Pecan Pie Bars - by Summer

I really like pecan pie a lot. Until recently, I had never made one, but it's quite easy.  I was really looking forward to making these bars because not only does it make a 9x13 pan, but you don't have to worry about making pie crust.

My little guy and I set to work making these this morning. Instead of using my food processor to make the crust layer, I pulled out my pastry blender.

Once it was like course sand, we dumped it into the pan and used the bottom of a glass to get it even.

This layer bakes for about 20 minutes. The filling is super easy - eggs, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and of course pecans. I ended up toasting mine because I like the flavor of toasted pecans (really, any nuts). I let the pecans cool for a few minutes before adding them to the filling mixture.

The filling went on the crust and it baked for another 20 minutes. When it came out of the oven and was cooling, I had a brainstorm of how to dress these bars up a little bit.  They don't really need it, but chocolate does tend to make things better.  I put some chocolate chips in a ziplock bag and microwaved it for 30 seconds at 50 percent power until melted.

Once its melted, you just snip off a corner of the bag and drizzle over the bars. Super simple and super yummy! 

I really liked these bars a lot.  I am bringing them with me to book club tonight, so I think the ladies will enjoy these too. There's not quite as much filling as a traditional pecan pie, but the flavor is all there. I look forward to sharing these!