Maple Pecan Squares
Maple Pecan Squares are addicting! This easy bar recipe is a cross between a butter tart and pecan pie. Prepare to lick your fingers from this mouthwatering dessert. Ooey gooey YUM!
A brown sugar buttery shortbread crust topped with a sweet, salty, crunchy, and chewy goodness. These maple pecan squares are the quickest way to get the pecan and maple flavor combination we all know and love in a traditional pecan pie!
The base is a crumbly sweet mixture of flour, brown sugar, and butter. It’s baked for a few minutes before you add the highlight of the recipe, the maple pecan filling. Then it goes back in the oven to bake again.
Maple pecan squares aren’t just for holidays. If something tastes amazing, which pecan pie bars totally do, you should have it anytime you want. You’ll be wanting to make these delicious bars a lot. As soon as the air turns cooler, I find myself craving this delicious sweet treat.
Why You’ll Love Maple Pecan Squares
- Made with simple ingredients that you probably already have
- This bar form is easier to make than a pecan pie
- Easy press-in crust
- Ready in under an hour
- Decadent and divine dessert
- Can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature
- Kid-friendly
Ingredients
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- All-purpose flour
- Brown sugar – Use light or dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will give it more of a caramel flavor.
- Salted butter – Unsalted butter will also work, but I would add a bit of extra salt to the dough to balance out the sweetness.
- Eggs
- Pecan halves
- Maple syrup – Use pure maple syrup if you can. It will make them taste so much better. I recommend Maple Lifestyle.
- Salt
How to Make Maple Pecan Squares
Making maple pecan pie bars is pretty straightforward.
- Step One: Make the shortbread base. Greatest a 9-inch square baking pan or line with foil. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, brown sugar, and butter. Use a pastry blender or rub the mixture with clean hands until combined and crumbled. Press dough into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes at 350F. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.
- Step Two: Prepare the pecan pie filling. In a small heavy saucepan, bring sugar and maple syrup to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Step Three: In a large bowl, add beaten eggs. Pour maple syrup mixture into eggs, stirring constantly. Stir in pecans, salt, flour, and vanilla extract.
- Step Four: Pour maple syrup mixture over partially baked crust. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350F and bake 20 minutes longer. The top will be golden brown.
- Step Five: Cool bars completely before cutting into squares.
Cut a big square and serve with some vanilla ice cream for a fabulous fall dessert to end your meal. Then enjoy every last bite of this sweet deliciousness! If you have guests, even better. They will be so impressed by these delicious maple pecan bars.
Helpful Kitchen Tools
What to Serve with Maple Pecan Bars
On a cool day, enjoy these gooey pecan pie bars after a simple-to-prepare and comforting meal such as:
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- The bars are easier to cut when chilled. To speed things up, you can cool the pan to room temperature, then transfer the whole pan to the refrigerator to chill.
- Line the baking with foil or parchment paper, and you can lift the whole slab out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into squares.
- Will you be traveling with this dessert? The pecan bars are sturdiest when cold, so you might want to put a couple of ice packs in the container being used to transport.
- Maple syrup is a bit pricier than your typical pancake syrup varieties, but I wouldn’t cheap out with this recipe. There’s something magical about the flavour of maple syrup. I’d put it on everything if I could.
Variations and Substitutions
- No pecans? Make this recipe with walnuts or almonds!
- If you don’t have or care for maple syrup, you can substitute it with honey or corn syrup, though in my opinion, maple syrup tastes the best.
- For an even more decadent treat, sprinkle some chocolate chips over the top for the last few minutes of baking.
Storage Instructions
Store the leftover bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze?
I prefer to serve desserts like this fresh, but these maple pecan squares can be frozen for up to 1 month ahead. To freeze, do NOT cut the bars. Wrap the entire slab in parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Be sure to freeze on a flat surface. Defrost overnight in the fridge, then bring to room temperature, cut and serve.
Maple Syrup Desserts
Love maple syrup desserts? I have more to try to help you use up your maple syrup on more than just pancakes!
- No-Churn Maple Pecan Ice Cream: Creamy, sweet with a little bit of crunch, you’ll love the flavour the maple syrup adds to this ice cream recipe.
- Maple Coffee Milkshake: Sweet, cold and maplelicious! Try this ice cold coffee milkshake as a yummy way to beat the summer heat. Make it in a matter of minutes in your blender.
- Maple Apple Pudding: A delicious fall dessert made with apples, raisins, and of course, maple syrup!
- Maple Syrup Bars: Sweet and sticky recipe for Maple Syrup Bars made with real maple syrup.
- Maple Syrup Cheesecake: This might be the most Canadian cheesecake ever made! Using maple syrup to sweeten the cheesecake batter, and with maple syrup drizzled on top before serving, this smooth and creamy cheesecake is a great year round recipe – and perfect for a Canada Day celebration.
You’ll also enjoy Poutine, Pecan Butter Tart Buns, Maple Pecan Danish Bake, Butter Tart Squares. Try this Maple Almond Popcorn – yum!
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Maple Pecan Squares
Ingredients
Base
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup salted butter softened
Filling
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs beaten
- ⅔ cup pecan halves
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup maple syrup
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and butter together. Rub mixture with clean hands until combined and crumbly. Press into a greased 9-inch square baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- In a small saucepan, bring sugar and maple syrup to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat immediately once it starts to boil. Cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, add beaten eggs. Pour syrup mixture into eggs, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining ingredients.
- Pour syrup mixture over partially baked crust. Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes longer.
- Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Video
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Could you use honey instead of maple syrup?
I’ve never tried it with honey so I’m not sure! If you do try it, let me know how it turns out.
what type of flour is needed for this
I use all purpose flour.
For gluten free, could you use graham crackers for crust and corn starch for 2 Tbsps of flour?
I’ve never tried it that way so I’m not sure! Let me know if you do and how it works out.
I made these today, 10/15/18, and had a couple of problems. The “crust” was baked for 5 minutes as instructed but it didn’t cook. There were little pools of butter throughout which made it soft and sloppy for lack of a better word. Still I trudged on and continued according to the directions. After the final bake of 20 minutes at 350 it came out burnt on the sides and tops of the pecans. All that being said – the flavor was still there and they are so good but you couldn’t cut them or serve as a bar or cookie. What if I cooked the crust for 10 minutes and then cut the final bake to 15? Does that sound doable and they would come out of the oven as pictured? Thanks
Hi Barbara, I’m so sorry you had some issues with the recipe! It’s hard because everyone’s ovens are different. I think that would be fine though. Let me know if you do end up making it again and how it turned out.
I had the same problem as well as the top separated from the bottom. Can you explain why this may have happened??
I made these today and followed the instructions exactly except that I used a shortening and flour coating to line the pan instead of cooking spray and I used maybe a quarter cup more pecans just to finish off my bag. They came out wonderfully. Perfectly golden brown on the bottom and they came out of the pan as bars with no effort. Super Yummy!
Glad they turned out for you!
I saw you said that these are a cross between butter tart square and pecan pie…one of my favorite parts of a butter tart square is that little bit of tang the vinegar gives it…do you think adding some vinegar to these would be okay with the maple and pecan flavors?
I’ve never tried it but I think it would work. If you do try it, please let me know how it turned out.
These are DELICIOUS and simple to make!
My family loves these!!!
Passed this recipe onto several of them.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe?
I used salted butter.