These Pecan Pie Bars are made by topping a buttery shortbread crust with a custardy filling and crunchy pecans. It’s an easy recipe that’s made without corn syrup, but it still delivers the classic flavors and textures of your favorite pie! Best of all, these bars can be made up to 2 days in advance for ease.
“I was using the Barefoot Contessa’s receipe for years and loved the idea of the sweetened condensed milk and made these and they are very different but I love these more as they are more moist and not so sticky.” – Jeff, So Much Food reader
Table of contents
Your Favorite Pecan Pie, as Easy-to-Make Bars!
These easy pecan pie bars are everything you love about pecan pie, but they’re SO much easier to make. There’s no pie crust to chill, roll out, and crimp and no fancy decorating techniques — just a super simple shortbread crust and a custardy pecan filling!
And instead of corn syrup, these pecans pie bars are made with sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk caramelizes as it bakes and gives the filling an almost dulce de leche-esque flavor.
This an easy dessert to prep for a big crowd, making it a favorite for the holidays. You can double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13 to serve a whole host of people!
Jenny’s Tip: If you love pecan pie, be sure to make my Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe next!
Jenny’s Tips for Making Pecan Pie Bars
Use room temperature ingredients. When at room temperature, eggs, butter, and other dairy ingredients form an emulsion which traps air. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy baked good. Fluffy baked goods = tender crumbs and a much better texture. Cold ingredients do not incorporate together as easily. Or even at all!
Use a quality baking pan. I always use USA nonstick pans because they are top of the line! They distribute heat evenly and release baked goods with ease. This is my favorite baking dish for these bars.
Grease AND line your baking pan. Pecan pie bars are sticky! To keep your bars from sticking to your baking pan, lightly grease the baking pan before lining the whole thing with parchment paper so that there’s a bit of overhang. This will make your life so much easier when it comes to pulling the bars out of the pan.
Bake low and slow. Baking the bars at 325ºF instead of 350ºF allows us to bake the bars all the way through without the edges drying out. You’ll end up with a perfectly tender bars that have zero curdling.
The Main Ingredients (+ Substitutions)
- Sweetened condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk replaces the corn syrup in the classic recipe. You could use corn syrup, but I urge you to give this a try.
- Chopped pecans. You can buy chopped pecans or chop them yourself.
- Eggs. Eggs help thicken the filling so that it’s almost custard-like.
- Salted butter. The salted butter in the shortbread crust really balances out the sweetness of the filling. Who doesn’t love a salty-sweet dessert? You can use unsalted butter if that’s what you have.
- Sugar. You’ll need both brown and granulated sugar for this recipe.
- Vanilla bean paste. Vanilla bean paste is studded with vanilla bean seeds. It’s readily available in most stores and gives an intense vanilla flavor. You can use pure vanilla extract as well.
- Flour. All-purpose flour for the crust is best.
- Flaky sea salt. Topping the bars with flaky sea salt after baking adds the perfect hint of salt.
A Few Tools You’ll Need
Here’s How to Make Pecan Pie Bars Without Corn Syrup
- Make the crust, then chill. The trick to making a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crust is to beat the butter and sugars together for a good 5 minutes before adding in the remaining ingredients. Once the dough comes together, press it into the bottom of a lined baking dish and chill for an hour.
- Pre-bake the crust. Since the pecan pie filling is so moist, you need to bake the crust beforehand to prevent it from becoming soggy.
- Make the pecan pie filling. Just mix everything together in a bowl. So easy!
- Cool and refrigerate. Wait until the crust has cooled before pouring in the filling (you don’t want to scramble the eggs!). After baking, the bars need to cool to room temp and then chill in the fridge for 2 hours before slicing.
Want to Make These Bars in Advance? Here’s How
These corn syrup-free pecan pie bars are PERFECT for making in advance. I typically make them the night before I am serving them, and leave them in the pan (uncut) and refrigerate.
To make ahead: Follow the recipe as written. Refrigerate for up to 2 days uncut. Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars and serving.
You can also prepare the bars in steps. You could make the crust ahead of time and refrigerate and bake the day of. This recipe is really flexible!
If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.
More Easy Thanksgiving Dessert Bars You’ll Love
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Corn Syrup-Free Pecan Pie Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 10 tablespoons (5 oz) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1 – 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups chopped pecans
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
Make the Crust
- Prep your pan. Grease and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Leave a bit of overhang for easy removal.
- Make the crust. Beat the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Beat for about 5 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very fluffy. Add the flour and vanilla and beat until just mixed.
- Chill the crust. Press into an even layer in the prepared pan and chill 1 hour.
- Bake the crust. Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Prick the crust all over with a fork. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown and slightly puffed. Cool to room temperature.
- Make the filling. Lower the oven temperature to 325ºF. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, and salt until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans. Pour the filling over the cooled crust.
- Bake at 325ºF. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the edges are puffed but the middle is still slightly jiggly. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt, if desired.
- Cool, then chill. Cool the bars for 1 hour at room temperature and then refrigerate for 2 hours before cutting and serving.
Notes
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Rate & Review This Recipe
I was using the Barefoot Contessa’s receipe for years and loved the idea of the sweetened condensed milk and made these and they are very different but I love these more as they are more moist and not so sticky. I can’t figure out why in the photo the center looks yellow almost like pumpkin but mine look very white. I did do one thing the Barefoot Contessa does and that is after I cut them into small squares I dipped half of the square into a warm chocolate ganache sauce and sprinkled that with the sea salt and I have to say it really adds! This will be my new go to recipe!
Hi Jeff! Different brands of sweetened condensed milk caramelize at different rates–I always use Eagle Brand. Genius to dip them in chocolate!