Pecan pie bars are pecan pie baked in a sheet: a buttery shortbread crust pressed into a pan, topped with the familiar filling of brown sugar, eggs, butter and pecans, then baked until set, chilled and cut into squares. They need no rolling pin and no crimping, they travel in a single pan, and one batch feeds far more people than a pie. The two steps that matter most are both on the board: chopping the pecans to an even size, and cutting the cold slab into clean bars.

For a holiday table with a long dessert spread, bars are often the more practical form. Here is how to make them and how to cut them well.

The crust

A pressed shortbread crust is sturdier than pie pastry and holds a clean edge when cut.

For a 9 by 13 inch pan:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Line the pan with parchment, leaving two long flaps hanging over the sides. These flaps are what let you lift the whole slab out later, which is the key to clean cutting.

Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor, add the butter, and pulse until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when squeezed. Without a processor, rub the butter in with your fingertips.

Press it evenly into the pan with the bottom of a measuring cup. Prick it with a fork and bake at 350°F for about 18 to 20 minutes, until the edges are pale gold. A par-baked crust stays crisp under the wet filling.

The filling

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup light corn syrup or maple syrup
  • 6 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2½ cups pecans, half chopped, half left as halves

Whisk the eggs, sugar, syrup, butter, vanilla and salt until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans.

Pour the filling over the warm crust, then arrange the pecan halves on top. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges are set and the center jiggles only slightly when you nudge the pan. It firms up as it cools.

Chop the pecans evenly

The chopped pecans suspend in the filling, so their size decides the texture of every bite. Pieces about the size of a pea are right. Larger chunks make the bars hard to cut cleanly; dust-fine pieces disappear.

Pile the pecans in the center of the board. Hold the tip of a chef’s knife down with your guiding hand and rock the handle up and down through the pile, gathering the pieces back to the middle every few strokes. The guide to chopping nuts goes into technique and how to keep pieces from scattering across the counter.

Toasting the pecans first, eight minutes at 350°F, deepens their flavor. Let them cool before chopping; warm nuts are oily and smear.

Chill before you cut

This is the step people skip, and it is why bars come out ragged.

Let the pan cool on a rack for up to two hours. The filling is egg-rich, so it should not sit at room temperature longer than that. Then refrigerate it, uncovered until it is cold, for at least two more hours or overnight.

The filling needs to be firm all the way through. Warm pecan filling is sticky and soft, and it drags under the knife and tears away from the crust.

Bars can be made a day or two ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, which makes them a useful dessert for a busy week.

Cut clean bars

Lift the cold slab out of the pan by the parchment flaps and set it on the board. Cutting outside the pan means the knife can go straight down, with no pan sides in the way and no scraping on metal.

  1. Trim the edges. Cut a thin strip from all four sides. The edges are always drier and darker, and trimming them gives every bar straight sides. (The trimmings are the baker’s share.)
  2. Use a long, sharp knife. A chef’s knife at least eight inches long cuts across the slab in one stroke.
  3. Heat the blade. Dip the knife in hot water and wipe it dry before each cut. A warm blade glides through the filling instead of dragging it.
  4. Press straight down. Do not saw. Press down firmly, then pull the knife out toward you.
  5. Wipe between cuts. Filling builds up on the blade and smears the next cut.

A 9 by 13 pan cuts into 24 bars of about 2 inches square, or 48 small squares for a dessert platter. Cutting brownies and bars covers the grid and how to measure it.

The board for it

A full slab of bars, with the parchment, needs a board with some room. The WONAMU. acacia cutting board is 12 by 9 inches, enough for a half slab at a time, with a perimeter juice groove that keeps crumbs and the trimmings in one place. Its weight keeps it steady under a long, pressing cut.

Wipe off the sugar with warm soapy water while it is still soft, then dry the board on edge.

Bars also look good served on the board they were cut on, with the squares lifted slightly apart.

Variations

  • Maple pecan bars. Use maple syrup instead of corn syrup and add a pinch of cinnamon.
  • Chocolate pecan. Scatter a cup of chopped dark chocolate over the crust before adding the filling.
  • Bourbon. Add two tablespoons of bourbon to the filling.
  • Salted. Finish the cut bars with a few flakes of sea salt.

Common mistakes

  • Cutting warm bars. The filling sticks to the knife and the bars lose their shape.
  • Skipping the parchment sling. Bars cut in the pan have ragged corners, and the first bar always breaks.
  • Underbaking. A center that is still liquid when the pan is nudged will not set as it cools.
  • Chopping the nuts too coarsely. Large pieces catch the knife and break the filling.

The short version

Press a shortbread crust into a parchment-lined pan and par-bake it. Pour on a filling of eggs, brown sugar, syrup, butter and evenly chopped pecans, top with pecan halves, and bake until the center barely jiggles.

Cool and chill the slab completely, lift it out on the parchment, trim the edges, and cut straight down with a long knife warmed in hot water.

❋

WONAMU. makes an acacia cutting board designed for daily prep, 12 × 9 inches, acacia, with a perimeter juice groove. Available on Amazon.

Designed by nature.