Tasty Tuesdays: Pinterest Pecan Pie Bars

     This past weekend in our world was our semi-annual Falkner Family Forklifting, as we called it. Bet you can't guess what we did...haha. We are no strangers to good food, and so this year I decided to try something new. 

The original Pinterest pic...Pecan Pie Bars

     The recipe comes from justataste.com. Here's y'all the link. It was a surprisingly easy recipe. Simple mixing and twenty minutes to bake the crust, and while it's baking you mix a few things for the pecan topping, cook it on your stovetop a few minutes, then pour it over the crust and bake fifteen-twenty minutes more. Best dessert I've made in a long time. I love pecan pie, but I don't like the gooey part, so these are perfect for me :)

The recipe is:

For crust:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt

For topping:
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 cups chopped pecans

My feedback on the recipe is: 

1) You don't need all that crust. I wouldn't half the recipe, but I'd definitely lighten up on your measuring, or make the whole thing but use only as thick a crust as you think you'll want. It doesn't rise or anything, so how much you pat down in your pan is how much you get in your bars. As the recipe is, it seems like there's almost more crust to topping, and personally I like the gooey pecan part more than the crust. I'm also working on adapting the recipe to make the crust less crumbly and more like a traditional flaky/buttery piecrust. This crust is great, but it's hard to eat as a finger food when it's crumbling all down your shirtfront. If I figure it out, I'll post an update :)

2) Definitely go easy on that second baking. Her recipe says bake 20 minutes, but my bars looked done when I still had six and a half minutes to go. I left them in until the timer said five minutes left, then pulled them. That seemed about right, but definitely back your own judgement there. Every oven is different, you know. Just wait until the edges are starting to brown up and the whole thing has a bubbly, crunchy appearance. 

3) It says wait until completely cool, then transfer out of your pan to cut. I baked straight into my pan, no foil lining. I have a really great, deep jelly roll type pan that's nonstick, plus I used cake-off, so I didn't feel the foil was necessary. I would recommend waiting for them to cool, but not be completely solid before cutting. It would have made my life a little easier had they been a little let set when I was cutting them.

All in all, definitely repeating this recipe! They're still great, even as leftovers. (Especially when you warm them a little in the microwave, and add a glass of milk!)

My pecan pie bars :)