Bourbon pecan pie bars – your favourite pecan pie bite-sized! Enjoy the sweet, boozy, delicious flavours of pecan pie minus all the challenges of making one.
(Can’t get enough of pecan desserts? Try pecan pie cheesecake bars, chocolate chip pecan cookies and banana bread with pecans. So good!)
It’s November and the holiday baking season is in full swing. Technically however, the baking frenzy at our house started early because Canadian Thanksgiving happens in October (lots of people are surprised to know this!).
American Thanksgiving is coming up though and to celebrate with my American friends, from now until then I will share some amazing desserts that are not only delicious but also a breeze to make.
Let’s start with these bourbon pecan pie bars. The name says it all – boozy, sweet, nutty (i.e. tasting like nuts and not insane…though, can also mean insanely good)! And you can make them quicker than you can say pie.
Shortbread crust
The crust I used here is the same crust I used for my favourite lemon bars. It’s tender but sturdy enough to hold the filling on top. It’s also the right amount of sweetness to complement the bourbon pecan topping.
Related: Pumpkin Pecan Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping
Scrumptious golden syrup
Next I used golden syrup
instead of the usual corn syrup. Have you heard of it? I first tasted it when I made my treacle tart and oh my word I was hooked. It is fantastic.
I think it’s more widely known in the U.K. and not so much in North America but it is available.
It has a very distinct taste. It’s sweet but doesn’t taste like honey or maple syrup. It’s a little hard to describe suffice it to say it is good.
You can use corn syrup in this recipe but if you get the chance, grab a bottle of golden syrup you won’t regret it!
Bourbon or no bourbon?
You can also choose to leave out the bourbon here but it’s the holidays! I say go for it.
It adds to the awesomeness of every bite. It won’t be so boozy that you’d get drunk but I promise it will be yummy.
Related: Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Cream & Bourbon Salted Caramel Sauce
Bourbon pecan pie bars
And did I mention this is a breeze to make? Watch the video and see how easy!
You have no pie crust to worry about – no chilling, no rolling, no crimping. You can enjoy all the goodness of pecan pie without all the hassle.
So this Thanksgiving, serve some bourbon pecan pie bars and spend more time with your guests instead of in the kitchen!
Bourbon Pecan Pie Bars with Shortbread Crust
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Shortbread Crust:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
For the Bourbon Pecan Pie Topping:
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar tightly packed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup golden syrup you can substitute corn syrup
- 4 pcs large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp bourbon
- 2 cups pecans roughly chopped
Instructions
For the Shortbread Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9×13 inch baking pan by lining it with parchment paper with a slight overhang on each side. Set aside.
- Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat all ingredients until it resembles a coarse meal. Do not over beat. You’ll know you’re done when no big chunks of butter remain.
- Press evenly and firmly onto the bottom of your pan (make sure the crust is packed tightly and evenly so you won’t have to deal with a possible seeping situation later).
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges start turning a light golden brown.
- Take out of the oven while you work on your filling. Do not turn oven off.
For the Bourbon Pecan Pie Topping:
- Put all ingredients in a large bowl except the pecans. Stir until thoroughly combined. Add the pecans and stir.
- Transfer onto your prepared crust and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted close to the edge comes out with minimal dry crumbs. Cool in the pan before slicing into bars.
Video
Notes
- The yield depends on how big you slice the bars. These are very rich so a little goes a long way. We’ve found slicing them into 40 squares results to perfect bite-size pieces but you can slice them bigger if you like.
- In the ingredient list above, I put 2 cups of pecans but feel free to add more. I usually use between 2 and 2 ½ cups of nuts to cover my whole pan.
- We store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge. It is absolutely delightful chilled!
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Happy baking!
Did you make pecan bars? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Claire
I just love golden syrup so I knew I had to make these!
THEY WERE SO GOOD! I planned to take some to a friends house, but there wasn’t enough left!
I’m going to make these for our cookie exchange this year!
