Pecan Bars

My pecan bars recipe is like pecan pie in bar form. It includes a scrumptious shortbread crust topped with a buttery honey-flavored filling overloaded with pecans. 

Oh yes, you read that right! If you like classic pecan pie, it’s going to be love at first sight when you try my pecan bar recipe. With the combination of the shortbread crust and the deliciously sweet pecan filling, if you close your eyes you will 100% think you’re biting into pecan pie.

Fortunately, these pecan bars are so easy to make. The first step is to make the crust using flour, salt, sugar, and butter. Cut the ingredients together and then pop that in the oven to pre-bake. While that’s baking, we make our delicious pecan pie filling using pecans (of course), more butter and sugar, honey, and vanilla. Some pecan bar recipes do this on the stovetop, but we’re cutting out that step and just giving it a quick mix in a bowl. Then we spread the pecan mixture over the crust to bake for about 20 minutes.

How quick and easy does that sound? Music to my ears, I tell ya! You will have to be patient though and let them cool before you take that first bite. But I promise they’re definitely worth the wait. Go that extra mile and serve your pecan square with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or custard for Thanksgiving dessert.

I’m such a fan of pecan recipes, especially when the weather finally cools in the fall. Pecans and Thanksgiving just go hand in hand, right? However, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been known to swap them for walnuts more often than not because we all know they’re so much cheaper! Here are 9 pecan recipes to keep you going, but there’s even more below. 

Alright, that’s enough of me sharing my love for pecans, let’s get baking!

Recipe Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Sugar
• Salt
• Unsalted butter
• Honey
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Chopped pecans (or pecan halves)

How to Make Pecan Bars

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.

In a large bowl mix the flour…

½ cup sugar…

And salt.

Mix the dry ingredients together.

Add chopped butter to the mixing bowl.

Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or long-tined fork until it looks like crumbs.

Make the crust by pressing the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake this for 20 minutes. Remove but keep the oven on.

In a different mixing bowl, we’re going to make the pecan bar filling. So add the honey…

1.5 cups of sugar…

Eggs…

Melted butter…

And vanilla.

Make sure that it’s smooth like so…

Then fold in the chopped pecans and stir once more.

Spread the filling evenly over the baked crust ASAP when it comes out of the oven.

Bake in the oven until the filling is set (approximately 20-25 minutes).

Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before slicing them up into delicious pecan bars. 

Note: If you have a wire rack place the pan on it to cool.

I’m sorry but how delicious does this pecan pie bar look?!

Excuse me, I’m going to go dig in!

Storage

• Store leftover pecan pie bars in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 5 days. They can be served chilled, at room temperature, or warmed.
• You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months and thaw them at room temperature before enjoying them.

Recipe Notes

• If you like, you can substitute the granulated sugar for light brown sugar in either the crust and filling or both. You can also substitute the sugar in the crust for powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar to make an extra-tender, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crust.
• Other options besides honey are light corn syrup (the traditional method) or maple syrup.
• I know pecans aren’t cheap, so feel free to substitute them for walnuts or use a combination of mixed nuts, like cashews and blanched peanuts.

Recipe FAQs

These pecan bars taste delicious on their own, but for dessert, I love to serve them with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or custard.

How do you make chocolate pecan bars?

To make chocolate pecan pie bars, fold in 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks when you add the pecans. Another option is to add toffee bits.

Can we tempt you with more pecan recipes?

Pecan Pie Muffins

Candied Pecans Recipe

Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Chocolate Pecan Pie Recipe

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

Pecan Snowball Cookies