Go Back Email Link
+ servings

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

stack of pecan bars
Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars are a new twist on the classic holiday dessert! Easy pecan pie bars with a shortbread crust topped with sweet filling, chocolate chips and tons of pecans, these Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars are great for Thanksgiving or any time of the year. Perfectly portable, hand-held pecan pie!
Heather - A Wicked Whisk
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Serving Size 24

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

  • 1-3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into chunks
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons milk

Pecan Pie Filling

  • 3 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
  • 2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels
  • 2 cups pecan chopped
  • extra pecans and chocolate chips for garnish .. optional but why not?

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray then line it with parchment paper, letting it hang over the sides to make it easy to lift out your pecan bars.
  • Add your pecans to the baking pan and toast them for 5 minutes in the oven. This will really bring out their flavor. Once toasted, move them to a small bowl and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar together to make your crust. If you have a food processor, pour in the flour mixture and add in the milk and butter chunks. Pulse until it resembles course sand.
  • If you do not want to use a food processor, add the milk and butter to your flour mixture and kneed all ingredients together with your hands until it all incorporates into a sand like consistency.
  • Transfer the shortbread crust to the baking pan and press it down firmly and evenly. Bake for 20 minutes.
  • While the crust is baking, using a hand mixer combine the flour, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt together in that same large mixing bowl you used before. Mix in the eggs, one by one and then the corn syrup. 
  • Using a spatula, stir in the chocolate morsels and pecans. Let this filling stand for 15 minutes while your crust is cooking.
  • Once the crust has cooked, remove and pour the filling on top of the crust.
  • Return to the oven for another 45 minutes and when done, remove from oven and sprinkle with extra chocolate chips and chopped pecans. Let cool completely before removing the bars from pan. Once cool, pull up on parchment paper and remove. Cut into bars and serve. Store in air tight container in the refrigerator.

Notes

PRO TIPS FOR PERFECT PECAN BARS

  • Be sure to use cold butter for the shortbread crust.  Cold butter helps with the crumb texture.
  • Don't skip the step of letting your pecan pie bar filling rest for 15 minutes.  Your filling with thicken as it sits and you want that to happen.
  • Don't want to add chocolate chips?  No worries, leave them out and your pecan pie bars will still be amazing!
  • Your bars need to cool completely before cutting into them.  Cutting them while they are still warm could leave them falling apart.
NEVER MISS A WICKED WHISK RECIPE  
FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / INSTAGRAM