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    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars

    November 21, 2016 By Meagan Fikes Leave a Comment

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

    To skip straight to the recipe, click here.

    These pecan pie shortbread bars would be a great dessert for Thanksgiving or Christmas. They're out of the ordinary but still have a traditional fall flavor everyone will recognize. These bars have a soft maple shortbread layer covered in sticky date caramel and are topped with candied cinnamon pecans made from just three ingredients. These are actually pretty good with a little sprinkle of coarse sea salt on top. I didn't include that in the recipe but some of you may like it, especially if you like salted caramel.


    Do you ever bake with coconut flour? I don't like to use it very often but it was exactly the texture needed here! There's so much fiber in coconut flour that if you aren't used to eating it, it can be hard to eat a large amount. I have an entire batch of these to myself but every time I go to devour them, I don't do much damage because I get full so quickly! It's like they have built-in portion control ;) You may actually get more than nine servings out of this recipe.

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

    I've posted a lot of egg-free recipes here and even desserts but I've never done any (successful) egg-free baking before. I had no idea what I was doing while making this and had to redo a few things but somehow it turned out both delicious and egg-free! I always keep my recipes free from ingredients that I personally can't eat but lately I've been trying to take into account other people's allergies, sensitivities, and special diets. I should have been doing that from the start but let's be honest, hardly anyone was reading this blog up until about a year ago. I tend to get a lot of questions about ingredient substitutions for allergies and get a lot of people looking for low carb, AIP, Whole 30, vegetarian, and vegan recipes.

    I've also been seeing what you guys are pinning on Pinterest. So many of these recipes are being saved to boards titled things like "Food I can actually eat", "For Dad's diet", "Candida diet", "Get healthy", "Gluten-free and vegan", "Diabetic recipes", etc. It's really cool to see all the reasons these recipes are being made other than just "I'm hungry". Right now, I'm going through all my recipes and updating the tags on them. I'm still learning about how to cook with and without certain ingredients as well as what is "allowed" on certain diets but I can only get better at it. If any of you have tips for myself or other readers, you are always welcome to comment below or use my contact form located in the menu above!

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

    Also, be sure to check out the notes section of this recipe. Since things are always so crazy around the holidays, I've included an optional shortcut that could save you a lot of time.

    Print
    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars

    • Author: Meagan Fikes
    • Prep Time: 30 mins
    • Cook Time: 12 mins
    • Total Time: 42 minutes
    • Yield: 9 servings 1x
    • Method: Baking
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    Description

    Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and paleo friendly.


    Ingredients

    Maple shortbread layer *see notes for shortcut*

    • 1 C coconut flour
    • ¼ C tapioca starch
    • 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
    • ⅛ tsp salt
    • ¼ C coconut oil, melted
    • ⅓ C maple syrup
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract

    Caramel layer:

    • 24 dates
    • 1 ½ C hot water (or just enough to cover dates)
    • ¼ C coconut milk
    • ⅛ tsp salt

    Topping:

    • 1 batch of 15 minute maple cinnamon candied pecans

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
    2. Remove pits from dates. Place dates in a bowl of hot water and allow to soften for about 30 minutes.
    3. Meanwhile, start on the shortbread layer (now is also a good time to cook the pecans if you didn't make them ahead of time). Whisk together the coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, and ⅛ teaspoon salt.
    4. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to combine the melted coconut oil, ⅓ C maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients while mixing. The mixture will become somewhat dry and clump up. This is expected.
    5. Grease an 8X8 glass baking dish with a little coconut oil then firmly and evenly press the shortbread mixture into the dish. Use a toothpick to prick a few holes to allow air to escape. Bake for 12 minutes and allow to cool.
    6. While the shortbread is baking/cooling, begin working with your date caramel again. Discard the water and place dates and ⅛ teaspoon salt in a food processor. Blend until smooth, adding coconut milk a tablespoon at a time. You'll want the dates to become smooth but not runny. You may not end up using all the coconut milk. Set aside.
    7. To assemble the bars, use a spatula to spread the caramel over the shortbread layer then sprinkle the pecans on top of that. Cut into slices to serve.

    Notes

    If you want to save some time and aren't worried about this being paleo or vegan, instead of making the maple shortbread layer yourself, you can buy gluten free shortbread cookies and top them with the caramel and candied pecans. I recommend either Pamela's shortbread cookies or Schär shortbread cookies. Note that if you use any store bought cookies, they may contain allergens or traces of those allergens so read the ingredients and allergen statement carefully and always contact the manufacturer directly if you are unsure of anything. This shortcut allows you to skip steps 3-5 and should save about 25 minutes.

    Update: I recently made this recipe again but doubled the caramel since I had some dates to use up. I liked it so much better that I decided to change the original recipe. So if you've made this before and it seems different, that's why!

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @eatsomethingdelicious on Instagram and hashtag it #eatsomethingdelicious

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

    Pecan Pie Shortbread Bars | Pecan pie inspired shortbread bars are made with layers of maple shortbread, dairy free date caramel, and candied cinnamon pecans. Vegan and Paleo friendly. | eatsomethingdelicious.com

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    About Meagan

    About Meagan

    I started out with a passion for creating unique recipes and decorating cakes. In June of 2012, I discovered I was not only severely gluten intolerant but also, many of the foods I was eating I simply couldn't include in my diet anymore. Fortunately, my love for trying new recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods made re-learning how to cook seem more like a fun challenge than an unfortunate circumstance. I'm so happy to say that my dietary restrictions haven't stopped me from doing what I love. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do.

