Confession:
I hate pecan pie. Well, at least I did hate pecan pie until I had it at a charity event recently. It was the only dessert option and it was just sitting there, looking all pretty and scrumptious and I decided to give it a teeny, tiny taste and...I was hooked. And I thought to myself that the only thing that could possibly improve it was CHOCOLATE. Because, duh, chocolate makes absolutely everything better, right?
So I found a delicious looking recipe online from Midwest Living and added the chocolate to it. Because, like I said, chocolate makes everything better. ;-)
Ooey, Gooey, Pecan Pie Bars
Source: JennaBlogs.com adapted from MidwestLiving.com
For base:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
For filling:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup light colored corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups pecans, chopped roughly
2 teaspoons vanilla
For ganache:
1/4 cup 2% milk
1 teaspoon butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, white sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in 3/4 cup butter using a pastry cutter until it resembles fine crumbs. Spray a 9*13" pan with non-stick spray, press mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 18 minutes, or very lightly golden.
In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup butter, corn syrup and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Beat eggs in a small bowl. SLOWLY add about 3/4 cup of the hot mixture while stirring continuously. Once eggs are tempered add egg mixture to corn syrup mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour evenly over base. Bake for 30 minutes or until filling is set. Remove from oven and cool.
For ganache, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly. Once combined remove from heat and let thicken slightly. Use a fork to drizzle ganache over the bars.
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