Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars

My favorite pie is a pecan pie.  I don’t often make it because everyone requests pumpkin or apple pies and you can just make so many pies.  It’s the laziness factor.  Apparently laziness wins out over my love of pecan pie in my world.  But this year I wanted bourbon pecan pie and I decided to make it in bar form.  I have an excellent pecan pie bars recipe I’ve never shared!

Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars

I also wanted to add a touch of bourbon, which is again one of my favorite things.  Not enough bourbon to make grandma want to dance on the table, just enough to have a tiny taste of decadence.

Mix crust with electric mixer until it resembles coarse crumbs.

I started making my bars.  I combined the flour, butter and sugar in a bowl using my hand mixer.  I added some chopped pecans and the mixture was like coarse crumbs.

Pat crumbs evenly into ungreased 9×13-in pan.

I patted the crust into an ungreased 9×13-in pan and placed it into the oven.  I set the timer for 18 minutes.

Bake 18-22 minutes until beginning to turn golden brown around the edges.

The crust wasn’t quite golden around the edges so I let the crust bake another 4 minutes.  Perfect,

Measure filling ingredients into a mixing bowl

While the crust baked I added corn syrup, brown sugar, bourbon, eggs, flour, vanilla and salt to another bowl.  I was out of dark corn syrup so I used 1 cup light corn syrup and 1/4 cup molasses.

Blend filling until smooth, stir in nuts.

I mixed well with my electric mixer then stirred in the pecans and was ready to finish creating my pie.

Pour filling onto warm crust. Smooth and bake for 30 minutes or until knife inserted one inch from edge is a clean cut.

When the crust was golden around the edges I poured the filling into the pan.  I slid it back into the oven and set the timer for another 30 minutes.

Place on rack and cut into squares when cooled. Store refrigerated.

At 30 minutes I used a knife to make a cut about an inch from the crust and the filling was set nicely.  I removed the pan from the oven and set it on a rack to cool.

Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars

When the bars were cooled I cut them up and placed them in a large storage container between a sheet of waxed paper and froze them. The bars smelled so good I wanted to eat them all.  Immediately.  But I resisted.

Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars

Ok I lied.  I did eat one.  I had to quality test, right?  All of the tv chefs stress taste testing, so I complied.  Awesome.  Almost as good as pecan pie.  Because nothing beats pecan pie.  It’s the best pecan-ness you can find.  And the bourbon?  Also perfect.  These pecan pie bars will be welcomed on the family dessert buffet.

Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars

• Servings: 24-36 bars
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Pecan pie in bar form, with a hint of bourbon. Add a bigger splash of bourbon if you wish!

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup butter; softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup pecans; finely chopped (a little smaller than a corn kernel)
• 1 1/4 cup dark corn syrup (I used 1 cup light corn syrup and 1/4 cup molasses)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar; firmly packed
• 1 tablespoon bourbon (I like Makers Mark)
• 4 eggs
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup pecans; coarsely chopped (pea sized)

Heat oven to 350°F.

Combine 1 3/4 cups flour, butter and sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/3 cup pecans.

Press crust mixture evenly onto bottom of ungreased 9×14-in baking pan. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until edges are very light golden brown.

Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, bourbon, eggs, flour, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl; mix well. Stir in pecans.

Spread filling evenly over hot, partially baked crust. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until filling is set and knife inserted 1-inch from edge comes out clean.

Cool; cut into bars. Store refrigerated.

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen