Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
on Dec 13, 2022, Updated Oct 23, 2024
These delicious ooey gooey Pecan Pie Bars with shortbread crust are a holiday must have dessert!
You’ll love these pecan pie bars!
Maple brown sugar pecan pie filling is poured over a homemade shortbread crust and baked in the oven until set. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for an impressively delicious pecan treat!
These maple pecan pie bars are a holiday must have! This classic favorite dessert uses the filling from my pecan pie recipe.
It just isn’t the holidays without pecan pie bars. They are a must have dessert!
You can find the full recipe and instructions at the bottom of this post, but here is what you will need to make this recipe.
Ingredients Needed
- All-purpose Flour
- Unsalted Butter
- Brown sugar
- Eggs
- Real maple syrup: this recipe uses real maple syrup in place of corn syrup
- Heavy whipping cream
- Chopped pecans
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
How to make Pecan Pie Bars
First, start by making the shortbread crust. This is the same crust that I use for my Apple Crisp Bars recipe. It is super simple to make and tastes amazing!
Step 1: Mix together the flour, butter, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla until combined.
Step 2: Line an 8 X 8 baking dish with parchment paper. Use your hands to press the shortbread crust batter into the bottom of the pan, then bake until golden and beginning to brown.
Joy’s Tip
Leave enough parchment paper overhang on the sides of the pan to be able to grab it with your hands. This makes it so much easier to remove the bars completely from the pan before cutting!
Step 3: While the crust is cooking, stir together the pecan bar filling. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, pure maple syrup, brown sugar, heavy whipping cream, flour, vanilla, and salt. Once mixed, fold in the chopped pecan pieces.
Step 4: Once the crust is finished baking, pour the maple pecan bar filling over the top. Bake the pecan pie bars for around 30 – 35 more minutes.
How to know when your Pecan Bars are done
Once the edges are browned and the middle looks firm (moving the pan side to side does not result in the bars jiggling), your pecan bars are done.
Right around 35 minutes was perfect for mine. Once the pan has cooled, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before cutting into squares.
Tips For Success
- Buy pecan pieces: Save time chopping up pecans and buy the pre-chopped ones you can find in the baking aisle.
- Line the pan: Lining your baking dish with parchment paper makes getting the bars out to cut so much easier.
- Buy real maple syrup: These ooey gooey pecan bars use real maple syrup instead of corn syrup which gives them an extra delicious flavor.
- Refrigerate before cutting: Serving these for a party? Place the cooled bars into the refrigerator for several hours and they will be much easier to cut into pretty squares.
Storing
Allow the bars to cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container. Leftover pecan pie bars will store well in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
More Holiday Desserts
This has become one of my favorite recipes for the holidays!
Make these pecan pie bars for the holidays this year, you won’t be disappointed!
Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shortbread Crust
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Pecan Pie Bar Filling
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup real maple syrup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chopped pecans
Instructions
- Mix together all ingredients for the crust: flour, butter, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla, until combined
- Line an 8 X 8 baking dish with parchment paper
- Use your hands to press the shortbread crust batter evenly into the pan
- Bake the crust at 300 degrees for 22 – 25 minutes, or until the edges are golden and beginning to brown
- In a large bowl, mix together the pecan pie bar filling: the eggs, maple syrup, brown sugar, heavy whipping cream, flour, vanilla, and salt
- Once that is mixed, stir in the pecan pieces
- When the shortbread crust is done baking, pour the pecan pie bar filling over the top
- Turn the oven up to 350 degrees and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until set and hardly jiggly in the center. The edges should be browned
- Remove the pecan pie bars from oven and allow to cool completely
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then cut into slices
Video
Nutrition
After reading comments I added 1 extra egg yolk and 1 TB flour turned out great. Was able to cut into nice size bars. Next time I will make crust one and a half times as my husband likes a thicker crust. Other than the two tweaks to recipe I followed exactly.
Can u freeze these if you don’t serve for a couple days?
Yes! I would think they would keep for 1-2 months at least in the freezer. I would suggest using parchment paper between layers so that they don’t stick together.
If I wanted to double this, should I use a 9×13 pan and increase the bake time to 45-50 mins?
I haven’t tried it, so you would have to experiment with it. Let me know how it turns out!
Turned out great with a few tweaks!
– Shortbread dough was super wet with 1/2c. of butter… will probs cut that in half to get the crumbly consistency I’m looking for.
– left the brown sugar out of the filling bc I felt like 1c. of maple syrup was plenty sweet, and they turned out great!
Thanks for this recipe, friend!
Made these today. Very yummy but the center pieces were very gooey and did not hold their shape. I was bringing them to a small party so I just brought the pieces from around the edges.
Can these be stored at room temperature or do they need to be refrigerated?
They need to be refrigerated after two hours.
How far ahead can you make these pecan bars? I would like to make them for Thanksgiving but want to make them earlier in the week, if possible.
I would do a max of 2 days in advance for best freshness.
My whole family are in love with this recipe! The taste of these pecan pie bars is just phenomenal. These could brighten ANY day. Highly recommend everyone to give this dessert a try. Believe me, every bite tastes like heaven.
Thank you so much for sharing this fab idea. Look forward to your new awesome recipes. You put so much love into what you’re doing. Keep it up!
Best wishes,
Ann
I’m so glad your family enjoyed the recipe Ann, thanks for taking time to leave a comment! 🙂