Pecan Pie Bars - Little Pieces of Pecanlusciousness !

If you want to walk into a dinner party and walk out at the end with everyone asking for your recipe-then bake these and take them to your next party !  They are so easy to make and so very very good to eat-people will be talking about them for days and emailing you for the recipe for weeks.   It's like when you are wearing your favorite little black dress-simple sweet classic and you want to just add a little pizazz, not too much just a little-so you wear your little red stilettos or maybe you just wrap that little red cashmere scarf around your neck.. Simple but wow the effect it will have-just like these-people don't ohh and ahh over the presentation and thank you for slaving for hours over them but I promise you after the first bite all you will hear is omg these are crazy incredible.  And no leftovers-seriously at a dinner party of about 16 people, I made a tray 12x17" of these -and they weren't the only dessert,but they were the only dessert that disappeared  by the end of the evening !   They are like little miniature pecan pie bites and if you love pecan pie you will go nuts (ha ha) over these.  Again hats off to Rebecca Rather THE PASTRY QUEEN I found this in her Royally Good Recipes From the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery.  You can find the original recipe here or follow my adaptation below.

Ingredients:

Crust

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup finely ground pecans

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12x17 inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.  In a mixer with the paddle attachment,beat the butter on medium speed about 1 minute.  Add the sugar and beat for about 1 minute until fluffy.   Add the flour and salt while mixing on low speed until evenly incorporated but still crumbly.  Tear off small pieces of the mixture and scatter them over the baking pan -sprinkle the finely ground pecans over this and then press the mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes until it reaches a dark golden brown color. Remove from the oven but leave the oven on at 350F

Ingredients

Filling

8 large eggs

6 cups firmly packed golden brown sugar

1/4 cup bourbon (optional but I highly recommend you add it )

6 tablespoons unsalted butter-melted

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

2 cups pecan halves

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl or mixing bowl until blended.  Stir in the bourbon, butter,vanilla,flour and salt. Stir in the coconut and pecans.  Pour the filling over the crust spreading it evenly-don't worry it will come up to the very rim of the baking pan.  Bake until set, 25-30 minutes-just watch it carefully -it's easy to go from golden to burned !  Cool thoroughly-and I mean thoroughly unless you want a sticky mess on your hands while trying to cut it.  Take the dog for a walk and let it cool down at least 30 minutes-an hour is even better.  Cut into 3 inch diamonds or squares.  I kept one out for myself just to see how it fared in storage and after a week wrapped in plastic wrap in the frig it was still delicious ! Chef Rather recommends freezing them for up to 3 weeks.  Bon Appetit ! 

PS.  To CM- hope you are enjoying the cookbook ! I'm going to try the Bourbon Pumpkin Tart with Streusel Topping for Thanksgiving !