Pecan Bars Americas Test Kitchen Recipes

PECAN BARS

Steps:

• For the crust: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and arrange a rack in middle. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving a few inches of overhang on each side.
• Combine the pecans, butter, flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is well combined and it resembles coarse meal. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish and bake until lightly golden, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately make the filling.
• For the filling: Whisk together the sugar, molasses, corn syrup, butter, rum if using, vanilla, salt, and eggs in a small bowl until well combined. Add the pecans and stir to coat. Pour the pecan mixture over the hot crust and return the baking dish to the oven.
• Bake until top is browned and set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before removing from dish and cutting into 1-inch squares.

PECAN BARS

Steps:

• Make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil. In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg; pulse just until a dough forms.
• Transfer dough to prepared pan; with floured fingers and an offset spatula, press firmly into bottom and 3/4 inch up sides. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Prick bottom of dough; bake until lightly golden, 22 to 25 minutes. Let cool while preparing filling.
• Make the filling: In a large saucepan, bring butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over high heat, whisking constantly, until smooth; continue boiling, without stirring, until slightly darkened, about 2 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat. Whisk in cream and salt; mix in pecans.
• Assemble and bake: Spoon hot filling evenly over crust, using spoon to arrange and press in nuts so they fit snugly (create as flat a surface as possible).
• Bake until bubbling and amber-colored, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
• Using foil, lift cake from pan; peel off foil. With a sharp knife, trim edges (if desired). Cut into 6 even strips; cut each strip crosswise into 4 even strips to make 24 bars.

PECAN BARS II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan with parchment paper.
• Remove crescent roll dough from package and cover the bottom of the prepared jellyroll pan. Pinch seams together so there is just one sheet of dough.
• In a small saucepan , melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar to dissolve, and bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture over the prepared crust. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges of crust will be golden.
• Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Wait a few minutes, then spread the chips out over the bars. Be careful not to mess up the layer underneath. Allow bars to cool completely before cutting into squares or triangles.

MILLION DOLLAR PECAN BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add cake mix just until blended. Stir in oats. Press 3 cups onto the bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan., In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine milk and chips. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 2 minutes; stir. Cook 1 to 2-1/2 minutes longer or until chips are melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in butter and vanilla until melted. Stir in pecans. Spread over crust., Crumble remaining oat mixture; sprinkle over top. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

PECAN BARS - AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN

Steps:

• Toast all of the pecans first. Put all them (in a single layer) on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 5 - 10 minutes until golden brown and fragrant. Give them a shake every few minutes and watch closely; they can go from toasted to burnt very quickly. Let cool.
• While that's going on, melt your butter so that it can cool adequately for the filling.
• For the crust: Line an 8-inch square pan with foil (two large sheets going opposite direction), then coat lightly with oil spray.
• Process flour, brown sugar, pecans, salt and baking powder in a food processor until it resembles coarse cornmeal, about 5 pulses. sprinkle the butter over the top. Pulse until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse oatmeal, about 8 pulses.
• (If you don't have a food processor, take 1/4 Celsius toasted pecans and chop them very, very finely. The toasting makes them very easy to chop into a meal or near-meal. I used a butchers knife on a wooden board. Mix them with the rest of the crust's dry ingredients, and then cut in the butter with a pastry blender.)
• Put the crust mixture in the prepared pan. Press firmly into an even crust with your fingers. Bake at 350 degree oven until it starts to brown, 20 - 24 minutes.
• For the filling: As soon as the crust finishes baking, whisk together the brown ssugar, corn syrup, melted butter, bourbon/rum, vanilla and salt just until combined. Whisk in the egg until incoporated, then pour over the hot crust. Sprinkle the pecans over the top.
• Bake until top is brown and cracks start to form (Note: I never saw cracks on mine. I took them out when it was started to brown up and I didn't see goop on a toothpick.) Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Let cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hrs., before removing from the pan using the foil as lifters.