As anyone who has given this blog a good read-through knows, I adore pecans. They are by far my baking nut of choice. I do try to branch out to others occasionally, with the exception of walnuts, but I don’t have a freezer full of pecans for no reason.
Pecan pie is also one of my favorite things. However, I usually only make it twice a year - Thanksgiving and Christmas. Anyway, with the weather feeling more and more like fall, I thought this recipe would be just the right thing.
To make the crust, first beat 1 cup of softened butter. Then, add 2 cups of AP flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. When this is combined, the mixture should be coarse crumbs. Press the crust mixture onto the bottom of a greased/sprayed 15″x10″x1″ pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Place 1 & 1/2 cups of corn syrup and 6 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 90 seconds. Stir, and heat another minute. Stir until chocolate has melted. Alternatively, combine the corn syrup and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat. Add 1 & 1/2 cups of sugar, 4 lightly beaten eggs, and 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Next, stir in 2 & 1/2 cups of chopped pecans.
Pour the filling mixture over the crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until almost set in the center. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
Okay, these are good. Not great, but good. I baked them a bit too long for my liking. Just be sure to keep an eye on them in the oven and not let them get overdone. Everyone else who ate them thought they were excellent, so maybe it’s just me. I think that I would like to make them again but in a smaller pan so they would be thicker. Still, it is chocolate and pecans, so can it really be that bad?
16 responses so far ↓
1 peabody // Sep 19, 2006 at 1:30 am
I’m a pecan pie purist…not chocolate in my pie…but my hubby might like these.
2 Brilynn // Sep 19, 2006 at 8:49 am
They look pretty good to me! There’s a recipe in the new Bon Appetit for a chocolate pecan pie, I’ve been thinking of making that for a while now.
3 jennifer // Sep 19, 2006 at 10:29 am
Peabody, I am normally a purist as well, but I thought I could break with tradition in bar form.
4 Abby // Sep 19, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Sort of like Kentucky Derby pie, sans the crust, right? I like pecan pie, once in a while, it’s just soooooo sweet. I prefer strawberry!
5 jenjen // Sep 19, 2006 at 7:01 pm
pecans are a great nut. I actually do not bake with them often enough but after reading your post and looking at your photos, you have changed my mind : )
6 gilly // Sep 20, 2006 at 9:50 am
I find chocolate and pecans a nice compliment to each other, so I’m sure that I would enjoy these bars too!
7 Michelle // Sep 20, 2006 at 10:42 am
These sound fabulous - anything with chocolate and pecans gets my vote for a tasty treat. Now if I could only find people that would eat all of the treats I want to bake so that my boyfriend and I don’t gain TOO much weight…that, or the money to spend on feeding everyone else!! I like your blog a lot…everything looks so delicious!!
8 Meeta // Sep 20, 2006 at 1:03 pm
WOW! This is a great recipe.I am a huge Pecan fan too and I just bought a fresh bag full. Now I’ll be off tomorrow to buy the rest of the ingredients to make this!
thanks for sharing.
9 connie // Sep 21, 2006 at 5:35 am
your desserts never cease to impress and inspire!
10 jennifer // Sep 21, 2006 at 8:20 am
Thanks, Connie! You’re so sweet!
11 Riana // Sep 22, 2006 at 10:43 am
Oh, oh, I love pecans too!
Grrmbl, so many things to try, so little time…
12 Silver Surfer // Sep 30, 2006 at 2:22 am
You seem to have some discrepancies in the sugar ingredients.
The “Printed” recipe is different than the “website” recipe…
13 jennifer // Sep 30, 2006 at 10:07 am
You are correct, Silver Surfer. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention. I have corrected my mistake. Thanks for dropping by!
14 Veron // Oct 20, 2006 at 12:53 pm
I love pecan bars. I haven’t tried them with chocolate yet and will definitely try this! Perfect for the holidays. Your pictures look so yummy!
15 Erika // Dec 18, 2006 at 6:05 pm
Since you said these were good, not great, I thought I would offer my favorite recipe for chocolate pecan pie bars. Amazingly good (in my opinion). It’s a Rick Bayless recipe and the recipe can be found on his website: http://www.fronterakitchens.com/cooking/recipes/pecan_pie_bars.html
I made these for the 3rd year in a row for Thanksgiving, and will be making them again for Christmas.
16 jennifer // Dec 18, 2006 at 9:33 pm
Thanks for the link, Erika! Those do sound very good.
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