A customer challenged us to make bars as good as the ones he brought in to the shop — he called his "Ideal Bars" after a neighborhood tavern. If you know the place, you know why the name fits. With a shortbread crust and a gooey chewy filling, these bars are so good that maybe you can hold on and wait until a real chocolate pecan pie comes along! They are not difficult to make and are a great dessert or snack. Use Fortune Favors The Classic or try Fortune Favors The Spicy for a more unusual twist!
Thank you to Jonathan Weerts for the inspiration! Follow him on IG @weertsj
Fortune Favors Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
Filling
3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup raw pecan halves, coarsely chopped
1 cup Fortune Favors The Classic or The Spicy pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped dark chocolate chunks
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chunks
For finishing – whole The Classic or The Spicy pecans for the top of bars
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9-inch square glass baking pan with parchment, and grease well and leave extra at edges to lift bars out of pan.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.
- Cut cold butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly.
- With your fingers or the bottom of a spoon, press crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Bake the crust until edges are golden colored, about 15-17 minutes.
- Remove crust from the oven and set aside on a cooling rack to cool slightly while making the filling.
- In a large bowl, mix eggs, corn syrup, granulated sugar, and melted butter until well combined. Mixing by hand or with a stand mixer works fine for this, but it should be mixed well.
- Add both chocolates, raw pecans, and The Classic and/or The Spicy pecans; spread filling evenly over crust.
- Cover pan lightly with foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then carefully remove foil.
- Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until filling has set.
- Place pan on a wire rack to cool. Press The Classic or The Spicy pecan halves into the top of bars, then cool completely before cutting into 9-12 squares.
Prep time: 20 mins
Crust Par bake: 15-17 mins
Bake time: 60 mins
Total recipe time: 1 hr 40 mins
