These Pecan Pie Bars have everything you love about pecan pie in one easy to make bar, with no corn syrup necessary!
How can we make pie more portable?
It’s an age old question, and one I asked myself almost immediately when first tasked with coming up with a fall themed dessert menu. The bride-to-be was not a fan of cake and instead chose to go with a variety of desserts to suit her autumn, outdoors, barn wedding.
Perhaps you’ve noticed a lack of pie recipes on my blog. That’s because I am notoriously terrible at baking pies.
For starters I don’t generally like eating them. They’re also just terribly tricky with their easily burnt crusts and soggy bottoms.
Still, a fall themed dessert menu wouldn’t be complete without at least one pie. I was able to find a recipe for these pecan pie bars and boy am I glad I did!
They are almost foolproof, freeze and thaw beautifully, and are seriously delicious. They also fit much more easily into my lifestyle (not that it mattered in this case) because, unlike classic pecan pie, they don’t contain corn syrup.
I recommend baking your bars in a foil lined baking pan so you can lift them out and cut them easily. The filling can get pretty sticky while the crust is effortlessly flaky. Make these to serve a crowd at Thanksgiving, for your family football party, or of course for a fall wedding!
Do pecan pie bars need to be refrigerated?
Pecan pie bars do not need to be refrigerated. Store them in an airtight container for up to three days, or freeze.
Can I freeze pecan pie bars?
Pecan pie bars freeze beautifully. I recommend cutting them into squares and transferring to a freezer safe zip top bag, removing as much air as possible. You can check this post on vegetarian freezer meals for more freezer meal options.
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- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 cups chopped pecans
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Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides.
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To make the crust, cream together butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until fluffy. Add the flour and salt and mix until crumbly.
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Press the crust evenly into the foil lined pan and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
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While the crust bakes, prepare the filling. In a medium sized saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, and heavy cream over medium heat. Stir until the mixture comes to a bubble, then simmer for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped pecans.
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Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the filling over the top, spreading it out to cover the entire surface.
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Return the pan to the oven and bake an additional 18-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully in the pan. The bars will firm up a bit as they cool, do not over bake.
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Use the foil to lift the bars from the pan and place on a cutting board. Remove the foil, cut into bars, and serve.
Recipe Video
I love pecan pie and pecan pie bars, but I’ve never made any bars that look this good! The topping looks so sticky and gooey and shiny. Yum!
Do you grease the foil? It doesn’t say, so I’m going to wait to make these. They look yummy!
I love that these don’t have corn syrup and am looking forward to trying them!
That’s one of my favorite things about them too! I hope you enjoy!
I just made these yesterday night–delicious! I didn’t have heavy cream so I added 1/2 a tbsp of extra butter and 2 tbsp of milk. I greased the foil which made them kinda greasy but super easy to peel off the foil, so I just wiped down the bottom afterwards. Also I took out the bars once i could shake it back and forth and only the center jiggled, which was after 25 minutes of baking. They came out great and everyone at work loved them 🙂 thank you!
Thank you for sharing your adaptations! I’m glad you liked them.
These are fabulous! I’ve made them several times in the last month. I’ve noticed a few things – if you have either a smaller or bigger pan than called for (like us), go with the smaller. The thicker topping and shortbread are amazing. Also, this recipe converts so easily to gluten free! Just swap gluten free flour in the crust. People at our Christmas party couldn’t even tell. Thanks for the great recipe – it’s a keeper!
I am going to try these so I can take them to our church function and see how everyone likes them so thanks for sharing this recipe <3
hi just wondering the pan that you use is it measured in centimetres or inches? And how much in grams is in your sticks of butter? I’d love to give this recipe a go over the weekend to take to work on Monday ?
LOVE THIS! My sister is obsessed with pecan pies, but I think these pecan bars will do just the trick! Thanks for sharing~
Made the pecan bars, they are yummy. I didn’t have honey so I used agave. They turned out great, very delicious.
That’s great, thank you for sharing your adaptation!
Does anyone know if these freeze well? I made a double batch (because they are so delicious) and would hate for any to go to waste. Thanks for any tips!
Yes! I originally made these for a wedding I was catering desserts for, and froze them for several months ahead of time. They came out perfectly! I hope you enjoy!