Pecan Pie Bars
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With their buttery shortbread crust and rich caramel-pecan topping, these pecan pie bars are everything you love about pecan pie—only easier to make and perfect for sharing!
If you’re a fan of my pecan pie, bourbon pecan pie and candied pecans, you’ll love these pecan pie bars. With a buttery shortbread crust and a rich caramel-pecan topping, they’re an indulgent treat that’s perfect for the holidays—whether you’re bringing them to a potluck or giving them as a hostess gift. Best of all, they’re incredibly easy to make!
“The showstopper at Thanksgiving this year.”
What You’ll Need To Make Pecan Pie Bars
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the shortbread crust.
- Cornstarch: Blended with the flour, cornstarch gives the crust a crisper texture.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens the crust and helps achieve a shortbread-like consistency.
- Unsalted Butter: Creates a flaky crust and adds richness to the filling.
- Light Brown Sugar: Sweetens the filling with a deep, molasses-like flavor. When measuring brown sugar, always pack it tightly to eliminate air pockets.
- Honey: Adds sweetness and a touch of warmth to the filling.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor of the caramel with its aromatic richness.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Adds creaminess and helps achieve the silky, smooth texture of the filling.
- Chopped Pecans: Provide crunch and a rich, nutty flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin with the crust. Combine the flour, cornstarch, confectioners sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Toss in the pieces of butter.
Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size clumps of butter within.
Dump the mixture into a foil-lined pan.
Then press firmly with your fingers into an even layer.
Bake until set but not browned, about 17 minutes.
In the meantime, make the topping. Combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a saucepan.
Boil gently for a few minutes.
Then stir in the heavy cream and chopped pecans.
Spread the pecan mixture onto the baked crust.
Bake until bubbling and caramel-colored.
Cool completely, then transfer baked bar to cutting board.
Cut into squares with a sharp knife. The bars will keep nicely, covered and stored at room temperature, for 3 to 4 days. Freeze for longer storage.
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Pecan Pie Bars
With their buttery shortbread crust and rich caramel-pecan topping, these pecan pie bars are everything you love about pecan pie—only easier to make and perfect for sharing!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup Confectioners' sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
For the Filling
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Generous pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 3 cups coarsely chopped pecans
Instructions
For the Crust
- Cover a 9-inch square baking pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. Push foil neatly into corners and up sides of the pan, using two pieces if necessary to ensure it overlaps all edges (the overhang will help removal from pan). Spray foiled pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the flour, cornstarch, confectioners sugar and salt in a bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size clumps of butter within. It will seem dry; that's okay. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer over the bottom. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. While the crust is in the refrigerator, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F. Bake the crust until crust is set but not browned, about 17 minutes. Set on rack to cool. Leave oven on.
For the Filling
- In a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and boil gently for 3 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and chopped pecans.
To Assemble and Bake
- Pour pecan mixture over crust (it's fine if the crust is still warm). Bake until filling is bubbling and caramel in color, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on rack. To cut, use the foil overhang to lift baked square out of pan and onto cutting board. Loosen the foil from the edges, then cut with a sharp knife into 2-inch squares. Store finished pecan squares in air-tight container and serve at room temperature.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The pecan squares will keep nicely covered and stored at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. After they are completely cooled, double-wrap them securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap with the layers separated by wax or parchment paper. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (16 servings)
- Calories: 357
- Fat: 29 g
- Saturated fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Sugar: 18 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 88 mg
- Cholesterol: 41 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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If using 13×9 pan and 1.5x ingredients, do any of the baking times need to be adjusted?
Hi Kristen, It may take a few minutes longer but not much.
It turned out beautifully, I would recommend! I am going to make instead of pecan pie for Thanksgiving.
Hi Jenn,
Could this be baked in a 9 x 13 inch pan if I one and a half times the ingredients? Thank you.
Yes, Sharon, that will work nicely. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn!
Do you think I could add 1/2 cup chocolate chunks to the filling? Thanks!! best, SP
Sure – enjoy!
Would it be possible to dress these up with bourbon?
Hi Cathy, 1 – 2 tablespoons of bourbon would be great here. Please LMK how they turn out if you try it. 🙂
Hi Jenn. I have 2 questions:
1. Can I assume the bourbon goes into the the pecan-carmel mixture?
2. Can I brown the butter in the pecan-carmel mixture first before adding the remaining ingredients & then boil gently for 3 mins?
I am trying to recreate your brown butter pecan pie in squares. This allows me to control the serving size better. Thank you so much for your website & all the work you do. Every recipe I’ve made from your website has turned out great. Best wishes to you & your family for a great Thanksgiving & holiday season.
Thanks for your nice words about the recipes and happy early Thanksgiving to you and your family! And regarding to your questions, yes, the bourbon goes into the pecan caramel mixture, and you can brown the butter before adding the remaining ingredients. Hope you enjoy!
These are perfection! I followed the recipe exactly as written, and these came out exactly like the photo – and they taste delicious! They came out of the pan and cut easily. I had to sneak one of the bars before freezing for Thanksgiving, and already know that this recipe is a keeper.
I mistakenly added the cream to the topping liquid before melting and boiling the butter and sugars (the recipe says to add the cream after that stage with the nuts). The recipe worked well and the bars taste good but the filling looks cloudy. Do you think in effect boiling the cream made this happen? Thanks
Hi Barbara, I wouldn’t think that what you did would make the filling cloudy, but if that’s the one change you made to the recipe, that would be the only logical explanation. Hope you enjoyed them!
It tasted good but I used way too much butter, everything is measured in cups but the butter is in TBSP, why, I read it wrong ☹️
I’m typically not a big fan of desserts with nuts but I totally make an exception for these bars. They are to die for!! Thanks Jenn for another fabulous recipe.
My husband had been asking for pecan pie and I bought a store made one. What a disappointment as it was all sugar and crust and only scant layer of pecans on top. I just made this recipe today and the crust was easy and just the bottom layer to support all those pecans!
And no corn syrup! They are cooling now and hope I can wait until completely cooled to eat them! Thank you!