Pecan Bars, Decadent Holiday Favorite

This is our rendition of a very easy pecan bar recipe from the King Arthur Flour Company. They are decadent, taste like memories and would be a perfect baking project for parents and kids for the holidays, or any special occasion.

You might want these instead of pecan pie!

Crust

• A bit of oil or butter for greasing pan

• 18 tablespoons (254g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 3/4 cup (160g) light brown sugar, packed

• 3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt (using 'table' salt, if using Kosher salt make sure to adjust for the size of the crystals). Generally, this would be about 3 grams.

Filling

• 2 cups (227g) chopped pecans or pecan pieces or a bit more as desired.

• 12 table­spoons (170g) unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup (107g) light brown sugar, packed

• 1/3 cup (112g) honey

• 3 tablespoons (42g) heavy cream, crema or milk

• 3 tablespoons (37g) granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat your oven to 325 deg. F.

NOTE: If using a convection oven with the fan turned on, reduce the temperature to 300 deg. F.

Using a small amount of butter or a few drops of oil, grease a 9" x 13" (preferably metal) baking pan. For best results drape a large piece of parchment paper over the pan so that there are 'handles' you can use to pick up the bars when cooled. Press down the center so that it sticks to the pan.

Place the 18 TB of butter for the crust into a bowl along with the sugar. Mix until the the sugar and butter are 'creamed' together. Add the flour and salt. With your fingertips, a fork or a pastry cutter, mix the ingredients until they are somewhat sandy/crumbly in nature. Do not overwork the dough, it should not be holding together at this point.

NOTE: If using a stand mixer, you can do everything in the mixer bowl. Using the flat beater, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the sugar and flour and slowly combine the ingredients until sandy/crumbly. Again, it is important not to overwork the dough. You are essentially making a pie crust akin to shortbread, not bread!

Place the flour mixture into your baking pan, shaking it to have a nice even amount across the pan. With the palms of your hands quickly press the dough down solidly. Place the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Prick the dough with a fork. If the holes aren't being neatly made, or the dough warms up, and gets sticky, put the pan back in the refrigerator. When cooled continue using the fork to aerate the dough.

Bake the crust until it starts to look just lightly golden overall (the edges might get a bit browner). This should take about 28 to 32 minutes. Watch it carefully, do not over bake.

Take the crust out of the oven and sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the crust. If you think you want more nuts, feel free; we used an extra handful. Set aside.

Put the rest of the ingredients for the filling into a pot and heat over medium-high heat until everything is combined and is just starting to boil. This will take 2 or 3 minutes.

Carefully pour the heated filling evenly over the crust and pecans. You might be able to tilt the pan some to even it out, but don't rely on that as it settles in among the nuts and won't move much, so try to make it as even as possible over the whole pan as you pour.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for about 25 or 30 minutes. You will be looking for it to be bubbling very slightly over the entire surface of the pan mixture. Again, be careful not to over bake.

Take the pecan bars out of the oven and let them cool completely, leaving them in the pan. Once they are cool enough, place them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes (or the freezer for 10 minutes). They are much easier to cut when very cool. When cool, removing them from the pan with the parchment paper as handles will be very easy.

For two dozen, cut into 2.2" squares.  Keep in mind that these pecan bars are delicious and decadent when deciding how big to make the final bars! (We made them about 1" square, which results in a lot more 'bites'.)

They will refrigerate or freeze quite well.

Enjoy!