Pecan Pie Bars are one of the best pecan recipes you’ll try, and they are easier than pie. It’s a cross between a classic Pecan Pie and a cookie. Loaded with pecans in a homemade caramel sauce filling over a buttery shortbread crust, these pecan squares are a crowd-pleasing, easy dessert. Add these to your holiday cookie platter!
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Pecan Pie Squares Video
In this video, I’ll show you how easy it is to make Pecan Pie Bars. One bite of the gooey caramel pecan filling and you’ll have found a new favorite treat. Now go forth and bake!
Easy Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
The first time I tried this was at a wedding in Washington. My husband’s cousin’s wife, Tanya, made them for the dessert buffet, and after trying them, I just knew I had to recreate them. These pecan pie bars have an amazing texture—gooey, chewy, and crunchy — with a soft caramel filling that doesn’t stick to your teeth. The recipe also uses high-quality ingredients (no corn syrup) and makes a big batch, which is perfect for holiday parties!
I made a batch of these and sent some home with my sister. Her words exactly – “that’s the best pecan recipe I’ve ever tried!” She was smitten. These pecan bars have that effect on people.
We love dessert casseroles from Strawberry Pretzel Salad to Classic Tiramisu and of course Baklava. If you are looking for a crowd-pleasing party or potluck dessert that fits into a 9×13 casserole, this Pecan Pie Bars recipe is a must-try!
Ingredients for Pecan Pie Bars (without Corn Syrup!)
These have just the right balance of textures and flavors, and are so satisfying. The ingredients are simple, and because there’s no corn syrup, I think it tastes even better than traditional pecan pie.
- Crust – All-purpose flour creates the sturdy base, powdered sugar lightly sweetens and salt balances the sweetness. The mixture is coated with cold unsalted butter to create a rich, buttery crust.
- Light Brown Sugar – has molasses, which adds rich color and flavor to the caramel
- Honey – creates a soft caramel base
- Unsalted butter – adds richness to the caramel and buttery flavor
- Heavy whipping cream – make sure to use HEAVY cream, which has a higher fat content to help the filling thicken up properly
- Salt – we use a bit of fine sea salt to balance the sweetness
- Vanilla extract – use homemade vanilla extract or store-bought
- Pecans – coarsely chopped pecans add great crunch and texture to the filling. You can use pecan halves or coarsely chopped pecans. You can substitute pecans with walnuts or cashews, which have a similar crunchy and chewy texture.
How to Make a Shortbread Crust
- You can use either a food processor or a bowl and pastry cutter to make the crust. Combine flour, powdered sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal, with some pea-sized crumbs forming.
- Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of a parchment-lined 13×9 baking pan, then bake at 350˚F until set and lightly golden at the edges. Transfer to a parchment-lined
Natasha’s Pro Baking Tip:
Lining the pan will make it much easier to lift the bars out of the pan and serve. Once it has cooled, I transfer it to a cutting board and cut into squares or bars.
How to Make Pecan Pie Bars
- Prep – preheat the oven to 350˚F and coarsley chop the nuts if they aren’t pre-chopped.
- Prepare the crust – see instructions above. While crust is baking, I make the filling.
- Make the Caramel – In a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, honey, butter, cream and salt. Bring to a boil then simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans.
- Spread pecan filling over your warm baked crust.
- Bake – return to the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until the top is bubbling and turns caramel color. Once the bars are fully cooled to room temperature, remove from the pan, cut and serve.
Can I Make This in a Pie Dish?
You will need to cut the recipe in half to fit a traditional pie pan, or use it to fill 2 pie pans. I also suggest lining the pie pans with parchment paper for easier serving and removal from the pan.
Make-Ahead
- Storing: Once these pecan bars are cooled completely to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for 3-4 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze for longer storage. Transfer to a freezer-safe zip bag, remove any excess air, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Pecan Pie Bars are such a decadent treat for the holidays and are a dessert everyone loves. Make them once, and they will probably make it to your holiday rotation. They are such a fun addition to a holiday cookie platter along with Gingerbread Cookies, Christmas Sugar Cookies, Angel Wing Cookies, Cranberry Cookies, and Date Snickers. So festive and delicious!
Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold, diced
For the Filling:
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup honey
- 12 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans, 14 oz
Instructions
To Make the Crust:
- Make the Dough: Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with foil or parchment paper (leave some paper hanging over the sides of the pan for an easier lift later. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In the bowl of a food processor (or in a bowl with a pastry cutter), pulse together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt and pulse a couple of times to combine. Add diced cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal with some pea-sized pieces forming.
- Bake the Crust: Transfer the mixture to your prepared pan, pressing the crust evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350˚F for 18-20 minutes or until the crust has set and the edges are just lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside while you finish the filling.
Make the Pecan Pie Bars:
- Make Pecan Filling: In a large saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, butter, cream and salt. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and pecans, mixing until incorporated.
- Assemble and Bake: Pour hot pecan filling over your warm crust. Return to the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the top is bubbling and turns a caramel color. Set the baking pan on a wire rack and cool completely to room temperature before cutting.
- Cool and Serve: Once the pecan squares are at room temperature, loosen the edges if needed and use the parchment paper or foil to lift the bars out of the pan. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into 2-inch squares. Serve at room temperature.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Recipes with Pecans to try
If you love these Pecan Pie Bars, then you won’t want to miss these recipes with pecans:
- Candied Pecans
- Baked Apples
- Russian Tea Cakes with Pecans
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes
- Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Carrot Cake
- Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Thanks for sharing!! How should these be stored if not eaten right away? I will be baking as gifts but would be using within a week or so.
Hi Margaret, I would leave them at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can store in the refrigerator for about a week. Make sure to store in an airtight container so it doesn’t dry out. To keep them for longer, the freezer instructions I included in the post work well. I hope you love the Pecan Pie Bars!
Has anyone tried making these with gluten-free flour?
Hi Krista, I have not personally tried this recipe using GF flour but one of our readers has and they mentioned great results!
I used Bob’s Red Mill for the base and it came out amazingly! Brought it to a potluck and no one was the wiser.
These might be my favorite cookie of all time! I made them twice last Christmas and…Here we go again! Better than pecan pie! Thank you!
Delicious and decadent! Great flavor and texture, will be making again!
Make these! You won’t be sorry. They are delicious! Thank you Natasha! Made them just as written and they are perfect!
Thank you so much for the feedback!
Can you use something other than a food processor to mix the bottom crust?- as I only have a small one that I mostly use for nuts/cracker processing..?
Hi Rose! Please read the section of the post above titled “How to Make a Shortbread Crust” – this has alternate instructions for using a pastry cutter instead of a food processor. I hope you love the pecan pie bars.
This looks amazing and I am going to make it tonight.
I am curious to know why your recipe says ’12 tbsp of butter’ instead of 3/4 cup of butter. Its easy enough to see what you mean, but I think of a poor novice baker meticulously measuring out 12 separate tbsp when it would be easier to measure the 3/4 cups or 1 stick of butter plus 1/4 cup.
Hi Sharon, here in the US, butter comes in blocks pre-measured by tablespoons. Example, one stick of butter equals 8 TBSP. So one and a half sticks of butter would equal 12 TBPS. I hope that helps.
These bars did not disappoint!! Love that they don’t have corn syrup like traditional pecan pie. This is a great alternative and honestly I prefer it over the pie because it’s that delicious! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Holly!
Hi. I have made this before and love it. I want to bring to a gathering with vegans. Can I substitute vegan butter? It’s very soft
Hi Jane, I haven’t tested that to advise, if you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Can I not use honey and just use the brown sugar?
Hi there! The honey creates the soft caramel base for the filling. I am not sure what it would be like without, or if modifications need to be made.
Hi Natasha. Can I use chopped walnuts instead of pecans?
Yes, that would work too.
