Description
Maple pecan pie bars make the BEST dessert! Made with maple syrup (no corn syrup!), you’ll love these delicious pecan pie bars!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
Filling
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp bourbon
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp maple extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Topping
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- flaky salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make crust: Whisk together melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; add to butter mixture and fold in until completely incorporated. Press dough evenly into bottom of prepared pan.
- Bake crust for 16 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. While the crust is cooling, increase oven temperature to 400°F and make filling.
- Make filling: Place sugar in a medium bowl. Cook butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns a medium brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add to bowl with the sugar.
- Combine maple syrup and bourbon in the same saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat until the mixture reaches 225°F, about 10 minutes. Immediately pour the mixture into the bowl with the sugar and brown butter. Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth.
- Slowly pour in the eggs while whisking constantly until smooth and combined; whisk in maple extract and salt. Pour warm filling over partially baked crust and top with pecan halves.
- Bake bars for 10 minutes at 400°F, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking 30 minutes (for a total time of 40 minutes), until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove bars from the oven and brush the pecans with maple syrup. Sprinkle the bars with flaky salt, and let cool completely on a wire rack. Carefully lift parchment and place bars on a cutting board; cut into squares with a sharp knife.
- Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Notes
Maple extract: Pure maple extract adds rich maple flavor to the filling. If you don’t have maple extract on hand, substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Pecan topping: Pecan halves make the prettiest pecan bars. You can also used chopped pecans or walnuts.