    Some links on this site are affiliate links which means that if you make a purchase at one of these links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only link to products and services I personally recommend and believe will benefit my readers. These links help to cover some of my blogging expenses. I appreciate your support!

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    She’s finally here 🥰 Erika Claire Fikes was b She’s finally here 🥰
Erika Claire Fikes was born January 24th, 2022 at 1:35pm. 7lb 9 oz, 19 inches.
    Not really a new recipe but I shared my sons 4th b Not really a new recipe but I shared my sons 4th birthday cake on the blog today. Also wrote a recap on everything that’s been going on for the past year since I would normally write about it in my blog posts but haven’t written anything! I don’t know when I’ll be back on there. I’ve only had time for site maintenance and I really miss blogging but I’ll be back on once things slow down. The link to the new post is in my profile!
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#glutenfree #dairyfree #cakedecorating #foodallergies #celiacdisease
    I almost didn’t make this into a casserole becau I almost didn’t make this into a casserole because the sauce and pasta combined made a delicious side dish on their own! @beldolcefood #sponsored my most recent blog post and provided me with their new gluten free fusilli and penne to try out. I used the fusilli in this recipe and the sauce is a creamy, cheesy enchilada sauce made from just 3 ingredients.
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I ended up adding taco meat, fire roasted tomatoes, corn, black beans, and dairy free cheese to make a taco noodle casserole. Then we ate it all and I made it again! This is one of those recipes that will be going in our regular meal rotation.
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This is a pretty versatile recipe. It can be made vegan just by leaving out the meat and it’s just as good. And as I said earlier, the pasta with just the sauce makes a really good side dish. You can also top it with whatever you like such as cilantro, jalapeños, sour cream, scallions, or salsa.
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The recipe and details on @beldolcefood new gluten free pasta is linked in my profile:
@eatsomethingdelicious
Let me know if you try it!
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#glutenfree #dairyfree #glutenfreefacility #pasta #casserole #beldolce #foodallergies #f52grams #foodbloggerpro #celiac #glutenintolerant #eatsomethingdelicious
    I’ll just say it - I’m one of those bloggers t I’ll just say it - I’m one of those bloggers that makes cakes for their blogs “birthdays”. Or uses the blog birthdays as an excuse to make yet another cake recipe....yeah, that’s probably more accurate.
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Definitely felt like I needed a good excuse for this one because it’s my fifth variation of gooey butter cake! However, my site is seven years old so maybe I should have had seven gooey butter cakes ready to go? Guess I’d better get caught up before year eight 😉
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Anyways, I really enjoyed this carrot cake variation of gooey butter cake. The cake layer/crust swaps out the yellow cake mix with spice cake mix and I added in some shredded carrots and raisins. I kept the “gooey” top layer the same except that I topped it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and additional raisins before baking.
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If you want to try the recipe, the link is in my profile: @eatsomethingdelicious
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#gooeybuttercake #foodallergies #glutenfree #dairyfree #foodbloggerpro #baking #celiac #f52grams #f52sweets #glutenintolerant #carrotcake
#glutenfreelife #eatsomethingdelicious
    Couldn’t decide which to use on his birthday inv Couldn’t decide which to use on his birthday invites so got a big trifold card and used almost all of them 😅 This is the first time he’s cooperated (sort of) for his “milestone block” photos since he learned to roll over so it’s been a long time!
    Here are a few last minute treat ideas! The carame Here are a few last minute treat ideas! The caramel stuffed crispy rice treats recipe is written below. The other recipes (gooey butter cookies, salted caramel turtles, and pumpkin snickerdoodles) can be found at the link in my bio!
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CARAMEL STUFFED CRISPY RICE TREATS
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INGREDIENTS
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• ¼ C dairy free butter, divided
• 4 C mini marshmallows (regular and vegan both work), divided
• 6 C gluten free rice cereal *see notes*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, divided
• 10-11 oz dairy free chewy caramels
• 11.25 oz can sweetened condensed coconut milk
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DIRECTIONS
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1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the dairy free butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add 2 cups of marshmallows and stir until they are melted with no lumps.
2. Remove from heat and stir in ½ tsp of vanilla then gently fold in 3 cups of cereal until it is well-combined with the marshmallows.
3. Using wet hands, press this mixture evenly into the bottom of a 7x11 inch casserole dish and set aside.
4. Unwrap the caramels and add them along with the sweetened condensed coconut milk to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir often to avoid burning. Once this has turned to a completely smooth sauce, pour over the cereal layer.
5. Make your top cereal layer by repeating steps 1 and 2. Distribute this evenly over the caramel layer and pat down with wet hands.
6. Once the treats have cooled down, they will firm up and hold their shape when cut. Cut into squares and serve.
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NOTES
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• Potential allergens contained in this recipe may vary due to brands of ingredients used, product reformulations, etc. Please verify that all your ingredients are safe for you to consume and always be mindful of allergen cross contamination while cooking.
• Double check that the cereal you use is gluten free. At least one brand carries 2 different versions of rice cereal and only one is GF.
• Don't make both cereal layers in one large batch then divide it up. The top layer will cool and firm up before you can layer it on which will make the caramel seep out when you press it down.
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