Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Skip the effort of a full pie and make these Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars instead. All the gooey flavor with a buttery shortbread crust and lots of chocolate. These pecan pie bars are the best kind of blend because traditional pie and a gooey brownie. Perfect for any dessert table.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ⏲️Ready In: 50 Minutes
- 👪Serves: 14
- 🍽 Calories: 609 kcals
- 📋Main Ingredients: Flour, corn syrup, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, and butter.
- ⭐ Why You’ll Love It: Sticky, gooey, and deliciously indulgent, these pecan pie bars are the best kind of handheld dessert.
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These chocolate pecan pie bars with shortbread crust are SO much easier to serve than a full-on pie, but no less indulgent. This makes them one of my go-tos for holiday dessert tables, potlucks, or cookie exchanges (along with this hot cocoa dip with marshmallow fluff).
I almost always make desserts like this a day ahead because I think they taste even better once the filling has had time to set. The buttery shortbread crust stays crisp, while the gooey chocolate pecan filling becomes rich, chewy, and packed with flavor in every bite. Paired with my no oil chocolate chip banana bread they’re also perfect for baseball tournament weekends as the kids devour them.
Jump to:
- A Quick Look At The Recipe
- What Makes These Different? 💭
- Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flavor To Try
- How To make Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
- Helpful Hints
- How To Serve Them
- Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars FAQs
- More Delicious Dessert Recipes
- Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes with Cake Mix
- Hot Cocoa Dip With Marshmallow Fluff
- White Texas Sheet Cake
- Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
What Makes These Different? 💭
Easier than pie: They make-ahead pecan pie bars much easier to serve than a traditional pecan pie since you can simply slice them into bars and let everyone help themselves.
Super chocolate-y: Chocolate is layered into every bite, giving these bars the perfect balance of gooey pecan pie filling and rich chocolate flavor, just like this homemade hot chocolate with a chocolate bar.
Shortbread base: In place of homemade pie dough, the bars have a buttery shortbread crust which pairs beautifully with the pecan filling.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Butter: Use unsalted butter so that you can control the flavor. And make sure it’s melted before you need it.
Brown sugar: This will give the pecan pie filling in the bars a thicker, richer taste than regular sugar. The same is true for cinnamon stewed pears.
Corn syrup: If you can find “light” corn syrup, it works better and makes it so that the bars less heavy.
Chocolate chips: We use semi-sweet, but totally dark chocolate chips work as well for a deeper taste.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Flavor To Try
Bourbon: Add a splash of extract to the pecan pie filling for a crazy, warming taste.
Salted chocolate: Sprinkle the tops of the bars with large, flaked seats alt for a sweet and salty contrast.
Caramel: Add a drizzle of caramel sauce to the top of the Thanksgiving chocolate pecan bars for maximum indulgence. I do this with my easy mini gingerbread cheesecakes sometimes, and it is the BEST.
How To make Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Step 1: Mix together 1 cup of butter, the flour, powdered sugar, and salt until a dough forms.
Step 2: Press the shortbread dough into a lined baking dish and bake it for 15 minutes.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, remaining butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Then, stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.
Step 4: Pour the filling over the warm crust and smooth it out before baking for another 30 minutes. Let them cool, slice, and enjoy!
Note
Don’t slice the holiday pecan dessert bars until fully cooled! Otherwise, the shortbread crust can tear.
Helpful Hints
Pro tip: Room Temp Butter
Before you mix the butter and eggs together, make sure that the butter is mostly cool so that it doesn’t accidentally cook the eggs.
- Take the time to line your pan with parchment paper to make the removal of the bars that much easier.
- Don’t overmix the batter when you add the chocolate chips and pecans. Just stir them until mostly combined.
- Store the easy pecan pie bars for a crowd in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. You can enjoy them chilled, let them sit at room temperature, or even heat them up ever so slightly before you enjoy them again.
How To Serve Them
Use these dessert bars for a tasty end to a Sunday night dinner, a holiday potluck, or a treat for the kids after practice.
- They’re delicious after a hearty meal of high-protein eggplant lasagna or my copycat Longhorn Steakhouse mac and cheese recipe.
- Great as part of a dessert spread with keto coffee cookies or 3-ingredient peppermint chocolate fudge.
- Perfect for kids on game days, paired with blender muffins with Greek yogurt.
Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars FAQs
Yes! Once the bars have cooled completely, slice them and place them in a freezer-safe container with parchment paper between the layers to prevent sticking. Freeze the bars for up to 3 months, then thaw them overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
They’re delicious either way, but I actually prefer them at room temperature. The filling has time to fully set, making the bars easier to slice while still staying soft and gooey. If you’d like an extra indulgent treat, warm a bar in the microwave for 10–15 seconds and serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
More Delicious Dessert Recipes
If you tried this Chocolate Pecan Pie Bar Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes!
Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the shortbread crust
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
For the pecan pie filling
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- 1 1/2 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper, leaving the edges hanging over the edge. Set aside.
- To a large bowl combine the melted butter, flour, powdered sugar and salt. Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake the crust for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
- While the crust is baking and cooling, add the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, 1/4 cup of melted butter, vanilla and salt and stir until smooth and well mixed. Stir in the chopped pecans and chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Pour the filling over the warm crust and spread evenly. Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the center is set and no longer jiggly.
Notes
Nutrition
Equipment
- 9×3 Baking Pan
My kids love the gooey chocolate flavor in these!