Pecan Pie Bars | Holiday Recipe

I’m so excited to be back today with another installment of Farmhouse Holiday Decor Series. We have one more post in the series after this one, and I’m truly going to be sad to see this Farmhouse style holiday decor series come to an end. Well at least until next year that is. Today we are sharing our holiday recipes and I chose a family favorite dessert. I have to admit, when I was a kids I never understood what the big deal was about pecan pie. I liked pecans, but I just remember thinking as a kid that a pie that tastes like nuts should not be considered a dessert. Thankfully I’ve come to my senses as an adult, and have grown to love pecan pie, but even more so pecan pie bars.

This is not a long time family recipe, but I do remember from the time I was a little girl my grandmothers love for pecan pie, so this feels close to home. I found this recipe on the Kitchen Paper through Pinterest, and I have to say it truly is a decadent dessert. My daughter and I made these together, and I love that we have started holiday baking together, and she finds it as therapeutic as I do. 

They almost taste like a sweet mix between pie, brittle and cookies with the shortbread crust! They were super easy to make, and I had just about every ingredient on hand.

I N G R E D I E N T S :

1¾ cup (3¼ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1¾ cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup honey

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup heavy cream * I substituted greek yogurt, because that’s what I had on hand*

4 cups (8 ounces) pecan halves

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

I N S T R U C T I O N S :

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter a 9×13″ pan, and line with parchment paper.
2. Combine 1⅛ cup (2¼ sticks) of butter with ¾ cup brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until light and fluffy. Add ½ tsp salt, then the flour one cup at a time. Mix until dough forms into large clumps.
3. Press the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan, fork-prick the crust, and chill for 20 minutes. When chilled, bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely before proceeding.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.
5. Place remaining butter, brown sugar, honey, granulated sugar, heavy cream(greek yogurt), and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat. Stir together and bring to a boil.
6. Cook until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in pecans and vanilla.

7. Pour the pecan mixture over the cooled crust, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling.

8. Let cool completely before cutting into small pieces for serving.

I will warn you, it’s very hard not to eat more than one! Be sure to check out some of the other great recipes being shared today!

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