Pecan Pie Bars

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

13 Comments

5 from 2 votes
24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
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Pecan Pie Bars are easy mini pecan pies to go! Pecan squares with a gooey pecan filling with chopped pecans on a buttery shortbread crust.

Pecan Pie is one of the most classic Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes! These handheld pie bars have all the flavor with less work and wait time.

Pecan Pie Bars in stack

PECAN PIE BARS

What holiday would be complete without a rich, gooey pecan pie? You may have even attempted baking it once or twice for the holidays. It’s not a difficult pie recipe to master, but it can be a bit tricky the first few times. These pie bars are here to change that!

The hardest part of pecan pie is making sure it’s cooked and sets, so there isn’t a runny river when you cut into it. These easy Pecan Bars take all the guess work and stress out of pecan pie, giving you perfect pie filling every time! The filling is thinner than a traditional pie, so it bakes and sets much quicker.

The crust for Pecan Pie Bars is more like a shortbread cookie unlike a regular pie crust. It is slightly crumbly, and the filling soaks in slightly for a melt-in-your-mouth bite. You want to make sure to pre-bake the shortbread so it stays firm under the filling.

The filling on Pecan Bars is soft at room temperature so to make cutting these bars easier, chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. After you cut the bars, store them on the counter so they stay gooey and chewy.

Pecan Pie Bars have all the flavors you love in an iconic Thanksgiving pecan pie but with less fuss. With just a handful of ingredients and an hour of time, you have a perfect make-ahead holiday dessert. Since they cut better chilled, store in the refrigerator uncut overnight and slice right before serving.

Just like pecan pie, these Pecan Bars taste delicious with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or a dollop of Whipped Cream. A drizzle of Salted Caramel Sauce would take your dessert to the next level. Warm the bars slightly before serving for dessert or just leave them on the counter for a sweet snack all week long.

MORE DELICIOUS PECAN RECIPES

Pecan Pie Bars in stack, top-down view

VARIATIONS ON PECAN PIE BARS

  • Chocolate: Add even more chocolate to Pecan Bars with milk chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips. Try adding English toffee bits also. These specialty baking chips can be found in most grocery stores and add an extra sweet crunch to every bite. You can also top the cooked bars with Chocolate Ganache. 
  • Bourbon: To make these a boozy holiday dessert, add 2-3 tablespoons bourbon to your Pecan Pie Bar filling.
  • Maple Syrup: Maple and pecan are delicious together, so replace the vanilla extract with 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup!
  • Nuts: You can use any nuts instead of pecans. To chop easier, just pulse in a food processor a few times. Bring out more flavor in the nuts by toasting in a skillet before chopping.
  • Brown Butter: Give your shortbread a nutty buttery flavor by browning the butter before making the dough. To brown butter, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling or whisking. Once the butter foams, turns golden brown and gets a nutty aroma, remove from heat.
  • Gluten Free: Easily make these gluten-free Pecan Pie Bars by swapping almond flour, coconut flour, or other gluten-free flour at a one-to-one ratio.

MORE CLASSIC HOLIDAY DESSERT RECIPES

HOW TO STORE PECAN PIE BARS

  • Serve: You can keep Pecan Pie Bars at room temperature for up to 4 days. Cover and keep in a cool, dry place.
  • Store: Keep these Pecan Pie Bars fresh longer and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Warm in the microwave or bring to room temperature to serve.
  • Freeze: Freeze cut bars in a freezer safe bag with parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or in the oven at 300 degrees to serve.

Pecan Pie Bars in stack

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Dinner, then Dessert

Pecan Pie Bars

Pecan Pie Bars are easy mini pecan pies to go! Pecan squares with a gooey pecan filling with chocolate toffee bits and pecans on a buttery shortbread crust.
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Pecan Pie Bars in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

Crust:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter , softened

Filling:

  • 4 large eggs , room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Instructions

Crust:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10" x 15" baking pan.
  • In a large bowl, combine flour, ½ cup sugar and salt. Mix in small cubes of the 1 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  • Press dough firmly onto the bottom of baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.

Filling:

  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, corn syrup, 1 ½ cups sugar, 3 tablespoons melted butter, and vanilla extract. Fold in the chopped pecans.
  • When the crust comes out of the oven, pour filling evenly over crust, then put back into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.
  • Allow bars to cool before cutting.

Nutrition

Calories: 353kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 331IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg

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Pecan Pie Bars collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  2. Can I bake this recipe in a 9 x 13 pan? Would I need to adjust the cooking time longer? Thank you.

    Reply

  4. I haven’t made the recipe, yet, I plan to make it this weekend.
    I was wondering, though, about the note that appeared when I searched for the recipe. It was marked, “No corn syrup”. Then, when I read the recipe, it had corn syrup. I am fine with or without the corn syrup, I just wondered about the opposing information.

    Reply

    1. Through all of my testing, I decided last minute to just use corn syrup but looks like I never changed the text. I’m so sorry and I hope you get a chance to try the recipe.

      Reply

  5. Hello! This is my first time on your site and I love the way it’s set up! I’m so excited to try your recipes!
    The description in the leading up to the recipe does not match the actual recipe. I expected to see the addition of toffee bits and sweetened condensed milk and no corn syrup. But the recipe calls for the basic pecan pie ingredients and instructions with a shortbread crust ?.

    Reply