Easy Pecan Pie Bars
Pecan pie for a crowd with no rolling pin: a press-in brown sugar shortbread crust topped with chopped pecans in a quick honey, butter and brown sugar caramel, baked in one 9 by 13-inch pan.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Pecan pie is the hardest Thanksgiving pie to cut for a crowd and the easiest to turn into a bar. King Arthur Baking's version, by Cristal Paredes, swaps the rolled crust for a brown sugar shortbread pressed into the pan by hand and the egg custard for a stovetop caramel of butter, brown sugar, honey and cream, so there is no chilling, no rolling and no blind-baking weights. It is quicker than the classic pie, King Arthur says, feeds a crowd and keeps for days, which makes it the one to bake the night before. Like the old-fashioned pie (our Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup recipe), it uses no corn syrup.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Pecan pie for a crowd with no rolling pin: a press-in brown sugar shortbread crust topped with chopped pecans in a quick honey, butter and brown sugar caramel, baked in one 9 by 13-inch pan.
🇬🇧 The original
The British original is the mince pie: a small, sealed pastry of dried fruit, suet and spice that once held real minced meat. See the British Mince Pies recipe.
📖 Origin story: Who Invented Pecan Pie? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Press-in shortbread
Soft butter and brown sugar make a dough you pat into the pan, and baking it alone first means it stays crisp under the wet topping.
A caramel, not a custard
Boiling the butter, sugars, honey and cream on the stove gives a topping that sets as it cools, with no eggs to curdle or crack.
🧰 You'll need 5 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Appliances
Pans and pots
Tools
Supplies
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch pan and line it with parchment that runs up and over two opposite sides, for a sling.
- Step 2
Beat the soft butter and brown sugar until smooth, then mix in the flour and salt just until a crumbly dough starts to form.
- Step 3
Tip the dough into the pan and press it into an even layer with your hands. If it turns warm and sticky, chill the pan 5 to 10 minutes and keep pressing. Prick it all over with a fork.
- Step 4
Bake the crust 28 to 32 minutes, until lightly golden. Take it out and scatter the chopped pecans evenly over it.
- Step 5
While the crust bakes, put the butter, brown sugar, honey, cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and just starting to boil.
- Step 6
Pour the hot caramel over the pecans and crust, spreading it into the corners. Bake 25 to 30 minutes more at 325°F, until it bubbles across the whole surface.
✓ What it should look like - Step 7
Cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours, then lift out by the parchment and cut into 24 bars.
Easy Pecan Pie Bars
Serves 24 · 24 bars · 1 hr 20 min total
Crust
- 18 tbsp (254 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (160 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp table salt
Topping
- 2 cups (227 g) chopped pecans or pecan pieces
- 12 tbsp (170 g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (107 g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup (112 g) honey
- 3 tbsp (42 g) heavy cream or milk
- 3 tbsp (37 g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp table salt
Equipment: Oven, Saucepan, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Parchment paper
Method
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13-inch pan and line it with parchment that runs up and over two opposite sides, for a sling.
- Beat the soft butter and brown sugar until smooth, then mix in the flour and salt just until a crumbly dough starts to form.
- Tip the dough into the pan and press it into an even layer with your hands. If it turns warm and sticky, chill the pan 5 to 10 minutes and keep pressing. Prick it all over with a fork.
- Bake the crust 28 to 32 minutes, until lightly golden. Take it out and scatter the chopped pecans evenly over it.
- While the crust bakes, put the butter, brown sugar, honey, cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring often, 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and just starting to boil.
- Pour the hot caramel over the pecans and crust, spreading it into the corners. Bake 25 to 30 minutes more at 325°F, until it bubbles across the whole surface.
- Cool completely in the pan, about 2 hours, then lift out by the parchment and cut into 24 bars.
Amounts, the 325°F oven, the 28 to 32 minute crust bake and the 25 to 30 minute final bake are King Arthur's. King Arthur says to cool the bars completely and gives no time; our 2 hours is an estimate. King Arthur Baking. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- For the cleanest cuts, chill the cooled bars 30 minutes and use a long knife wiped between cuts.
- Make them a day ahead; King Arthur keeps them wrapped at room temperature for several days, or frozen longer.
- Pecan pieces are cheaper than halves and work perfectly here.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Bars aren't real pecan pie. Folklore: the flavors are the same; it is the crust and the set that change.
- Pecan pie needs eggs. Folklore: the classic custard pies (our Classic Southern Pecan Pie and Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup recipes) do, but this caramel topping sets without them (King Arthur).
Every other holiday pie
Classic Southern Pecan Pie
The corn syrup pecan pie: eggs, light and dark corn syrup, butter and toasted pecans in a flaky par-baked crust, baked until puffed and just set and crowned with pecan halves.
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup
Pecan pie the way it was made before corn syrup took over: a smooth custard of brown sugar, milk, eggs, butter and a splash of vinegar, with toasted diced pecans inside and halves roasting on top.
Southern Lemon Chess Pie
The South's pantry pie: eggs, sugar, butter, lemon and a spoonful of cornmeal baked in a par-baked crust until the top turns into a thin, crackly sugar crust over a soft, tart custard.
Southern Buttermilk Pie
A tangy Southern custard pie: plenty of buttermilk, eggs and yolks, a little cream, butter and vinegar, baked low to 180°F in a fully baked crust, then flashed in a hot oven for a golden top.
Kentucky Chocolate Walnut Pie with Bourbon
Kentucky's chocolate and walnut pie: a layer of melted bittersweet chocolate in a blind-baked crust under a brown butter, bourbon and brown sugar filling packed with toasted walnuts.
Apple Cranberry Lattice Pie
A Thanksgiving fruit pie in two layers: cinnamon apples on a bed of pecans, topped with cranberries cooked down with sugar, orange juice and zest, under a golden lattice.
Indiana Sugar Cream Pie (Hoosier Pie)
Indiana's eggless pie: sugar, heavy cream, butter and vanilla cooked into a thick custard on the stove, poured into a fully baked crust, chilled until sliceable and dusted with nutmeg.
Pennsylvania Dutch Shoofly Pie
The Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast pie: a wet-bottom molasses filling lightened with baking soda and boiling water, under a spiced brown sugar crumb top, in a flaky sour cream crust.
Gooey Butter Pie with Oat Cookie Crust
A dense, gooey butter and brown sugar filling thickened with egg yolks and milk powder, in a crust of crumbled homemade oat cookie, baked briefly and frozen until it slices like soft caramel. Inspired by Milk Bar's Milk Bar Pie; not official.
British Mince Pies
Britain's Christmas pies: small sweet shortcrust tarts filled with a week-old mincemeat of beef suet, raisins, currants, peel, grated apple, citrus, spice, brandy, rum, port and sherry, with sugared star or round lids.
Canadian Butter Tarts
Canada's own tart: flaky little pastry cups in a muffin pan, filled with a runny, just-set mix of brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs and a dash of vinegar, with raisins or without.
Quebec Tarte au Sucre (Brown Sugar Pie)
The French Canadian sugar pie: a thick, custardy filling of brown sugar, cream, butter, flour, egg and vanilla in a deep-dish crust, topped with braided or woven pastry strips and baked until the center barely jiggles.
English Treacle Tart
Britain's golden syrup tart: soft white breadcrumbs soaked in golden syrup, brightened with orange, stem ginger and a spoonful of black treacle, baked in a blind-baked wholemeal pastry case.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.