Gooey Pecan Shortbread Bars, All The Pecan Pie Goodness Within Manageable Squares Making This A Great Alternative During Holiday Dinners

I received baking mixes from Krusteaz and Swiss made chef’s knives from Kuhn Rikon to facilitate a review.*

Most of my loyal readers know my brother has a HUGE fondness for pecan pie and really just about any sweet with pecans in it. And since I’m teaming up with Krusteaz I’ve been trying to decide upon the best recipe that would be portable for our family holiday dinners and with Easter just around the corner I decide upon a spin on the traditional pecan pie. I want you to know I’ve been working on this recipe for just over a week now, perfecting it and making sure it was just right. The fact that our family has been enjoying Gooey Pecan Shortbread Bars… repeatedly is completely irrelevant.

Ingredients:

Crust:

I used a Krusteaz Shortbread Cookie mix as my base. I used the amount of butter called for in the directions on the side of the box PLUS one tablespoon more.

1 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans

Filling:

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons butter flavoring extract

4 eggs

7 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon of corn syrup (I used light but dark will bring another layer of richness and a deeper color)

3/4 cup of packed brown sugar (light or dark I’ve tried both with success)

And if you’re feeling like making this recipe your own try adding a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips just before pouring the filling on the top of the  baked crust, before the second bake.

Oven preheated to 350 degrees and coat a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.

I started by turning my oven to 350-degrees. Then I placed not quite room temperature butter (you don’t want runny soft butter) into my stand mixer and turn mixer on low until whipped. Stop, pour in the shortbread mix and mix until combined on low — medium low. Stop your mixer and add in the finely chopped pecans then mix on low until combined, the dough will pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

In a glass baking dish which has been sprayed with cooking spray; trust me, you’ll need the cooking spray if you have any hope of removing your Gooey Pecan Shortbread Bars and having any resemblance of a square (I forgot to spray one of my test batches. Yep it wasn’t pretty). Now pat the pecan shortbread dough until it completely covers the bottom of the pan. Then go around the sides of the pan and push your dough up just a tad around the sides. Just a small edge will make the finished product look nice.

Place the pecan shortbread crust into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes. Remove from over after 11 minutes, DO NOT OVER COOK.

While your crust is baking for eleven minutes its time to create the filling, which is done in two steps and then combined just before pour the gooey pecan ‘pie type’ filling over the finished pecan shortbread crust.

In a medium sauce pan place your corn syrup and brown sugar on LOW heat. Stir/check, you’ll just want the mixture to be warm and the sugar melted. Not bubbling hot or you’ll cook your egg mixture in the next step.

Place your salt, butter extract, vanilla extract, flour, eggs, and coarsely chopped pecans into the mixing bowl. Now mix on low just until combined.

Add just a small amount of the warm brown sugar and syrup mixture into the mixing bowl and mix QUICKLY to temper the egg mixture. Now add just a little more and mix quickly once again. Once you’ve done this twice you can then add in the rest of your sugar mixture and mix until all is combined.

Pour the Gooey Pecan ‘pie type’ filling over your baked pecan shortbread crust. Now place your pan back into the 350-degree oven for 17-25 minutes***. You will need to test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the Gooey Pecan Shortbread Bars, when the toothpick comes out clean it can be removed from the oven. DO NOT OVER BAKE; glass cookware holds heat and the bars will continue to cook once they have been removed from the oven. I waited until my dish cooled down about 15 minutes and then I placed my pan of finished bars into the refrigerator ON TRIVETS to finish cooling. Once I could place my hand on top of the bars and not feel any heat I placed them on my counter. Or you can let your bars cool completely the counter, no one in our house had that kind of will-power.

You will need to let the Gooey Pecan Shortbread Bars come to room temperature before slicing if you cooled them in the refrigerator.

Do you SEE the beautiful pecan shortbread crust, and the dreamy ‘pie like’ GOOEY center, topped with crunchy pecan topping? It’s a beautiful thing! Now you know why I was suggesting on my Facebook business page earlier in the week.

I hope your family enjoys our Gooey Pecan Shortbread Bar recipe as much as we’ve enjoyed testing this yummy recipe. I love the bar feature which will make it perfect for large family dinners or covered dish parties.

Pst . . . look below for a fun surprise!

We’ve partnered up with Kuhn Rikon and we’re giving away a set of 3 Swiss Knives <——- CLICK HERE!

Good Luck!

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*Note: facts and pictures may/may not be taken from the above mentioned site(s) or supplied by myself. Affiliate links are included in this post.*

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