Easy Salted Caramel Pecan Pie Bars recipe with a twist! It’s a perfectly portioned square with a buttery graham cracker crust and homemade caramel sauce that is absolutely divine.
Perfect to serve as a fun and festive Thanksgiving dessert. Sweet and salty never tasted so good!
It has been another busy week hosting our families, a school field trip and A LOT of baking! Some of my recipes are old favorites, others are new developments or twists on classics.
When I think fall, I always think of caramel and pecans! Years ago, while in college, I worked at a boutique catering/to go company that made unbelievable pecan pie bars.
Cut into squares, they would fly out the door in fall. I decided to go back in time and recreate the classic pecan pie bar recipe with a salted caramel twist.
Personally, I’m not over salted caramel. I don’t think I’ll ever be. Sweet and salty has always worked for me. Cheers to salted caramel, my lifelong love.
Pecans have long been used in all types of baking. I’ve got a great variety of pecan recipes you’ll love! Check out Chocolate Chip Pecan Snowballs, Pecan Rolls, Pecan Thumbprints, Pecan Pie Cookies and more!
These pecan bars are slightly gooey and chewy and cut into the most perfect little bars. Happy fall baking!
Salted Caramel Pecan Pie Bars Ingredients
- Butter – Unsalted, sweet cream butter is best since we are going to add more salt later on. Two sticks is equal to one cup.
- Brown Sugar – Either light or dark brown sugar will do. I like my pecan pie bars with an extra molasses-y kick, so I used dark brown sugar.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract is the good stuff. It adds that extra special touch.
- Eggs – The eggs help to bind the salted caramel filling together. Make sure to bring to room temperature before mixing.
- Flour – Unbleached all-purpose flour is all you need. My favorites are Pillsbury or Gold’s Medal.
- Baking Powder – This helps to give these homemade pecan pie bars a bit of extra lift.
- Pecans – The star of the show! You can either purchase whole pecans and chop them at home, or pecan pieces that have already been chopped for you. Just make sure they are raw and unsalted.
- Graham Crackers – Although traditional pecan pie is made with a shortbread crust or pie crust, I thought to go a different route and use graham crackers. The beauty of this pecan pie bar recipe is you don’t even have to crush the graham crackers, as you may think. Whole graham crackers are placed in the prepared jellyroll baking dish and form the perfect ‘crust’. It couldn’t be any easier!
- Salt – Preferably freshly cracked sea salt from a grinder. This gives you larger pieces of salt throughout the pecan pie bars which takes these sweet and salty bars to another level.
How To Make Salted Caramel Pecan Pie Bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat until just melted. Add vanilla.
- In a large bowl, mix eggs. Gradually pour caramel mixture into eggs, being careful not to scramble.
- Mix in flour. Sprinkle baking powder over the surface and blend in well. Add pecans.
- Grease a jellyroll baking dish. Line with graham crackers. Crack sea salt over top.
- Pour caramel pecan mixture over top.
- Bake 20 minutes.
Can I Add Chocolate?
Yes, I think chocolate chips added to the salted caramel pecan filling would be absolutely divine.
To make chocolate pecan pie bars, simply add 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips when you add the pecans.
How To Store Easy Pecan Pie Bars
These homemade pie bars are best served within two hours of baking. But since we all have a crazy Thanksgiving holiday to plan for, the bars make a beautiful make-ahead dessert, too.
Once baked and completely cool, cut into 20 squares and transfer to an airtight container, placing squares of parchment paper between each layer, if necessary.
The pecan pie bars will keep best in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Simply remove from the fridge 30 minutes prior to serving.
More Bar Recipes You’ll Love:
- Easy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- The Best Butterscotch Squares
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars
- Speculoos Cookie Butter Bar Recipe
- Sugar Cookie Bars with Buttercream Frosting
- Caramel Mountain Bars
- Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars
If you try this Pecan Pie Bar recipe, please come back to share using my 5-star rating in the comments below! Not only do I appreciate it, but I know readers do, too! For more easy recipes and simple living ideas, subscribe to my newsletter!
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Salted Caramel Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 2 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups pecan pieces
- 1 pack graham crackers
- salt in a grinder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt butter and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until just melted and combined. Add vanilla.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix 2 eggs. Gradually pour mixture into eggs. You don't want to scramble them.
- Mix in flour. Sprinkle baking powder over the mixture and blend in well. Add pecans.
- Grease a jelly roll pan, line with graham crackers. Crack sea salt to cover them.
- Pour mixture over graham crackers.
- Bake 20 minutes.
Julie’s Tips
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
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originally published October 2014, updated November 2019
Did you mean 8×8 pan?
8×8 baking dish – so a cake pan or casserole…whatever you have on hand. Enjoy! PS You brought to my attention how badly I need to update these photos! Thanks for the inspiration!