Salted Caramel and Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars — You’ll never want plain pecan pie again! Caramel and chocolate makes the bars taste amazing!
Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
I normally don’t like nuts in desserts, but I recant everything I’ve ever said after these. They’re some of the best bars I’ve ever made.
To top it off, I don’t even really like pecan pie, but the inspiration for the bars started after trying a rich, buttery, chewy caramel with nuts from See’s Candies, and I’ve always loved their chocolate-coated walnut chews.
The pecan pie bars combine rich, gooey, homemade salted caramel filling with chocolate. There’s texture and crunch from the nuts, and the soft, tender shortbread crust is the perfect base for it all.
The chocolate pecan bars are thick, rich, decadent, filling, salty-and-sweet. They’re wonderfully satisfying, easy, no mixer is necessary and I always prefer making pie bars to actual pie. So much easier.
To make the shortbread crust, I used the same crust I created for these Peanut Butter Caramel Twix Bars. A bit of cornstarch keeps the crust tender enough so when you bite down, it isn’t rock hard, nor does it give way and crumble. The crust is hearty enough to stand up to a literal pound of nuts, chocolate, and salted caramel sauce, while staying perfectly flaky and not tasting too dense or heavy.
Then I sprinkled on Trader Joe’s roasted salted pecans and chocolate chips. Making the salted caramel sauce is as easy as melting together butter, cream, brown sugar, and stirring in vanilla and salt. So easy and it’s done in the microwave in 2 minutes.
As the bars bake, the caramel sauce thickens and the finished bars are more caramely than traditional pecan pie filling, which I call ‘pie goo’. The bars have some goo, but there’s plenty of luscious, drippy, salted caramel.
The bars aren’t overly sweet, but they are ridiculously rich. They are worth all the cardio you’ll need to do. They are good enough to forever change my mind about nuts in desserts and pecan pie.
What’s in Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars?
To make these easy pecan pie bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Cornstarch
- Roasted salted pecans
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Light brown sugar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
How to Make Chocolate Pecan Bars
Make the crust, then press into the bottom of a foil-lined 8×8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the pecans and chocolate chips evenly over the crust.
Then, make the caramel sauce. Combine the butter, brown sugar, and whipping cream, then microwave until melted. Whisk in the vanilla and salt, then pour over the crust.
Bake the bars until the caramel is bubbling vigorously around the edges, with bubbling to a lesser degree in center.
How to Store Pecan Pie Bars
The chocolate pecan bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Can I Double This Recipe?
I haven’t tried this myself, but readers have reported success doubling the ingredients and baking the bars in a 9×13-inch pan.
Tips for Making Pecan Pie Bars
If your pecans are raw, toast them for 5 to 10 minutes in a 400F oven for added flavor and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
I recommend baking the 8×8-inch dish on top of a cookie sheet as insurance against overflow. You do NOT want to clean hardened caramel off the bottom of your oven, trust me!
Note that you must let the bars cool for three hours before slicing into them. I know it’s tempting to cut into them while they’re warm, but you need to give them time to set up.
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Salted Caramel and Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ cup unsalted butter, very soft (1 stick)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Filling
- 8 ounces roasted salted pecans, halves or pieces okay; about 2 cups (I used Trader Joe’s roasted salted halves)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup whipping cream or heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
Make the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. I strongly urge lining the pan with foil for easier cleanup.
- In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients and using two forks or your hands (I find hands easier), cut butter into dry ingredients until evenly distributed and pea-sized lumps and sandy bits form. The softer the butter is, the quicker and easier it is.
- Turn mixture out into prepared pan and pack down firmly with a spatula or hands to create an even, uniform, flat crust layer.
Make the Filling:
- Evenly sprinkle the pecans over the crust.
- Evenly sprinkle with the chocolate chips; set pan aside.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, whipping cream, and heat on high power for 1 minute to melt.
- Remove bowl from micro, and whisk until mixture is smooth; it’s okay if butter hasn’t completely melted.
- Return bowl to microwave and heat for 1 minute on high power.
- Remove bowl from micro, and whisk until mixture is smooth.
- Whisk in the vanilla and salt.
- Slowly and evenly pour the caramel sauce over the chocolate chips and pecans.
