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



Will this recipe work with non-dairy stick “butter” ?
Hi Jill! I haven’t tested that but I think it can work. I’m not sure of any modifications are needed based on the fat or water content of your vegan butter. Based on my research, the best brand to use recommended by other bakers is Miyoko’s European Style, but that Earth Balance sticks also work well. I’m sure there are others that you can explore as well but if you find one of these, it may save you the hassle of trying to find a good one for baking.
Hi Natasha. I plan to try this recipe soon for my wife who looks forward to pecan pie for Thanksgiving. I’m a little intimidated by the thought of trying to bake a pie. If I want try to make half the recipe, will an 8 x 8 pan work? Thanks.
Hi David, I haven’t tried this in an 8×8 pan, but if you do you will likely need to adjust or like you said, halve the recipe. Here’s what one of my readers mentioned about an 8×8 pan: “I used an 8×8 pan,saved and froze a third of the shortcake mixture,but added all the filling.which resulted in a nicely set bar but way too many pecans,tgis was my fault…the recipe is great..next time im only goibg to add 1.5 cups of pecans and an egg to set the mixture,i think without all the nuts i will need an egg to hold it together.”
hi natasha, can maple syrup be substituted for the honey? ty 😉
Hi Sonny! I’ve had some viewers report good results using maple syrup too.
Hi Mary! I’m so glad you loved it. See my notes above for recommendation on storing.
This recipe looks amazing! Do these bars freeze well to use for a later date?
Hi Melissa! Yes, they freeze great. See the make ahead section above for instructions.
What flour would you substitute to make it gluten free free?
Hi Ruth, I have not personally tried this recipe using GF flour but one of our readers has and mentioned it worked well!
This recipe is soooo delicious my family and I loved these but I was just wondering what kinds of utensils you used throughout the recipe if you don’t mind. Thank you so much!!!!
I have problems with recipes from Facebook pinned to Pinterest. The connection doesnt go through. Looks like a yummy recipe!
Hi Sarah, I would recommend pinning directly from my site for a direct link.
My family and I LOVED them! They were easy to make as a teen baker of the family, and didn’t include corn syrup! Thank you Mrs. Natasha, and continue your wonderful work!!😊🥰God bless! P.S. Could you try to make Brown sugar coffee boba tea? If you can’t that’s totally fine, but you should try it!! It sounds hard haha.😊❤
Thank you for the suggestion, Jacinta! And I’m so glad to hear you loved this recipe.
Oh my gosh thank you for replying Mrs. Natasha! It was my dream to get a reply from you 😊 Have a blessed and wonderful day!
Hello,
Just wondering if you add any water to the crust? It seems dry and I measured carefully. I just didn’t see any comments noting that. Thank you.
Hi Susan! I do not, since it’s a shortbread crust, it will seem kinda or dry. Watch my video tutorial to see the texture of my crust and how it looked once it’s compressed into the pan.
Hi! I’m planing to make them very soon. How sweet are they? My family doesn’t like super sweet stuff. We typically cut out sugars in half in recipes but don’t want to spoil gooie texture.
Hi Victoria! They are sweet but I have had several viewers comment that they are not overly sweet and really enjoyed the sweetness level.
People love these when I make them! (I love them when I make them!) They’re delicious, and I especially enjoy the honey flavor that comes through.
The recipe states” 3 1/2 cups of pecans, 14 oz.” Which is it, 3 1/2 cups or 14 oz?
Hi Lisa! It’s 3 1/2 cups, or 14 ounces by weight.
Can I substitute pure maple syrup for the honey?
Hi Karen! I’ve had some viewers report good results using maple syrup too.
I had made this. But the only problem is that the crust seems dry a bit an falling apart. Should I add more butter?
Hi Sheila! Make sure to measure your flour correctly. This is the most common reason it will be too dry. If you’re needing to add more butter, then likely there is too much flour.
These are the BEST PECAN BARS!!
I made them this morning to take with me on a girl’s weekend trip and it will be hard not to take little bites all day long. Taste them when they’ve cooled, but still have a hint of warmth. You will think you died and gone to heaven. This recipe is a keeper!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Shelley!
These bars are so flipping good. They give you that “gooey” feeling 🥰
Hey Natasha! I’m planning on making this recipe soon and I was wondering if you can substitute half-and-half instead of heavy cream. Thanks!
Hi Micah, You can use half and half. Mix 3 Tbsp half‑and‑half + 1 Tbsp melted unsalted butter to bump up the richness.
Thanks so much! Also, are these freezer-friendly?
You can leave them out 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!
Pecan pie is always my favourite. The only problem is I don’t like the gooey filling. I will try this recipe and hoping it will be crunchy.
Thanks so much Natasha! My family absolutely LOVES this recipe. Keep them coming!
I’d love to make these but no idea how to measure tablespoons of cold butter… could you share a weight in grams please?
Hi Mrs P, our butter packaging has tablespoon markers, that’s how we measure it. A tablespoon of butter is approximately 14 grams of butter.
I just made these today. Oh my gosh, they are delicious! I’ll definitely be making them again! Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!🍴😋