Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Crust and Topping:

· 3 cups all-purpose flour

· ½ cup granulated sugar

· ½ cup light brown sugar

· 2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt

· 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling:

· 3 eggs, lightly beaten

· ¾ cup light brown sugar

· ½ cup light corn syrup

· ¼ cup molasses

· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

· 1 teaspoon vanilla

· 3 tablespoons bourbon (optional)

· 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

· ½ teaspoon cinnamon

· ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

· ¼ teaspoon cloves

· 1 cup chocolate chips

· 2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

In your food processor or with a pastry cutter, combine the crust/topping ingredients until pea-sized pieces of butter remain. Reserve two cups of the crumbs for the topping, keeping them cold in the refrigerator, and press the remainder of the crumbs firmly against the bottom of the baking dish. Bake crust for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk together all of the filling ingredients, except the chocolate chips and pecans.

After the crust has baked for 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and pecans evenly over the crust and pour the filling over. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the reserved two cups crumbs over the filling and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until topping is a pale golden and the filling is set.

Let cool on the counter for at least two hours to set before slicing into squares. These can be served slightly warm or at room temperature.

Yields 36-40 small squares.

Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen