These pecan pie bars are a brown sugar shortbread crust topped with plenty of gooey pecan filling. An alternative to the traditional pecan pie that’s perfect for feeding a crowd!
When I’m entertaining during the holidays, I serve a variety of seasonal dessert recipes including cake truffles, thumbprint cookies, pizzelles, pumpkin dump cake, apple cobbler and these decadent pecan pie bars.
Most of the time I am not a huge pie fan, I’m more of a cake lover. That being said, pecan pie is my weakness, I can never turn it down. These pecan pie bars have all the same great flavors of pecan pie in a hand held form. It’s a buttery crust topped with the BEST pecan caramel, and these pecan bars also happen to be super easy to make. If you’re a pecan pie lover, you must add these bars to your holiday menu!
Enjoy these pecan pie bars with Christmas drinks like slow cooker apple cider, Grinch punch and Christmas hot chocolate.
Table of Contents
Pecan Pie Bars Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need unsalted butter, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, all purpose flour, water, light corn syrup, heavy cream and pecans.
- Pecans: Pecans are the heart of this dish. You can buy whole pecans and chop them yourself or buy pre-chopped pecans.
- Corn Syrup: The pie part of these pecan pie bars is made with light corn syrup for sweetness. Make sure to use light corn syrup, not dark corn syrup.
- Heavy Cream: The cream gives the bars a softer, creamier texture. Milk does not give the same results as heavy cream.
How Do You Make Pecan Pie Bars?
To make this pecan pie bars recipe, start by lining a baking pan with parchment paper, then coat it with cooking spray. Preheat your oven.
In a large bowl, beat together half of the butter with some brown sugar, then add vanilla extract, water and flour to make the dough for the crust. Place the dough into the pan, and press it into the pan in an even layer. Bake the crust until it is golden brown.
Melt the rest of the butter in a pan with the rest of the brown sugar and the corn syrup. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil, then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla. Add the pecans and stir to coat them in the sugar mixture. Pour the pecan mixture over the pie crust and spread it into an even layer.
Bake until the topping has set. Let the bars cool completely, then cut into squares and serve.
Tips For The Perfect Dessert
- I chilled my bars to make them easier to slice. The pecan pie bars are great straight from the fridge or you can bring them to room temperature after you cut them.
- I use an stand mixer to make the dough. You can use any electric mixer to make the crust.
- The crust will look like coarse crumbs when you mix it together. This is normal, and the cookie crust will take shape as more of a dough once you start pressing it into the pan.
Quick Tip
It takes a little time to work the crust into the pan. I found that using an offset spatula coated with cooking spray really helped with the process.
Recipe FAQs
Pecan pie filling is made with butter, pecans, brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla extract. It also may contain other ingredients such as heavy cream, eggs, bourbon or spices.
Pre-baking the crust is the key to making sure you don’t end up with soggy pecan pie bars. Once the crust is golden brown, it is firm and will not absorb the liquid from the filling.
Pecan pie bars will stay good in an airtight container in a refrigerator for 4 days. If you want to keep them longer, simply freeze the individually cut bars for up to 2 months. Make sure to thaw the frozen bars when you want to eat them.
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Flavor Variations
I love this pecan pie bars recipe exactly as it’s written, but you can add other ingredients to the mix to customize the bars to your tastes.
- Chocolate: Stir 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into the pecan topping.
- Spice: Add 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice when you stir the pecans into the brown sugar mixture.
- Nuts: Try using other types of nuts such as walnuts or almonds for a different flavor.
- Whipped Cream: You can top a bar with whipped cream when you are ready to serve it.
- Salt: Sprinkle some sea salt over the pecan pie bars for a salted caramel like flavor.
- Caramel: Feel free to drizzle caramel sauce on top of your bars.
Once you try these delicious treats, you’ll find yourself making them every year during the holidays. I love that you can cut them as big or as small as you want, which means you can make bite sized squares and feed a large group. Try serving the bars with a scoop of ice cream on top, you’ll be glad you did!
