Dutch Letter Bars

In Pella, IA, they have a huge tulip festival called Tulip Time and the town's motto is A Touch of Holland. The town center is beautiful with many tulip gardens and there are many shops dedicated to Dutch goods. On our 6th anniversary my husband and I traveled there for the weekend to walk among the tulips and see what the town is famous for. One of those famous things are the Dutch pastry Dutch Letters. They are made of almond paste and puff pastry and shaped into an S. They are mouth-wateringly delicious!  We visited the town on a weekend, the week before the Tulip Time festival and we had to wait in a line snaked through the bakery for at least 15 mins (although the line moved very efficiently) the letters were worth every second of the wait.
Of course I wanted to figure out how to make these confectionery wonders, but haven't had the patience to do it yet. Then one day I was browsing through Our Iowa magazine and a woman submitted this recipe. I loved that I could get the taste of the almond goodness in an easy to make bar. I only added one ingredient, the cinnamon sugar - so that makes it my recipe, right?

Dutch Letter Bars

1 stick butter, softened

1 stick margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 8oz. can Almond Paste

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

sliced almonds, to taste

cinnamon sugar, to taste

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Put butter and margarine in a large mixing bowl to soften

With the butter/marg wrappers, grease a 9X13" pan

Take a cute picture of your kid with the almond paste :)

Cream the butters together,

Then add the eggs, (I know this seems totally different from most recipes as usually you cream the butter and sugars together. And honestly I haven't tried it that way, I just followed the recipe).

This mixture will look totally curdled and separated. It's okay.

Next, open the heavenly smelling can of Almond paste, take a big sniff and then add it to the butter/egg mixture and beat well. 

Then add the flour and sugar. I do one cup of each and then mix, adding the second cup of each and beating again. 

"Wow, that is going fast Mommy!"

Scrape out the bowl of almondy goodness into the baking pan.

Spread out evenly using a rubber or offset spatula,

Sprinkle with the sliced almonds and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon sugar (to taste)

Bake for 30-35 mins or until golden brown along the edges.

Cut into 36 bars and enjoy!

These bars are the perfect harmony of chewy and crisp. I LOVE the texture that the almond paste brings to the bar. They don't feel heavy at all and the crisp topping of the almonds and cinnamon sugar is just the right suggestion of crispness that the puff pastry is in the original treat. These go fast! And I'd suggest bringing them to a function, meeting or somewhere where other people can help you eat them because if not, you might eat the whole pan yourself. Not that I have or anything...