This Is the Best Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars Recipe

Imagine how great normal pecan pie is, I mean who doesn’t love pecan pie? Now visualize it being compacted into bite-sized pieces and mixing chocolate chips into the filling, sounds pretty awesome right?

Besides this recipe being one of the best pecan pie bars recipes out there, we take it a step further by sprucing it up for you! Adding those extra pieces of chocolate in there will literally turn these into the most addictive dessert ever!

The moment you make these and take them to family gatherings, Friendsgiving, or anywhere in between, there will be no question on who gets the praise when it comes to bringing the best desserts.

Why You Need to Make This Recipe

• Skip the boring usual actual pie and make something new instead!
• Take everyone’s favorite dessert and add a fun depth of flavor with a secret ingredient!
• It makes the perfect treat to enjoy the best time of year!
• You can create a new fun tradition with your little ones and have them help you with baking this recipe for the years to come.
• It really only requires a few simple ingredients.

Ingredients For This Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars Recipe 

Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page for the detailed ingredient measurements.

Crust Ingredients

• Butter: A buttery shortbread crust can be the best part of the pie itself and using a good butter is the best way to get it. Aside from the amazing texture of the crust, butter specifically adds a flavor to the crust so the better the quality of the butter, the better the flavor of the crust.
• Sugar: Sugar is of course used to sweeten and even caramelize the crust to give it a flavor similar to a shortbread cookie. You will be using granulated white sugar for this part.
• Salt: With anything sweet, you’ll want to add salt to the mix. Salt actually enhances and balances the sweetness of whatever dessert you’re making. Just add a pinch though, you won’t need too much for it to do the trick.
• Vanilla Extract: Like all delicious shortbreads, vanilla is the other half of the flavor equation alongside butter. And just like the butter, the higher quality brands will deliver the best results. Click the link of this ingredient if you need help deciding which brand to use.
• All-Purpose Flour: Flour is responsible for giving the structure of the tender shortbread crust.
• Cornstarch: Similar to the flour, cornstarch will absorb the moisture of the mixture allow the crust to hold its shape, and give it a more tender bite!

Filling Ingredients

• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is what gives pecan pie filling its luscious and velvety smooth creaminess and texture.
• Egg: The addition of eggs helps all of the ingredients hold and bind together.
• Brown Sugar: Brown sugar serves a dual purpose in the fact that it adds both moisture and sweetness at the same time.
• Light Corn Syrup: Very similar to the brown sugar. Corn syrup adds moisture to the texture and sweetness to the flavor in one ingredient. We use light corn syrup for this recipe but you could use dark corn syrup for a deeper, extra-sweet flavor.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds additional depth of flavor and specifically goes well with chocolate chips because vanilla helps enhance the flavor of chocolate.
• Salt: Just like with the crust, dropping a pinch of salt into the mix will greatly balance the overall flavor of the entire filling.
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch is essential for absorbing some of the excess moisture and making the filling more viscous so it’s not too runny.
• Pecans: The star of the show. Soft yet crunchy pecans on their own taste like buttery heaven, but in a pie bar form, it’s on a whole other level.
• Chocolate Chips: The secret ingredient that makes these chocolate pecan bars so special. With there being multiple different types of chocolate, you could play around with this part. This recipe calls for semi-sweet chocolate chips, and there’s a good one linked to this ingredient. But if you want a deeper, more intense chocolate flavor you could use dark chocolate chips. Or there is the option for white chocolate chips for all of the white chocolate lovers out there. White chocolate could even add a cute Christmas look to the bars.

How To Make This Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars Recipe

Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page for the full step-by-step instructions.

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350F. Then line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. To make the pie bar crust, take a large mixing bowl and drop in the flour, salt, and cornstarch. Start mixing. Add the melted butter to the mixture and work it in until cookie dough forms.
3. Pour the dough onto the prepared baking pan and press it in. Bake for 15 minutes. Once that time is up, remove the crust from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325F.
4. In a separate large bowl, make the gooey filling by mixing the eggs, brown sugar, light corn syrup, heavy cream, salt, vanilla extract, and cornstarch until combined. Stir in the pecan halves and the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the pecan pie filling on top of the crust and bake for 25-30 minutes. The edges will be golden brown, and the center will have a slight jiggle to it.
6. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely before transferring it to chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Slice the bars and serve.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ

How To Store Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars?

Storing your pecan pie bars is very simple, all you need is an airtight container with a lid that has a good seal. Once the bars are in, you can store them in the fridge for a week.

Make sure to pull them out for a little bit and allow them to get back to room temperature before enjoying them otherwise, they will be a little too crunchy.

Can I Freeze These Pecan Pie Chocolate Pie Bars?

You sure can!

Place them in an airtight container with a lid that has a good seal on it or even in a ziplock bag or freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

Once you are ready to enjoy thaw in the fridge overnight and allow them to get back to room temperature before enjoying them!

The Best Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars Recipe

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