Pear Custard Bars

I have noticed that some of my print pages are not printing right so I've decided to redo most of them. It may take a while and will be a work in progress for the next few days but eventually they will all be like the printable recipe below. You can click Printable Recipe and then use the print option in your browser toolbar to print the page. Hope this works better for everyone. If you have any problems just let me know.

I recently went to a wedding shower and had these pear custard bars and they were delicious! My cousin tracked down the recipe from the friend who made them and mailed it to me last week. I thought I would share with my blogging buddies.

Pear Custard Bars

Bars:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts

Filling/Topping:
1 pkg. (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 can (15 1/4 ounces) pear halves, drained
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in flour and vanilla until combined. Stir in nuts. Press into greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack.

Increase heat to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.
Add sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix until combined. Pour over crust. Cut pears into 1/8 inch slices. Arrange in a single layer over filling.
Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over pears.
Bake at 375 degrees for 28-30 minutes (center will be soft set and will become firmer upon cooling).
Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting. Store in refrigerator.

Yield: 16 bars.
For 13 x 9 inch pan double the filling recipe.
I also use chopped pecans when I don't have macadamia nuts.