The Best Pecan Pie Bars. So easy to make!
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The Best Pecan Pie Bars. This easy recipe includes a simple shortbread bottom and a one bowl mix & pour topping. Tips for baking and cutting them are included.
Thanksgiving update 2022!
This recipe has been the runway hit of the last several Thanksgiving seasons with thousands of hits a day in Thanksgiving week and thousands of re-pins on Pinterest too.
Many folks now make these instead of traditional pecan pie because they are so easy to make. There are lots of great reviews for this super easy recipe too.
They are particularly popular with families whose celebrations include several desserts. These fit that bill very well.
Since they freeze very well too, make sure you have more on hand in the freezer for Christmas as well.
My recipe for Pecan Pie Bars
There are many recipes out there for pecan pie bars and I had to play with a few of them before I got one I quite liked. For me there seemed to be a lot of recipes that didn't have the right ratio of egg in the filling or didn't bake for a sufficient time, so the middle was too runny.
There are other recipes that didn't pre-bake the shortbread layer for long enough and it was too wet in the end. Other recipes called for pecans to be added to the simple shortbread crust which I thought was overkill.
With so many crunchy pecans on top, why not leave the buttery shortbread to be a distinctly different layer?
I hesitated to post this recipe at all because there are so many versions of it already on line.
But, after tweaking my own recipe and adding a couple of tips I think work well, I decided to share the recipe that works best for me. I hope it does the same for you.
Need more ideas for Christmas cookies?
You should check out this great collection of No Bake Cookies that was incredibly popular during our last Holiday season.
Like this Pecan Pie Bars recipe?
Find over 300 other great cookie recipes in our Cookies Category. For other sweet ideas try our Cakes & Pies Category and our Desserts Category.
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Originally published October 2015. Updated November, 2019.
Pecan Pie Bars
The Best Pecan Pie Bars - this easy recipe includes a simple shortbread bottom and a one bowl mix and pour topping.
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup cold butter
For the top layer
- ⅔ cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup +1 tablespoon flour
- 4 large or extra large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups corn syrup, dark is best
- 2 cups roughly chopped pecans, no need to toast the pecans
Instructions
- This recipe uses a 9x13 baking pan. In this recipe I think it is best to line to lightly grease the pan and line it with parchment paper so that you can lift the entire batch out of the pan after they have cooled and cut them on a cutting board. With cookie bars like this, which have different textures in the different layers, this enables you to have a more precise feeling for how to cut them well. More about that a little later in the recipe.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for aluminum bake ware and 325 degrees F for glass bake ware.
- Mix together the 1/34 cups flour and ½ cup sugar. Rub the butter through the flour mixture until it is well incorporated and resembles a dry coarse meal. (You can pulse the butter into the flour mixture using a food processor if you prefer.)
- Press the crumb mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. The edges should just be starting to brown. Remove from oven and pour on the topping while still hot.
To prepare the top layer of the cookie bars
- Mix together the flour and brown sugar well. This will ensure there will be no lumps of either flour or brown sugar in you cookie bars when baked. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, salt and corn syrup.
- Let the mixture stand for about 15 minutes while the bottom layer pre-bakes, stirring it occasionally. This gives the flour time to soften and help thicken the top layer.
- Mix in the chopped pecans and pour the topping over the partially baked bottom crust as soon as it comes out of the oven.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes until the filling is set. Times vary a few minutes depending on the baking pan material. Shake the pan a little. The center can wobble a little like set jelly but it should not be runny.
- Cool the pan to room temperature before chilling the cookie bars in the fridge for several hours or overnight before attempting to cut them
- I lift the cookies from the pan after they have fully cooled in the fridge and lay them out on a cutting board. I've found the best thing to use is a sharp serrated knife held horizontally to saw through the nut layer before pushing on through to the softer layers below. I cut one entire row of cookies off at a time and then cut each row separately into individual cookie bars.
- As these are quite rich I tend to cut them a little smaller than other cookie bars.
Notes
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
36Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 174Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 31mgSodium 84mgCarbohydrates 23gFiber 1gSugar 17gProtein 2g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
I only have light corn syrup. If used. What would the difference be?
Likely only to the color.
I had only light corn syrup and found out it is not just the color when you use dark corn syrup it has molasses in it so it will be a difference in taste. You can make your own. I google it 🙂
There is no molasses in dark corn syrup.
Do you mix the pecans into the filling or do you just sprinkle over the top?
The recipe states, "Mix in the chopped pecans and pour the topping over the partially baked bottom crust..."
I had the same question, because the picture makes it appear that the pecans are simply sprinkled on the top.
No They just naturally float to the top exactly the same as they do in pecan pie.
My daughter and I just made these and it was pretty easy! They're in the oven now and they smell so good! We're going to have them tomorrow for Thanksgiving! Thanks for a great recipe!
We made these for Thanksgiving and our 8 year wedding anniversary and they turned out amazing!!!! My husband said these are his all time favorite thing I make now and he likes a lot of my baking!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Made these for Thanksgiving this year instead of pie and received all rave reviews. Thanks so much for a fabulous recipe!
These turned out perfect! My first try at pecan pie anything!
I made these today and they turned out beautiful. One major modification I made was to substitute brown sugar syrup (1 1/2 cup brown sugar + 5 tbsp water) for corn syrup. I was very nervous until it came out. I'm so glad it didn't ruin your perfect pecan pie recipe. And I noticed a minor typo in the instruction (3) for base that it has to be 1 3/4 cups instead of "1/34 cups flour ..."
Thanks fr posting this, I noticed the typo but t wasn't sure what it should be. This makes total sense.
Made these today although I believe That baking for 40min was too long, they were overdone 🙁
Just wanted to make sure it's 1 Tablespoon of pure vanilla extract? Usually it's a Teaspoon!
Just making sure.
I will try to make them again but this time I will keep a closer eye on how long they bake 🙂
You can always use less but I like plenty of vanilla flavour so it doesn't just taste like sugar.
Hi Barry...thank you so much for this recipe. I have tried pecan pie bars a number of times and they never turned out. I am usually unable to make any kind of a pastry crust but it turned out beautifully!!! The filling is wonderful too ; not too runny. This is my Christmas gift to friends this year. I know they will love it!
So glad they were a success!
I've been doing my Christmas baking over the last few weekends. It's the first time I've ever done Christmas baking. Making tins of a variety of cookies to give as gifts.
I made your traditional Newfoundland snowballs first (an absolute necessity in NL a Christmas) about 3 weekends ago. Made your aunts pb cookies yesterday (soooo good!) ... making the pecan pie bars now.
It is the most complex recipe I've made ... not saying it's hard ... just the steps and precision of it.
Pecan pie is my favourite. I'm excited for these 🙂
Super stupid question... when it says cool pan to room temp ... it that the whole pan? The bottom stays hot a lot longer ... even on a wire rack :'-D
Yes the whole pan, even the bottom. It's not the pan that's important, it's what's in it. You can put them in the fridge to cool after being out of the oven for a couple of hours.
I haven't made these yet, but I've never seen a pecan pie recipe that didn't call for butter in the filling. Just wondering
I hear you...but the filling needs to set up more in this recipe, so that's probably why it isn't there.
These are the BEST! They turn out EVERY time! Perfect!!
Making these now. Wasn't sure about mixing in the pecans so I sprinkled them over the top and they kinda incoorperated themselves into the goo. Hope they turn out 🙂
I made these last weekend for a church function and they are delicious and easy to make! Using the parchment paper and pulling them out before cutting is great! I just put another batch in the oven adding orange zest and chopped walnuts just to see how they tasted!
Great recipe!