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, pizzelle, 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!
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.
How Do You Make Pecan Pie Bars?
Start by lining a baking pan with parchment paper, then coat it with cooking spray. 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. They’re great straight from the fridge or you can bring them to room temperature after you cut them.
- 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 cookie crust will take shape as more of a dough once you start pressing it into the pan.
- These bars stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or you can freeze them for 2 months.
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.
Flavor Variations
I love this 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.
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.
FOLLOW ME
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.
I made these and they were loved by everyone. However, I had to adjust the oven temperature to 350 degrees. The recipe called for a 250 degree oven.
Thank you so much for catching my error!
Yum! These make my mouth water! I love pecan pie or bars!
How long do you think these would last at room temperature? We are traveling for the holidays but would love to take some!
I’d say 2-3 days!
Wow what great pictures of this. I would love to try this pecan pie bar good for the holidays.
I have been collecting recipes for desserts, cookies, candy bars, etc. because I plan to make them as gifts this coming holiday season. I love your recipe for pecan pie bars. My family would love them and they’d make a perfect gift for my friends. .
They look so elegant. I wouldn’t mind having these on the table for dessert for Thanksgiving!
I love pecan pie! Can’t wait to try them in a new way, with your bar option. They sound like nutty, buttery perfection.
I’m working really hard this year to get as much down early as I can. So I’ve been making lists and checking them twice. Adding these pecan pie bars to my baking list for the holidays.
These look absolutely incredible! I need to try and make a batch. My family would go crazy for these!
I love pie bars because they’re so much easier to eat than regular pie. These pecan pie bars look great.
These look ah-mazing! We are HUGE fans of pecan pie so these would probably not last too long here! Might have to make these for Thanksgiving!
These look so good. I could probably eat a bunch at once. This was definitely a good find from the cookbook!
My Mom loves desserts with pecans in it so this would be perfect for the upcoming holiday time.
I would love to make this for the family especially this season! It looks so good and I’m sure the boys will love this!
This is perfect when you have guests over! I also wouldn’t mind making this as a gift for family and friends this season! What a lovely recipe!
My kids are going to love this! I think treats like this are awesome and perfect for the season! We also love pecan pie so having that in bar form would be awesome.
These look really good. I will have to make this for my husband, he loves pecans. Thanks for the recipe!
These are marvelous! I love the recipe! Beats making a whole pie!
Those sound delicious. Anything containing pecan is my jam. This is a great way to enjoy pecan pie without the fork.
Oh, yum! I have to make these for Thanksgiving AND Christmas! They look like the bar form of pecan pie. Om nom nom.