Pecan Squares
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Like pecan pie in bar form, these indulgent pecan squares with a buttery shortbread crust and rich caramel-pecan topping are an irresistible (and easy!) holiday favorite.
If you’re a fan of my bourbon pecan pie and candied pecans, you’ll love these pecan squares. With a buttery shortbread crust and rich caramel-pecan topping, they’re an indulgent treat—the perfect office snack, potluck dessert, or hostess gift for the holidays. And the best part? They’re easy to make!
Table of Contents
“I made these for the first time about 2 months ago. My family has not stopped requesting them since. Today will be the 4th time in 8 weeks. Soo good!”
What You’ll Need To Make Pecan Squares
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the crust, providing structure and stability to support the rich filling. To ensure accuracy, measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off.
- Cornstarch: Blended with the flour, cornstarch gives the crust a crisper texture.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Sweetens the crust and helps achieve a shortbread-like consistency.
- Unsalted Butter: Creates a flaky, buttery crust by incorporating small pockets of fat that melt during baking. The butter in the filling adds richness and helps create the gooey, caramel-like consistency that holds the pecans together.
- Light Brown Sugar: Sweetens the filling with a deep, molasses-like flavor, complementing the pecans. When measuring brown sugar, always pack it tightly to eliminate air pockets.
- Honey: Adds sweetness and a touch of warmth, enhancing the overall flavor of the filling.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor of the caramel with its aromatic richness.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Adds creaminess and helps achieve the silky, smooth texture of the filling.
- Chopped Pecans: Provide crunch and a rich, nutty flavor that’s the star of these bars, adding texture to every bite.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin with the shortbread crust (which, by the way, is much easier than making a homemade pie crust). Combine the flour, cornstarch, confectioners sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until combined.
Toss in the pieces of butter.
Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size clumps of butter within.
Dump the mixture into a foil-lined pan.
Then press firmly with your fingers into an even layer.
Bake until set but not browned, about 17 minutes.
In the meantime, make the topping. Combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a saucepan.
Boil gently for a few minutes.
Then stir in the heavy cream and chopped pecans.
Spread the pecan mixture onto the baked crust.
Bake until bubbling and caramel-colored.
Cool completely, then transfer baked bar to cutting board.
Cut into squares with a sharp knife.
Serve and enjoy!
Make-Ahead Instructions
The pecan squares will keep nicely, covered and stored at room temperature, for 3 to 4 days.
Freezer-Friendly Instructions
These can be frozen for up to 3 months. After they are completely cooled, double-wrap them securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap with the layers separated by wax or parchment paper. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
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Pecan Shortbread Squares
Like pecan pie in bar form, these indulgent pecan squares with a buttery shortbread crust and rich caramel-pecan topping are an irresistible (and easy!) holiday favorite.
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup Confectioners' sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
For the Filling
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Generous pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 3 cups coarsely chopped pecans
Instructions
For the Crust
- Cover a 9-inch square baking pan with heavy duty aluminum foil. Push foil neatly into corners and up sides of the pan, using two pieces if necessary to ensure it overlaps all edges (the overhang will help removal from pan). Spray foiled pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the flour, cornstarch, confectioners sugar and salt in a bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size clumps of butter within. It will seem dry; that's okay. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer over the bottom. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. While the crust is in the refrigerator, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F. Bake the crust until crust is set but not browned, about 17 minutes. Set on rack to cool. Leave oven on.
For the Filling
- In a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and boil gently for 3 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and chopped pecans.
To Assemble and Bake
- Pour pecan mixture over crust (it's fine if the crust is still warm). Bake until filling is bubbling and caramel in color, about 20 minutes. Cool completely on rack. To cut, use the foil overhang to lift baked square out of pan and onto cutting board. Loosen the foil from the edges, then cut with a sharp knife into 2-inch squares. Store finished pecan squares in air-tight container and serve at room temperature.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The pecan squares will keep nicely covered and stored at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. After they are completely cooled, double-wrap them securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap with the layers separated by wax or parchment paper. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (16 servings)
- Calories: 357
- Fat: 29 g
- Saturated fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Sugar: 18 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Sodium: 88 mg
- Cholesterol: 41 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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If I brown the butter for the crust, should I wait until the butter re-solidifies and is cold to incorporate it into the flour mixture, or is it acceptable to use the melted butter in the crust? If it’s the latter, do you know how melted butter will affect the crust? Will it be less flaky? Thank you!
Grace, these squares have so much flavor that it’s really not necessary to brown the butter. That said, if you do choose to brown it, I think you can add it to the flour still in its melted form. I don’t think the crust will be as flaky with the melted butter but will still be good. Hope that helps!
I made these for Easter. Everyone was taking seconds. Very easy recipe😀
I made these for Christmas and everyone raved about them! Can these be frozen? I’d like to make them ahead for an Easter dessert.
Sure, Pam, they freeze well. 🙂
Delicious! I decided to use half & half and it was still great. A little rich for me so next time I might cut down a little on the honey + sugar. But overall – a hit!
These were absolutely divine. I don’t like overly sweet desserts, and I thought the filling was perfect. The only thing was the crust seemed almost too buttery. When the bars were very cold it was not quite as noticeable, but I almost got a greasy , overly buttery taste. I wondered if I cut the butter amount. I see you told someone else to cut back about 2 Tbsp. when her butter leaked from the crust. I think I will try that. Even with the crust issue, this recipe is a keeper. I can see a scoop of vanilla ice cream over the bars, and if they last to get to the freezer, that is a big plus.
My butter leaked too, but it doesn’t seem that it affected the taste. The squares were swimming in butter on the bottom, even after cooling. I laid paper towels underneath them before I cut them to absorb the butter, and that seemed to work.
The flavor on these were absolutely amazing! I had a problem with how hard they came out though. Almost like a Brittle texture versus a pie. Is that how they are supposed to be or did I perhaps over cook it?
Hi Kathy, Sounds like maybe they were a little overcooked — they are a definitely sturdier than a slice of pie but not hard like brittle. Hope that helps!
Made these today, used walnuts instead of pecans, asked my husband to cut them into squares, and freeze them. He felt then need to “trim the edges off”, I’m lucky there were any left to freeze! He says they are absolutely delicious.
This is one of about 10 of your recipes, that I have tried, all have been so very good. I’m doing your cranberries, gravy, mashed potatoes and Thai coleslaw for Christmas this year, really helps, that I can do so many dishes ahead of time. Have a tenderloin in the fridge, waiting to be used with your wine sauce. Thanks for all of these recipes, they
are amazing!
These are awesome. I added a bag of dark chocolate chips on top in the last 5 minutes of baking and the spread out the chocolate when I took them out of the oven. Delicious!
WOW! These were delicious, and so easy! I have a gluten and milk allergies and making a great pie dough without gluten – for me- is impossible. Problem solved with these yummy pecan shortbread squares, they’re like having a mini pecan pie! Substituted Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour, Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free cornstarch and soy creamer for the heavy cream. Yay! Thanks so much Jen for yet another knock-out recipe. (For some reason it’s not letting me select any stars…but it’s 5 star!)
Hi Jenn,
Thank you for sharing so many delicious recipes! I made 3 pans of these bars recently and they all came out perfectly, but then I made it again and it seemed like butter leaked out and puddled under the shortbread crust while it was in the oven the second time with the topping on it. I followed the recipe both times and didn’t do anything differently the second time around, I have no idea why it wasn’t as successful. Any idea what might have happened?
Hi Lesley, sorry to hear you had a bit of a problem this time around. It sounds like maybe the crust “weeped” a little butter. If you try them again, try cutting the butter back (for the crust) buy 2 Tbsp.