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Pecan Pie Bars have everything I love about classic pecan pie: a gooey, buttery filling and plenty of crunchy pecans, but with a thick shortbread crust instead of traditional pie crust. They’re easier to slice and serve than a whole pie, which makes them the best dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or for anyone who loves pecan pie!
Easy Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
Pie has been one of my favorite things to bake since I started Crazy for Crust, and I love turning classic pie flavors into bars when I want something easier. The buttery shortbread crust is sturdy enough to hold that soft pecan filling, while still giving you the rich crust-to-filling combination that makes pecan pie so good. I grew up eating my mom’s pecan pie and these bars rival that recipe!
These are also a great dessert for a crowd (it makes a lot) and to make ahead. Once the bars cool completely you can freeze them, making holiday baking even easier!
Pecan Pie Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter: You’ll need butter for the crust and the filling
- All-Purpose Flour: Be sure to measure it correctly!
- Eggs: The eggs give the filling it’s creamy filling
- Dark Corn Syrup: This is super important in pecan pie. Corn syrup is what makes the gooey center – you can substitute light corn syrup if that’s all you have.
- Pecans: Can’t have pecan pie without pecans! These will be chopped.
Dorothy’s Expert Tips and Testing Notes
- If you have a stand mixer, I would recommend using it to mix the crust – it will take less time than a hand mixer. It will be very crumbly when it’s done mixing.
- I recommend lining your pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy removal – these can get sticky around the edges and might be hard to remove without the liner.
- As always, I recommend using a metal pan for baking the bars in.
- You know pecan pie is done when it’s puffed and no longer wet looking and only slightly jiggles when you tap the pan.
Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (372g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, melted
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 ⅓ cups (316ml) dark corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups (300g) chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13-inch pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add butter, flour, sugar, and salt to a very large mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until crumbly. It will become evenly sized crumbs that compact when you press them together. This will take longer with a hand mixer than with a stand mixer.
- Press into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes (the edges should be light golden and the top should no longer be glossy).
- Meanwhile, whisk together melted butter, eggs, sugar, corn syrup, salt and pecans.
- Pour pecan mixture evenly over the top of the crust. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes, or until slightly puffed and slightly jiggly.
- Cool completely before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- If you have a stand mixer, I would recommend using it to mix the crust – it will take less time than a hand mixer. It will be very crumbly when it’s done mixing.
- When you are mixing your first ingredients the mixture should resemble course crumbs that you will then pack together to make your bars!
- As always, I recommend using a metal pan for baking the bars in.
- You know pecan pie is done when it’s puffed and no longer wet looking and only slightly jiggles when you tap the pan.
- Cool completely before slicing into squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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How to make Pecan Pie Bars
- The shortbread crust dough will be crumbly (not fully cohesive).
- This recipe is made for a 9×13-inch pan. Make sure the crust is compacted very well so the filling doesn’t seep through.
- It’s important that the nuts are fully coated in the mixture so they don’t burn.
- You know the bars are done when the center is puffed and slightly jiggly (no longer rolling when the pan is tapped).
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Variations
- You could also make the filling of my brown sugar pecan pie instead – that doesn’t have corn syrup.
- Add 1 cup of chocolate chips for a chocolate pecan pie by sprinkling them over the crust before pouring on the filling.
Pecan Pie Bars FAQ
When they are lightly golden! You can also stick them with a toothpick–if it comes up clean then they are done!
You can make them up to several months in advance and freeze them so these are a great make ahead dessert.
You can easily double the recipe by just multiplying everything by 2 and using two 9×13 baking pans.
I’ve made pecan pie without corn syrup – instead it uses brown sugar and milk – that’s called brown sugar pecan pie and you can find the recipe on my site by searching using the little magnifying glass on the right.
Just made these today and they are absolutely amazing!!! I did add some chocolate chips on crust before adding pecan filling….. delicious!
Hi Karie, so glad you like the recipe! Thank you for rating and commenting 🙂
Delicious! Bars hold their shape nicely yet are soft and buttery. Pecan filling is just the right amount of sweetness; pleasant – not too sweet. TY!
Thanks for the review! Glad you like this recipe.
How could I adjust recipe to make in an 8×8 inch pan? Will halving the ingredients work?
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