Pecan Pie Bars

This recipe was originally called Pecan Cake Bars, which is odd since there isn’t anything cakey about these bars at all. This bar starts with a brown sugar shortbread crust, topped with what can only be described as pecan pie filling: pecans, butter, brown sugar, honey and cream. It’s a two-step process to make these bars, but from start to finish I think they took less than an hour. Well, I guess you have to leave time for them to cool, too.

You have about 20 minutes while the crust bakes to make the topping. Since you are cooking sugar, you do have to be careful. If it gets too hot, then the sugar will become like hard candy, which doesn’t really work very well for bar cookies. You could probably let the crust bake for 10 minutes and then start the topping, so that the topping is ready right when you take the crust out of the oven. I let mine stay on the stove (on low) for a couple of extra minutes. I was worried that the topping would be too hard, but it was ok. I did trim off the edges because they were extra, extra crunchy. Otherwise these bars were wonderful, very buttery, with the flavor of pecan pie in an easy to eat bar cookie.

Pecan Pie Bars

1 cup butter, room temperature

⅔ cup packed brown sugar

2⅔ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

⅓ cup honey

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” × 13” pan with foil, allowing the foil to hang 2” over two sides of the pan. 

Make the crust: In a large mixer bowl, beat the 1 cup butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar on medium until light. Add the flour and salt and mix on low until the mixture is crumbly. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden. 

Make the pecan pie topping: While the crust bakes, make the topping. In a medium-sized heavy saucepan, combine the ½ cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, honey and heavy cream. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is smooth. Once smooth, continue heating for one minute and then stir in the chopped pecans.  Remove the filling from the heat. 

Remove the crust from the oven and pour the topping over the hot crust. Spread the topping to that it complete covers the all the edges of the crust. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan.

Grab the foil hanging over the edges of the pan and lift the bars from the pan; peel away the foil. If the edges of the bars seem too hard, cut away the edges. Cut into bars. 

Recipe from Food Friendzee