{Secret Recipe Club} Pecan Pie Bars

It's Secret Recipe Club time again.  Did you miss us last month?  We all took a month off so Amanda (the founder of this great club) could do some revamping.  But we're back and are you ready for this one?!?!

My blog assignment this month was Male Cotte - A Little Blog That Feeds a Huge Appetite for Cooking.  I was so excited when I clicked on the link and Chris's blog came up.  Oh man!  Where to start?!?!  Her recipes are amazing.  She appears to have a little bit of a sweet tooth like me =o) so it wasn't hard to find a recipe that I wanted to make.  The only problem... I had to make only one!  Ugh.  How can I chose just one when my ever growing "to make" list of her recipes includes: Oreo Cookie No Bake Cheesecake, Peppermint Patty Mini Cupcakes, Homemade Twix Bars, Strawberry Rangoons and Peanut Butter Cup Bars???  But then I clicked on her Pecan Pie Bars and I knew this was the recipe I wanted to make (and devour!)

Pecan Pie Bars
Source: Mele Cotte

Crust
* 3 cups flour
* 1 cup butter - 3/4 cup softened, 1/4 cup melted
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/2 tsp. salt

Filling
* 4 eggs, slightly beaten
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 cups corn syrup
* 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
* 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
* 3 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a sheet pan (like a 15x10x1 pan) with aluminum foil and then spray with non-stick spray. 

Cream together 3/4 cup butter and sugar until blended.  On low speed, add flour and salt.  Slowly add melted butter.  Press firmly into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Using a whisk or mixer, blend all the filling ingredients, except the pecans, until well blended.  Then, add the pecans. 

*** Because I can't leave well enough alone, I added a package of Heath Toffee Bits and half a bag of mini chocolate chips.  Couldn't hurt, right?

Pour mixture over the baked crust and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set.  Allow to cool completely, at least 1 hour. 

Cut into desired shaped - bars, triangles, etc.

First of all, my house smelled AMAZING when they were cooking!  I just love that (and it's always a good sign to me.)  And these bars did not disappoint.  They were heavenly!!!  This recipe makes a ton of bars (depending on how big you cut them) and I had to put half of them in the freezer to get them away from me.  They were so delicious!!!

Thank you to Angela (from Big Bear's Wife) for hosting group C.  Now come and take a look at the other amazing bloggers in group C.





I'm linking to the parties on my sidebar too.