Even though I recently made buttertarts, I needed to bring back that sweet, gooey texture to my mouth. I didn’t want to make the EXACT same recipe though. So I thought of pie. Pecan pie to be exact. And then I thought “if I make bars, I could eat the whole ‘pie’ and not feel bad”. So that’s what I did. I made pie-bars.
Also, I made this recipe at Christmas and the bars got completely eaten up. So, I made two batches to give away to a friend of mine who is having a birthday. One tray for her and her family, one tray for me and my stomach. Sounds fair to me.
This recipe makes 16 beautiful 2-inch squares. It is a family favorite, and I found it written on an old cue-card. I miss the old way of recording recipes! I find it amazing how my Nanny remembers where all the scrap pieces of paper are. She always does though. When I ask “Nan, where’s the butterscotch pie recipe”, she’ll reply “it’s not in the book, it’s above the microwave under the tortilla dip card”….uh ok! Sweet.
Ingredients:
Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
Topping
2 large eggs
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sugar
6 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups pecan halves
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8 x 8-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. To make the crust, combine flour, icing sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low speed to combine. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the ingredients just begin to come together in clumps. Sprinkle the mixture across the bottom of the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes, then bake the crust until the edges are just golden (about 18 to 20 minutes). When crust comes out of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
3. Meanwhile, to make the topping, whisk together the eggs, butter, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla. Stir in the pecans.
4. Pour the filling over the hot crust and return to the oven. Bake until the filling is just set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool completely.
5. Use a sharp knife to cut into squares.
NOTE: Bars will keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days. But you know they won’t last that long :P