More Holiday Desserts
Pumpkin Spice Cake
50 mins
Caramel Apple Dip
6 mins
No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
2 hrs 1 min
Pumpkin Meringue Pie
1 hr 50 mins
Pecan Pie Bars Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened, divided use
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed, divided use
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract divided use
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 pound raw pecans chopped
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper. Coat the pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl using a mixer, beat together 1 cup of the butter and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of water, then mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and mix until coarse crumbs form.
- Scoop the dough into the pan. Use your fingertips to press the dough evenly into the pan. It helps to use an offset spatula coated with cooking spray to get an even layer.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until crust is lightly browned around the edges.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar and the corn syrup. Stir until well blended.
- Bring to a boil and stir frequently for 3 minutes. The mixture will get light and airy. Remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream and the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
- Add the pecans and stir until they are completely coated.
- Pour the pecan mixture over the crust, and spread into an even layer.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the pecan topping is set (it will move slowly when you wiggle the pan).
- Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Notes
- You can buy a bag of pre-chopped pecans to make prep time go a little faster.
- The crust will look like coarse crumbs when you mix it together. This is normal, and the crust will take shape as more of a dough once you start pressing it into the pan.
These were amazing! I didn’t have a 9 x 13 pan, so I used a 9 x 9 square pan. It made a thicker bar so required extra baking time, but they turned out perfectly! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Made these pecan pie bars and everyone loved them!!
I’ll have to make them for Christmas.
I apologize if I missed this question in the comments: can these be made ahead and frozen? I’ve become a sloth and at 78 having multiple medical catastrophic cannot accomplish much in any given day. I appreciate the time it takes for you to answer. Thank you, Sara!
Yes you can freeze them!
Has anyone had difficulties with the filling? I have baked for 40 minutes and it’s still too runny. I don’t want to waste all these ingredients. The butter alone is $6!!
Can you provide more details as to what you are experiencing? The filling will not set up 100% straight from the oven as it’s hot. It should be mostly set, not liquid but not completely firm, and will continue to firm up as it cools.
Wow!! I was in the mood to bake something pecan pie-ish and decided to make these for a party. I was blown away at how delicious and balanced they were, way better than any pecan pie I have ever had. The crust was delicious and the caramel gooey filling was do decadent. These easily serve 24 because of how rich they are.
Thank you for such a great recipe!!
I used to make similar for a cookie exchange but lost the recipe. Thanks for this recipe; I’m going to make it for 2021 Christmas. A tip for serving: cut each square bar in half diagonally to make triangles, then drizzle with chocolate. (Melted chocolate chips and a little butter.) The presentation this way is very festive and adds variety to the goodies platter.
Recipe calls for 1 lb pecans. How many cups would that be?
4 cups!
Do you really mean 2 cups of butter ( four sticks) or 2 sticks of butter.
The recipe calls for 2 cups of butter.
no eggs?
No eggs!
Has anyone tried making the recipe gluten free?
These are soooo good! I love the gooey pecan filling!
These were SO GOOD! The layers baked up perfect and this is so much better than making a pie!
In the video you said chill the dough but recipe. It said bake 15 min be more precise in instructions do you chill or bake it for 15 mins before adding pecan filling
Thanks for catching that error! The video is not correct, there is no chilling. Follow the recipe as written. I will update the video and post a new one shortly.
Yum! I am a fan of pecan pie in any form. This will be perfect addition to any meal!
I made these for our friends and they were a huge hit! Thanks for the recipe!
This is the perfect way to enjoy pecan pie! Bars are so much easier.
Hi there. The recipe says to use a 9×13 pan, but the helpful hints section says a 9×13 pan is for 1/2 the recipe.
This recipe uses a 9×13 pan for the full batch! I’ve never tried to cut the recipe in half.