Cookies
• Mardi Gras Macarons
• Gluten-Free King Cake Donuts
• 25 Mardi Gras Desserts and Drinks
• Cajun Shrimp Pasta

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King Cake Bars

a rendition of the traditional mardi gras king cake starts with a soft vanilla blondie base with swirls of cinnamon and pecans through topped with a smooth icing and colored sugar crystals.

Course Dessert

Ingredients

Base

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Filling

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Icing

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• pinch salt
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
• colored sugar crystals for decorating

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8×8 pan and set aside.

2. In a medium size mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Then mix in egg and vanilla extract.

3. add in 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined. Then add last cup of flour.

4. Finally add in lemon juice just until its mixed in.

5. Add 2/3 of dough into greased 8×8 pan and set it aside along with 1/3 rest of dough.

6. In a separate bowl, melt butter and then add in sugar, cinnamon, vanilla. Mix throughly. Then you can add in chopped pecans as is or use the food processor to make it into tiny bits. Add into bowl and then stir in flour.

7. add filling on top dough in 8×8 pan and spread evenly. Then add remaining 1/3 dough on top.

8. Bake for 30 minutes or until edges have set. Set aside to cool.

9. While the bars are cooling, lets make the icing. In a small bowl add 1 tbsp milk and vanilla, then slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 to 1 cup at a time mixing thoroughly. Then add the other tbsp of milk and mix. After add last 1 cup of powdered sugar and pinch of salt.

10. Spread icing even across the top of the bars. Add colored sugars in any design you'd like and enjoy!

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