- Place pan on a cookie sheet (as insurance against overflow) and bake for about 30 to 32 minutes, or until caramel is bubbling vigorously around edges, with bubbling to a lesser degree in center.
- Allow bars to cool in pan on a wire rack for at least 3 hours, or overnight (cover with a piece of foil and/or put pan inside large Ziplock), before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Pecan Desserts:
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Soft Praline Pumpkin Bars (with Cake Mix!) — SUPER soft pumpkin bars studded with chocolate chips, candied pecans, and plenty of pumpkin pie spice!! A FAST and EASY dessert that feeds a crowd for your fall and winter celebrations!!
Salted Caramel Candied Pecan Carmelitas — Biting through the layers of the chewy oatmeal crust, the chocolate chips, the crunchy pecans, the salty-and-sweet caramel sauce that’s gooey and wonderful, and the crisp topping is pure heaven.
The Best Turtle Brownies — Super fudgy brownies and loaded with chocolate, pecans and caramel! An easy, no-mixer recipe that can be made with homemade or store-bought caramel sauce!
Sea Salt Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies – Super soft, perfectly chewy, SALTY-AND-SWEET chocolate chip pecan cookies that are AMAZING!! An EASY, one-bowl, no-mixer recipe!!
Homemade Turtles — The Turtles are no-bake, easy, ready in under a half hour, and you only need 4 ingredients. Save the recipe for holiday candy-making, birthdays, or for a last-minute hostess gift!
Absolutely love these, they are not too sweet and the combination of the crust, nuts and salted caramel is just divine. Third year im making these for Christmas and everyone is raving about them
Hi Averie,
I just put these bars together and was wondering if I can refrigerate them, unbaked and bake them tomorrow. I was actually expecting them to be much more time consuming and thought I’d just make the crust today but it came together so quickly that I just kept going. They look amazing and I can’t wait to try them
I made it, can u tell me the measurement of butter in gms, wen i made it didnt set and i put it in freezer to set. Wanted to know how to get it set ao that it remains good in air tight jar, mine if i keep outside it losses its shape. Pls help
Taste is super and all at home loved it
1/2 cup butter is approx 115 grams.
I tried the recipe – Too sweet for my taste. I might try it again sometime without the chocolate and with reduced sugar.
I made these over the weekend, and they are sooo good! I bake for others and rarely eat a lot of what I make, but I am typing this up at work with a container of them next to me. For those that are making the caramel sauce on the stove top, I recommend substituting white sugar for the brown sugar. With the heating process, it gives the caramel a sharper taste. Probably due to the molasses in it. Thank you for giving me a new favorite!!!
Glad you loved these enough to eat what you made rather than just baking for others!
Hi, Averie. I love to bake and decide to try your Salted Caramel and Chocolate Pecan Pie Squares for Thanksgiving this year as they looked and sounded delicious.
I have made pecan pie squares before but your variation with the caramel and chocolate chips was a big reason for veering away from my standard squares. Your recipe was clear and easy to follow and I was even able to purchase the salted and roasted pecans at Trader Joe’s.
Everything came together nicely and I had no issues until I went to cut the squares after they cooled for the set amount of time. I measured out the size of the squares and made the cuts with a sharp knife. However, as soon as I tried to remove them from the pan the pecan layer immediately started to crumble and fall apart. There was maybe one or two squares I was able to remove as a whole from the pan. The rest just turned into a crumbly mess as the caramel/pecan layer fell everywhere. As great as it did taste, I was disappointed that it did not produce the beautiful looking squares that were pictured in your blog.
I would like to try them again but only if I can cut them into nice squares that hold together. Do you have any suggestions?
It sounds like the crust was dry and the filling was loose based on what I am getting from your comment. That’s a tough one. Possibly add a bit less flour next time so that the dough is less dense/dry to start out with. And then bake a bit longer so that the filling sets up better. As you know with baking, it’s never an exact science and small fluctuations in ingredients, methods, baking times, climate, etc. can make a difference. This could be that recipe that may take a bit of tweaking if you want to try it again….but I have always made it as written with great results.
As a tip, I line my pans in foil and then lift the whole slab out onto a cutting board and slice like that. With a dessert like this, that will probably help you out quite a bit, too!
