These are the most delicious Vegan Pecan Bars in the world, with a caramel pecan filling and shortbread crust. Better than pecan pie, with no corn syrup!
Perhaps my most favorite dessert in the world, Pecan Bars. These babies will blow you away! They taste a bit like pecan pie, but BETTER with a caramel-y pecan topping and amazing shortbread crust.
I’ve kept this recipe as simple as possible, and truly easy to make. You can make them in 1 bowl and the prep time is around 15 minutes. The hardest part is waiting for them to cool and set so you can eat them!
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How do you make pecan bars
For the full recipe and ingredient list, see the recipe card below. This is simply a visual overview.
- Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl, then cut in the vegan butter using a pastry cutter. You can also use two knives or even your hands!
- It will look like fine crumbs when it’s ready to go into the pan.
- In a parchment lined pan, dump the crust crumbles in and press down evenly with your hands to form the crust. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven.
- Meanwhile, make the pecan filling. It’s so easy; simply mix all ingredients except the pecans in the same bowl you used for the crust (it doesn’t really get dirty), then fold the pecans in.
Spread the pecan topping over the crust. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the mixture is bubbly. Let it cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
To serve
Once cooled and set, carefully remove the bars with the parchment paper from the pan, and use a large sharp knife to cut them into squares. I suggest cutting off the edges because they get very hard!
Store leftover bars in the refrigerator for 5-6 days. These are a great make-ahead dessert!
Want more vegan dessert bars?
- Vegan Raspberry Bars
- Vegan Lemon Bars
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake Bars
- Vegan Smores Bars
- Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Vegan Pecan Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup vegan butter, cold
Pecan Topping
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2/3 cup brown rice syrup
- 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 3 tablespoons melted vegan butter
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
- optional: coarse salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.
- Prepare the crust: In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the vegan butter with a pastry cutter, or two knives. The mixture will look like fine crumbs. Place in the prepared pan and press down evenly with your hands to form the crust. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and set aside while you make the topping.
- Make the topping: In the same large bowl you made the crust in, stir together the brown sugar, brown rice syrup, non-dairy milk, melted vegan butter, cornstarch and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Fold in the pecans, then pour over the crust. Use a spatula to spread it out as evenly as possible.
- Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pecan topping is bubbling. Remove from the oven, and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.
- Carefully lift the parchment paper with the bars out of the pan and slice into bars with a large sharp knife. I like to cut off the edges as well because they get very hard. Store leftover bars in the refrigerator for 5-6 days.
Notes
- For Salted Caramel Pecan Bars, sprinkle with coarse salt right after they come out of the oven.
- May sub coconut oil for vegan butter in the crust, if desired.
- For gluten free, use a gluten free all purpose flour instead of regular flour, it should work quite well though I haven't tested it myself.
- The pecan bars freeze well in a covered container.
- This recipe makes 16 large bars, but you can cut them smaller if you'd like. For a party, I might cut them into 32 squares. Nutritional information is for 1 large bar.
This turned out amazing!☺
I made these for Thanksgiving and even the non-vegan family members loved them! Like a few other readers, I couldn’t get the brown rice syrup when I needed it, so I substituted dark Karo syrup. It worked well, the edges didn’t get hard and I’ll definitely be making them again for Christmas!
I’m so happy you enjoyed them, thank you!
Absolutely amazing. I made for a family party and my nephew requested that they be at every family gathering. I made early and froze and they came out perfect.
Thank you! So happy to hear it. They are my husband’s absolute favorite dessert.
Hello, I am thinking of making these pecan bars as Christmas gifts this year, they sound delicious! What size pan are you pressing the pastry into?
A 9×13 inch pan. Thanks, they make wonderful gifts!
I made these for a “Friendsgiving” get-together and they were a HIT! Like many commenters, I couldn’t find brown rice syrup in time, but I read that you can sub with maple syrup by reducing by 25% – so I used 1/2 cup maple syrup and they were ready to go at the 25 minute mark for me! I also didn’t have the tough/hard ends. Perfect, easy recipe and I will probably make these again for Christmas! Thanks for all your recipes Nora I trust everything you put together!!!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the great comment!
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Thank you for letting me know this ad came up for you! I will contact my ad agency immediately. I have all political ads turned off on my site, but sometimes they manage to sneak through. I will have them track it down. I really appreciate it, I do not want that sort of thing popping up on my site!
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Made these last night and they were a hit! Between 4 adults, we ate the entire pan!!
So great, you don’t need to be vegan to enjoy.
I almost cried when I tried these they are so good. And so easy to put together. Thank you for the amazing recipes!
These are the first pecan bars i’ve ever made. tasted amazing. I didnt have brown rice syrup on hand so ended using maple syrup. They barely lasted a couple of days. I always end up choosing Nora’s recipes for my baking no matter how many other recipes i browse for any baked goods. She has the best, most simplest and user friendly recipes.
Wow, thanks so much for the wonderful comment!!
love this, so easy to make
I’m so glad to hear that!!
Wonderful recipe. Great hit with everyone!
Pretty sweet. My first time making some thing like this. Success!
Pecan Pie Squares are my specialty.This was my first attempt to veganize this recipe and I was so pleased, I used maple syrup as a replacement for the brown rice syrup. MY SIL ate 6 and I must say they are delicious!
So glad they were delicious!
Well. I am very disappointed and a little upset that I wasted so many ingredients. Pecans ain’t cheap!
I opted to bake this for our Christmas dessert instead of our usual pecan pie and now nobody gets dessert because these are rock hard. We’ve patently waited all day for a bite of this, thinking it was going to turn out gooey like pecan pie, just a flatter version, and it’s solid as rock, tooth breaking hard so we’re all taking a pass.
What do you think happened?
I’m sorry they didn’t work out! Something definitely went wrong because these are gooey, soft and not “rock hard” at all. And as you can see from previous commenters, they have worked for many people. It sounds to me like maybe you baked them for too long, perhaps your oven runs hot or you baked them on the very bottom rack of your oven, making them overcook. Like I suggest in step 5, I do cut off the edges because no matter what those tend to get too chewy and hard for my liking. But the rest should be soft, not too chewy or hard. I also wonder if you made any substitutions at all?
I made these today to bring to daughters school for the teachers. As others have said, they were very very yummy! I had to sub dark corn syrup for the brown rice syrup. Not knowing what they should have tasted like, it didn’t seem to harm the recipe.
Another winner from Nora!!
Thanks so much! I’m glad everyone liked them!
Our good friend, Kimberly (who is a remarkable cook!) made these for Thanksgiving and blew all of us away! This is hands down the best recipe for pecan pars I’ve seen in my decades of cooking and teaching healthy cooking classes. You have thoughtfully and carefully put together a dessert that, while is rich, is perfect for very special occasions like Thanksgiving. I’m impressed and happy that we are able to enjoy bars like these that do no harm to animals. (BTW have you tried Wholesome Brand Organic Light Corn Syrup? I’ve used it with success. Yes it is expensive but you are supposedly only using it once a year. The flavor is exceptional.)
Thank you for the lovely comment!
Delish!! Made these for Thanksgiving and they are amazing. I only had date syrup and it worked perfectly. Thanks for another wonderful recipe, Nora!
You’re welcome! Glad they were good!
I made these for my family and they were a big hit! They had the perfect balance of sweet and salty (not too sweet). Thanks so much for the recipe!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the bars.
These are AMAZING!! The best thing ever. Making them for holidays. And all the rest of the year too.
So glad you liked them!
Hi! So excited to try this recipe. Do you think adding vegan chocolate chips would be good? Would it work?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work, yes. You could probably add some chocolate chips to the crust after it bakes, before adding the pecan topping, or possibly even just mix some chocolate chips into the pecan layer.
Would the pecan filling work for a pecan pie?
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it! It might work, but it’s more gooey than traditional pecan pie filling.
I made it into a pie. Waiting to see how it comes out ?
Hope it comes out great!
Please do tell how the pie came out… I have the same question!
Sorry to continue the brown rice syrup questions–I can’t find it anywhere! I bought some date syrup made from medjool dates. It’s thicker than maple syrup but not as thick as honey. Do you think that might work?
Shoot! Can you order it from Amazon? I often do that, but I have a few stores that carry it as well. It might work, but again I don’t know because I’ve never tried it. Honestly, corn syrup would probably work if you don’t mind using it.
What can I use as a substitute for the brown rice syrup?
I haven’t tested them with anything else, sorry!
Can I use spelt or whole wheat flour instead of all purpose?
Sure, no problem!
This looks great! Do you think I could sub maple syrup for the brown rice syrup?
I haven’t tested it, but I don’t think it would work so well. Brown rice syrup is very sticky, maple syrup is thinner and doesn’t work the same way here.