I am the only one in my family who likes pecan pie. It used to be my mom’s favorite. After she passed away, there was no reason to make it anymore. Flash forward five years later and I was missing her terribly this Thanksgiving. Stumbled across this recipe and like a miracle, had all ingredients on hand. Woke up early Thanksgiving morning before the kids were awake and made this. I screwed up a couple things (totally my fault) and had to make it gluten free because my husband has celiac disease and we just don’t have regular flour in the house at all. All that said, it was AMAZING. I mean absolutely delicious. And even the folks who claimed not to like pecans were raving. I am saving this recipe and going to make it endlessly. Thank you for sharing.
Another amazing recipe! Not overly sweet and perfect dessert for Thanksgiving. Cant wait to make again.
So happy you loved it, Sandra!
Soooo….I was scouring the Internet before Thanksgiving in search of a dessert that I could a) easily make b) required minimum effort, c) serve a bunch of people and d) serve lots of people. Pssst…select d) all of the above for this recipe. We all know that by the time everyone has finished gorging themselves on Thanksgiving dinner and just prior to the tryptophan kicking in – everyone wants a little something sweet for dessert.
I am not a big sugary sweet eater but I give an exception to pecan pie! Not thrilled of all the ooey-gooey filling but when I make my traditional pecan pie, I just add more pecans. Still, for this Thanksgiving, I wanted to make a bar “pie” so that people can have a small square and come back for seconds if they so wished. Small slivers of pecan pie are hard to serve
I did toast my pecans off prior to baking. That is the only thing I did differently. The pecan pie bars were a huge hit! Crunchy caramelized nuts and an equally crunchy tart base. It held perfectly when portioned. No fall apart base or leaking filling.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi George! Thank you for the wonderful feedback. I’m so glad they were a hit!
I love these bars! Should the bottom crust be real crumbly? Seemed pretty dry when I was doing the first bake. It never got golden like yours did. Crumbled when cutting into bars. What did I do wrong? Tasted yummy, just didn’t hold together very well.
Hi Kim, it should not crumble so easily. That may be a result of too much flour. Be sure to measure by fluffing the flour first with a spoon then spoon it into a dry ingredient measuring cup and scrape off the top. If you push your measuring cup into a flour bin, you will get up to 25% too much flour. Also, do not tap the flour down in the measuring cup.
Sadly I didn’t love these. I was expecting more of a traditional pecan pie texture but without any corn syrup, this recipe didn’t measure up. There is a lacking of the “goo factor” in regular pecan pie and the crust to filling ratio was about 50/50 which is also not like traditional pie; I mostly tasted butter since there are a whopping 3 sticks total in this recipe! Sounds like lots of folks love these bars, but the pecan pie lovers in my family did not.
Hi Courtney, this has been a very popular recipe – did you change anything in the recipe? It does have more nuts in it but it’s intended to be this way to make it easier to slice and I think more enjoyable as bars. It’s also a bit healthier without the corn syrup but maybe you could modify if you prefer corn syrup.
We loooved this recipe! I really liked how the crust turned out using tin foil! It seemed to keep all the butter in really nicely and the base was so rich and delicious! It wasn’t dry at all like some crusts can be. Definitely will be making this again.
Hi Emma! I’m thrilled it turned out for you. Thanks for sharing your feedback. It’s definitely one we love to repeat too.
These pecan bars were absolutely amazing addition to the dessert spread at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner! I love pecan pie, but I usually don’t want to commit to a whole slice because of all the yummy options. These were perfect.
Hi Jason! You are so welcome. I’m glad you loved the recipe.
These are in the oven as I leave this review and I’ll report back how they came out. I made half of the crust with regular granulated sugar, and after reading other reviews, it might turn out “sandy”. I used an 8×8 pan, made the full batch of filling, but used a combination of honey, about a heaping tablespoon of corn syrup and maple syrup and boiled it a little longer. I only added 2 cups of pecans.
How can you make the crust without adding an egg or a wet ingredient? The flour won’t bind to just butter
HI Billy, watch the video to see what the texture should be but it does bind and holds together as a crust as long as you add the same amount of butter and flour called for in the recipe.
Looks delicious. Wonder if I can make with pre made pie dough
I imagine that will also be fine. Hope you love it!