Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

These chocolate pecan pie bars are the perfect addition to your holiday dessert table! It’s impossible to do better than shortbread crust layered with gooey filling, chocolate, and pecans.

This recipe is free of corn syrup, so you can feel extra good about serving it to everyone. Instead, we use maple syrup, which adds a delicious, distinctive flavor to make them even more special.

Growing up, there was always pumpkin pie and traditional pecan pie on the Thanksgiving table – the two desserts you could always depend on, and often, the only two.

These days, though, I think it’s a lot of fun to change it up and try new things – keep it interesting!

I like making these bars because they’re less formal than pie and make a great hand-held dessert for equally less formal occasions.

My kids and husband devour these chocolate pecan bars every time I make them, though, so I’ve pretty much given up on trying to use them as a potluck dish for our family and church Thanksgiving/Christmas parties. You’ve been warned.

Ingredients for chocolate pecan pie bars

The ingredients for these bars are very similar to what you’ll find in pecan pie. The main difference is that we’re making a shortbread crust, which is much simpler than pie crust, and adding chocolate.

• Butter – this goes in both the crust and the filling. I use salted butter. Unsalted butter can also be used; just be aware that the flavor will seem slightly sweeter.
• Granulated sugar for the crust
• Flour, again, for the crust
• Salt – just a little to balance out the sweetness
• Maple syrup – we’re using this instead of corn syrup because we need an inverted sugar to keep the filling from crystalizing as it cools.
• Light-brown sugar for the filling, for it’s nice, rich flavor
• Eggs to coagulate the filling as it bakes
• Vanilla extract, for flavor
• Pecans, for the obvious pecan flavor and crunch
• Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to complete our incredibly indulgent dessert.

Ingredients substitutions and tips

The most common ingredient substitution I get asked about is maple syrup. Not everyone has it on hand or wants the flavor in their pecan pie bars (it’s delicious, though!).

You can use agave nectar or light corn syrup in its place. I don’t recommend using honey, although you can. I think honey doesn’t bake very well, and the flavor can be overpowering if you’re not careful.

Gluten-free flour in place of all-purpose flour. This is a good swap for those of us with family members who have food allergies. I recommend a mix that doesn’t have too much starch and does have xanthan or guar gum in it to help keep the crust from falling apart. If you do use gluten-free flour, I also don’t recommend lining your baking pan with parchment paper. This makes it too easy for your crust to lift and bake into the filling instead of staying on the bottom.

Other than that, I really wouldn’t recommend changing anything. 

Tips:

For the chocolate, I like to use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Where milk chocolate has too much sweetness to add to your already sweet pecan bars, semi-sweet has a darker flavor that pairs well with the pecans. Dark chocolate chips are also really good.

For the pecans, I prefer to use chopped pecans rather than pecan halves. I just make the bars easier to cut.

It’s usually best to bake with room-temperature eggs. If you store your eggs in the refrigerator, get them out as soon as you prepare to make them. You can even take it a step further and crack it into a bowl to help speed the process of warming up.

How to make Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt
3. Melt butter and stir in until completely combined. The mixture will be a bit crumbly.
   
4. Press mixture into a greased, or parchment paper lined 8×8 inch baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes, until crust just begins to brown.
   
5. Remove from oven
6. While the crust is baking, Whisk eggs, maple sugar, and brown sugar together
7. Add vanilla, salt, and melted butter, whisking until all are completely incorporated.
   
8. Stir in pecans
9. Pour into baked crust.
10. Sprinkle with chocolate chips (note some people like to add the chocolate chips before pouring the filling in. Either way works)
    
11. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes, until pecans have begun to toast on top.
12. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack
13. Slice and remove bars from pan, and serve

What to do with leftovers

In the unlikely event that you have leftover chocolate pecan pie bars, make sure they are cooled completely, then place them in an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper between layers and store them in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

You can also freeze leftover bars in an airtight, freezer-safe container. When ready to consume, let them thaw in the container, in the refrigerator overnight.

More Easy Dessert Recipes for You

• Gluten-Free Gingerbread Bars
• Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Apple Butter Pie
• Pumpkin Dump Cake

 

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