These are simply addictive.  Had these as a homemade gift from my boss for the holidays and immediately asked for the recipe.  It is an easy one, a party favourite, and hard to mess up dessert.  If you love your pecans this is the one to try out.  Three main layers that are all easy to make, not just for the holidays but all year round.

Time:

35 min

Serves:

4-6

Good for:

• Hearty warm stew
• Surprisingly kid approved
• Can easily be vegetarian (remove the meat)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pecans

for the crust:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature)
• ¼  cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ tspn salt

for the filling:

• 2 large eggs, (room temperature)
• ½  cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• ½ cup dark or light corn syrup
• 1 tspn cream (can use half-and-half, or a light or heavy cream)
• 1 tspn all purpose flour
• ¼  tspn salt
• 1 tspn vanilla extract

Kitchen things you’ll need:

• 8 inch baking square pan
• Large bowl
• Mixer (hand or standing)
• Wire rack
• Whisk

Making it:

• Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil. Then butter the foil, or spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
• Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then coarsely chop (you can use a blender for this and roughly pulse.
• To make the crust, place the butter in a bowl and using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or with a hand mixer beat until smooth.
• Add the brown sugar and beat until combined then add the flour and salt and beat until you have coarse crumbs (not a solid ball of dough).
• Press the mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for about 13-15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.
• In a large bowl whisk or beat the eggs until foamy. Add the brown sugar, golden (or corn) syrup, cream, flour, salt, and vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Pour over the baked crust and then sprinkle with the chopped pecans then bake for about 25 minutes or until the filling has set.
• Let it cool in the pan and then cut it into squares (bars). Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen.

Tips/notes:

• Feel free to add more flavour by adding sprinkles of nutmeg and cinnamon.
• You can also combine almonds to the chopped pecan mix for more texture.