Pecan Pie Bar

Bryan’s dad loves eating nuts. Their house is filled with macadamias, pecans, almonds, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, and more. So no surprise his favorite dessert is pecan pie (just like my dad!), and I wanted to make a pecan pie for him. We were so busy during the week that we didn’t have time to make it til the night before I flew home, starting at 11pm.

Did I mention I had to wake up at 4am for my flight home? I took the challenge.

Alas, this pie did not see the light of day so the photography was difficult

I was using this recipe from Joy of Baking, but we immediately digressed. They didn’t have corn syrup and I didn’t want to buy it so I just substituted sugar and water. And I didn’t want the pie too sweet so I reduced the sugar. And then my assistant Bryan dumped a ton of extra pecans.

Chef Uy: Um, you just threw off the ratio of the filling…it doesn’t have enough liquid now…
B: So add more liquid!
Chef Uy: But I don’t know how much you added!
B: I don’t know, don’t you just add stuff til it looks right? 

Anyways, I threw in an extra egg in hopes of adding liquid. Then added triple sec for flavor because they had it. Then added orange zest because of the triple sec.

This is between a bar and a pie, I suppose. I couldn’t take great pictures since it was midnight already. I was nervous how it would turn out given the “fuzzy” measurements, but the family ate half of it the first night and finished it the second. So I guess they liked it. Especially his dad, who ate a lot.

Ingredients

Crust:
scant 1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Pecan Filling:
3 large eggs
scant 1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 – 3 cups whole pecans
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/8 cup triple sec or bourbon
1/8 cup maple syrup
1 large orange zested

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a springform pan.

Crust: 

In a small bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat the butter and brown sugar until soft and fluffy (about 2 – 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Then beat in the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse meal (do not over beat). Stir in the finely chopped pecans. (This mixture will be like crumbs.) Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for about 10-14 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Pecan Filling: 

In a large bowl whisk or beat the eggs until foamy. Add the sugar, water, flour, salt,  and pecans and whisk until combined. Add flavoring (triple sec, maple syrup, vanilla extract) and zest the orange. Pour over the baked crust and then sprinkle with the chopped pecans.

Bake for about 25 -30 minutes in a psinrgform pan until firm and nicely browned. Let cool in the pan. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator

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