Pecan Pie Bars

I love pecan pie. I just seriously cannot make a from-scratch pie crust for the life of me though! It is on my bucket list however.

BUT…

These might be even better than pecan pie. It has everything you need in a sweet treat. A crisp crust, a delicious sweet filling, and the pecans on top crisped nicely from baking.

If you are a pecan lover, this recipe is for you!

Ingredients for Crust:

• 1 C flour
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 6 TBSP butter, cold, cut into small chunks

Directions for Crust:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray a 8×8 square baking pan with cooking spray
• Place aluminum foil across two of the sides and the bottom of the pan allowing 2 inches past the top of the pan on those two sides. Lightly spray aluminum foil.
• In a medium bowl, place flour, sugar, salt. Stir.
• Add butter and cut into dry ingredients using a pastry cutter. Cut until they resemble coarse crumbs.
• Gently pat mixture into prepared pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

While crust is cooking, prepare the filling.

Ingredients for filling:

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 C honey
• 3/4 C DARK brown sugar, packed
• 3 TBSP butter, melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 2 1/2 C pecans, chopped

Directions for filling:

• In a large bowl, whisk eggs until combined.
• Add honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and sea salt.
• Stir.
• Add pecans and gently stir to combine.
• When crust is done, gently pour into crust. Use a spatula to spread to corners.
• Place back into oven and bake for 25-27 minutes or until filling is set.
• Place pan on a cooling rack.
• When cooled, gently remove the bar from the pan using the aluminum foil to help you. You might need to use a knife around the edges first, and a spatula to help ensure the edges aren’t sticking.
• Cut up bars according to your desire.

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**You may have noticed that I used “sea salt” in the filling and not in the crust. Sea salt lends itself to helping your natural flavors shine a bit more when making something sweet like this treat. Where as when making this crust, normal salt won’t overpower the flavor.

Have a great weekend! I am really excited because next week we are heading out of town! It’s been long overdue!