Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Here we go with some more Fall Recipes…and my family is a big fan of pecans. My grandmother makes a pecan pie every Thanksgiving, so here is a slight twist on this incredible pie, but as individual bars…and with chocolate. You can’t go wrong with nuts and chocolate, in my honest opinion.

Just make sure your food processor works…  Because when I hooked everything up to pulse the crumb mixture, it decided to stop working.  As I was fiddling with it and felt my level of frustration (and blood pressure) rise, I texted my husband, fussing about how our food processor sucks, and I was ready to REALLY break it.  Sigh.  The idea of using the blender came across my mind, but when it’s literally in the dishwasher and it’s running along, the options were diminishing.  Oh well.  So, the hand held Pampered Chef food processor came out of the cabinet, and I tried to improvise.  Moral of the story?  Have a better backup plan for these delicious yummies…because even out of all this frustration, they were delicious.  Maybe Santa can bring me a new food processor.  😉

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars Recipe:

For the Crust:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch baking dish with aluminum foil, allowing 2-3 inches to extend over sides.  Lightly grease foil.  Pulse all ingredients in food processor 5 to 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Press mixture on bottom and 3/4 inch up sides of prepared pan.  Bake crust for 15 minutes.   Cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes) before topping with remaining ingredients.

For the Pie Layer:

1 bag mini semisweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 1/2 cups pecan halves and pieces

Sprinkle chocolate chips on crust.  Whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and eggs until smooth.   Stir in pecans, and pour mixture on top of crust and chocolate chips.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and set.  Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour).  Chill for another hour in refrigerator.  Lift baked bars from pan, using foil sides as handles.  Transfer to cutting board, cut into bars.