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The Pecan Pie Bars taste exactly like a pecan pie but they’re in cookie bar form with a shortbread crust. Creamy and crunchy and perfectly sweet – they’re the perfect dessert when you want to serve something easier than pie!
Easy Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
Pecan Pie Bars incorporate all the elements of your typical classic pecan pie: a crunchy buttery shortbread crust, soft and creamy filling, and crunchy pecans. The shortbread crust is a game changer for pecan bars – plus pie bars are so much easier to serve than regular pie.
- Makes a big batch – a 9×13-inch pan makes a ton of pecan pie bars
- The soft and gooey pecan pie filling is exactly what you love about pecan pie
- The crust is thick and crunchy and the perfect pairing to the sweet filling
Ingredients Needed
- Unsalted Butter: You’ll need butter for the crust and the filling
- All-Purpose Flour: Be sure to measure it correctly!
- Eggs: The eggs give the filling it’s creamy filling
- Dark Corn Syrup: This is super important in pecan pie. Corn syrup is what makes the gooey center – you can substitute light corn syrup if that’s all you have.
- Pecans: Can’t have pecan pie without pecans! These will be chopped.
Variations
- You could also make the filling of my brown sugar pecan pie instead – that doesn’t have corn syrup.
- Add 1 cup of chocolate chips for a chocolate pecan pie by sprinkling them over the crust before pouring on the filling.
How to make these Pecan Pie Bars
- Add butter, flour, sugar, and salt to a very large mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until crumbly. It will become evenly sized crumbs that compact when you press them together. This will take longer with a hand mixer than with a stand mixer.
- Press mixture into the the bottom of the pan (9×13-inch baking dish). Bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, stir or whisk together melted butter, eggs, sugar, corn syrup, salt and pecans.
- Pour pecan mixture evenly over the top of the crust. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes, or until slightly puffed and slightly jiggly.
Expert Tips
- If you have a stand mixer, I would recommend using it to mix the crust – it will take less time than a hand mixer. It will be very crumbly when it’s done mixing.
- I recommend lining your pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy removal – these can get sticky around the edges and might be hard to remove without the liner.
- As always, I recommend using a metal pan for baking the bars in.
- You know pecan pie is done when it’s puffed and no longer wet looking and only slightly jiggles when you tap the pan.
Storage
- Cool completely before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- You do not need to refrigerate them, but keep them in an airtight container to ensure longevity.
FAQ
How do you know pecan pie is done?
When they are lightly golden! You can also stick them with a toothpick–if it comes up clean then they are done!
Can you make pecan pie bars in advance?
You can make them up to several months in advance and freeze them so these are a great make ahead dessert.
Can I double the recipe?
You can easily double the recipe by just multiplying everything by 2 and using two 9×13 baking pans.
Can I make pecan pie bars without corn syrup?
I’ve made pecan pie without corn syrup – instead it uses brown sugar and milk – that’s called brown sugar pecan pie and you can find the recipe on my site by searching using the little magnifying glass on the right.
Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
These pecan pie bars taste exactly like a pecan pie with their shortbread crust and gooey pecan topping!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, melted
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 ⅓ cups (316ml) dark corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups (300g) chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add butter, flour, sugar, and salt to a very large mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until crumbly. It will become evenly sized crumbs that compact when you press them together. This will take longer with a hand mixer than with a stand mixer.
- Press into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes (the edges should be light golden and the top should no longer be glossy).
- Meanwhile, whisk together melted butter, eggs, sugar, corn syrup, salt and pecans.
- Pour pecan mixture evenly over the top of the crust. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes, or until slightly puffed and slightly jiggly.
- Cool completely before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- If you have a stand mixer, I would recommend using it to mix the crust – it will take less time than a hand mixer. It will be very crumbly when it’s done mixing.
- When you are mixing your first ingredients the mixture should resemble course crumbs that you will then pack together to make your bars!
- As always, I recommend using a metal pan for baking the bars in.
- You know pecan pie is done when it’s puffed and no longer wet looking and only slightly jiggles when you tap the pan.
- Cool completely before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 81kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.01g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 3mg | Sugar: 0.01g | Vitamin A: 284IU | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.003mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
I’ve made twice. Absolutely wonderful! Cut in small squares because rich so serves quite a few people. Shortbread crust. Not too, too sweet. Yummy!
Can you use this shortbread crust and make pecan pie bars with your brown sugar pecan pie filling?
I made this today and it is delicious! I made the crust using 1/2 cut butter and 1/2 Crisco shortening. I also added 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the filling. My husband is not a pecan pie fan, but he loved this one. Thank you for recipe!
Just made these today. Perfect recipe to follow! They are delicious!
*The only issue I had was these bars took 10 extra minutes to bake but I think my oven thermometer needs replaced.*
So glad you liked them! Ovens are so strange. My old one took longer than my new one…so they all bake so differently.
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