I made these to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with a friend’s family and they turned out a little less gooey than I expected but 150% delicious. I was a little worried about the crust not cooking enough so I stuck it in the oven by itself for about 5-10min before taking it out to put on the filling. I don’t know that it wouldn’t have been fine without doing that, but the crust turned out perfect. I eyeballed the pecans and chocolate and I think maybe I went a little heavy with them, or cooked it slightly too long, because instead of ending up with nuts and chocolate in a layer of caramel, it really ended up more like chocolate in candied pecans in a bar cookie form. I think these could turn out a little differently depending on a couple different factors but I’d bet they’ll pretty much taste fantastic either way. They were a huge hit and I’m pretty certain I’ll make them again. Side note: if you’re toasting plain pecans, which is worth it, keep a close eye on them because I stepped away for a moment and they went from toasty to burnt really quickly… thankfully I had twice as much as I needed.
Sounds like it all worked out overall and yes I think baking the crust on it’s own probably contributed to the slightly firmer texture as did maybe over-measuring the nuts, and therefore creating less room for the gooeyness, but glad they were great!
These were ridiculously good. I had no idea how simple it was to make salted caramel. I didn’t use the tin foil, I cooked in a glass pan, but I sprayed non stick cooking spray. Nothing stuck, but it was a little bit too greasy. Maybe less spray or smidge less butter. Anyway, I have to make them again, because I didn’t share with my friends lol.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! And yes, know you know how easy it is to make your own salted caramel :)
Oh I should have said trying this from Australia- so different everything! Although never had a problem with other recipes? Will try again- your advice: just add the flour till crumbly? Would it make a difference if the butter was melted? Or if it was colder instead?
Your ingredients, especially your flours, are different than ours so you just get the dough to an appropriate shortbread dough consistency, whatever that means with the flour amount. And don’t melt the butter, that will change things too. Soft, but not melted.
Hi I’m not sure what I did wrong- the pastry was all wrong- I was wondering if there wasn’t enough flour as the dough was a bit softer than sandy crumbles. And I added a little more but on cooking it was still way to buttery and didn’t hold. It looked like wells of oils with a bit of flour. I measured it on scales. In the future could I replace this with ready made shortcrust pastry? Thanks
It sounds like you under-floured the dough OR your butter was just oilier than mine. I wouldn’t use pre made shortbread pastry. I would go heavier handed with flour and use King Arthur All-Purpose flour. It’s the best! I use Trader Joe’s butter. Thanks for trying the recipe.
OMG, I think I just got a sugar buzz just by looking at these! I so badly need one in my life RIGHT NOW and really wish I had time to whip up a batch right this minute…
Is it okay if I lick the screen a little, just to keep me waiting until I can actually make them?
Do the chocolate chips remain soft and gooey or do they harden as original consistence after baking and coolong? These look realy good and i want to try them but need them to stay soft.
All chocolate chips that come to room temp after being baked firm up. It’s a law of baking. But the bars remain soft and gooey overall. You’ll love the recipe if you want a gooey bar.
You know when stumbling across this recipe I wasn’t sure if this would be a good fit for Thanksgiving. My boyfriend was a bit ambitious with what he wanted to make and I am one of those people that like to make easy things that I know will come out terrific. I love the pictures of these and that was the deciding factor which made my decision to make these for Thanksgiving for my boyfriend’s family and my own. They came out so scrumptious! OMG! It’s the most different and the BEST thing I’ve ever made. Not too sweet, but rich enough and so so satisfying.
Thank you for your creative yet simple dessert. Much appreciated!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! So glad it hit the right spot for you and that it’s the BEST thing you’ve ever made…such high praise and thanks!
I made these bars for Thanksgiving 2015. I wanted to make something a little different from the traditional pumpkin pies, etc. These were an absolute hit! Everyone loved them. They were so easy to put together and tasted wonderful. I will definitely make these again. Thanks Averie for sharing such a great recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Glad it was such a hit and you’ll make them again!
Hi Averie,
Any advice for trying to make this (caramel sauce) without a microwave?
Use the stovetop but I haven’t tested it that way so can’t give exact timing, duration to cook, over what heat setting, etc.
I was wondering if I used mini chocolate chips instead of the regular morsels, how much would you recommend using for this recipe? I don’t want to have too much chocolate in there.
I would use somewhere between 3/4 cup and 1 cup, just guessing.