Jolina
Yay! 🙂 They are pretty popular here too. Everyone loves them. Golden syrup is just so goooood.
Lala
Hi Jolina, I’m Canadian too and buy golden syrup at our local sobey’s. I’ve been making your pecan bars for a while now and they’re become my “thing” at family gatherings which is funnny because I’m not known as the baker. Another batch is in the oven for our friendsgiving. Thank you Jolina and a happy thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
Jolina
Hello Lala! You are most welcome and hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving 🙂
Giselle
I saw your video on facebook and made it the next day. Skipped the bourbon so my kids can eat it and used maple syrup. The bars were delicious. Hubby wants a bourbon version for Thanksgiving. Thanks for the recipe!
Jolina
You’re most welcome Giselle! Glad you and the family liked it. Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving 🙂
Susan
Hi. I’ve read comments on several other recipes that complained about the edges coming out too hard. Does this recipe have that problem? If so, do you know how much to shorten the baking time?
Jolina
Hi Susan. This has crusty, but not burnt, edges. To avoid tough edges, I usually take the pan out of the oven when my toothpick tester comes out with minimal crumbs – not wet batter but not thoroughly clean either. I find that if a toothpick comes out clean then I’d overbaked it. And if I did, I just trim the edges a little and it looks like nothing happened 🙂 Hope this helps!
Red
HI – thank you for this!!! Is there any way to make it without Corn Syrup? I have made Pecan pies with just eggs, butter and sugar…. I would rather not corn syrup if possible…
Jolina
Hi Red! I’m not sure as I haven’t tried. This might help: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-substitute-corn-syrup-article
Tess
HI Jolina,
the recipe is super easy with such a highly delicious payoff!!! thank you!
i brought it to a Friendsgiving party and it was a hit!
i do have a question, do you know why the crust was separating from the pecans when it cooled?
thank you again for the great recipes and tips you provide us (especially me, the ill-bake-when-i feel-like-it lady )
Jolina
Hi Tess. Glad to hear you and your friends liked the bars. I don’t know why the crust would separate from the pecans TBH…did it shrink in some way? Here’s a link I hope you find useful! – https://food52.com/blog/14789-kitchen-rescue-how-to-fix-10-common-pie-problems
Tess
i did it again and i made sure i packed it really well!!! that did the trick. i also tried agave syrup– supposed to be a tad healthier but meh, corn syrup was better haha
Jolina
LOL I’m glad it worked out! Hope you find golden syrup though. It’s really good…. 🙂
Lin Oh
Marvelous! However I reduced the brown sugar to 1/4 cup and increased pecan to 250g – I find 200g pecan cannot cover the whole surface.
Jolina
Awesome! Glad you liked it 🙂
Tasha Dewdney
I would definitely break my diet for this! Sounds like and looks like a very fulfilling snack treat
Sudhakar
Golden syrup is awesome stuff. Great on porridge. Excellent recipe.
Dawn
Oh yum! Holiday baking is well underway around here and these would be lovely to add to the list!! Love how easy they are to make and the touch of bourbon! It’s like a cocktail and dessert in one 😉 Cheers to an awesome weekend! P.S. We watched more of Star Trek Discovery last night and absolutely love it!
Jolina
Cocktail and dessert in one – I love that! You always think of the best things 🙂 It’s a good show, eh? We’re totally hooked!
Linda
This bourbon pecan pie bars look like a real dream. I am currently at work and this is something that I could totally and happily snack on.
Lauren
Omg I NEED to make this!!
Krystal
These look really good. I think they’d make the perfect Thanksgiving dessert!
Jen S
I love love love pecan pie. This looks heavenly! I was looking for a fall recipe to make this weekend, maybe I’ll give this a try.
Kim
Love this idea! I love pecan pie, but as someone who is trying to eat healthier, I didn’t know how I was going to enjoy it without diving in ( I’m not the type of person to be able to turn down desserts lol). When things are bite-sized, I tend to stop myself at one, maybe two, so I think this will be the “healthier” option for me and the family!