I think if it came down to a cage match between all holiday pies, pecan pie would be a finalist. Would it win? I don’t know. It’s too hard to decide! I think it depends on how much weight I’m trying not to put on during the winter. But in this case, these pecan pie bars are mini versions of their larger pie cousin. All the flavor in an itty bitty living space.

Last year I made a couple of holiday pies: an apple pecan crumble pie and an apple butter pie (like pumpkin but with apple butter!). But this year I’m traveling for the holidays so I don’t have the luxury of multiple pies taking up table space. I’m going for easy and portable. These pecan pie bars fit the bill.

The little twist here is, of course, the crust. Usually pecan pie bars will rock a shortbread crust or something similar, but I went with one of my faves: a ginger snap crust. I also used ginger snaps for the crust in these pumpkin ginger dream bars. It’s like a graham cracker crust gone ultra decadent.

I use these triple ginger snaps from Trader Joe’s. They’re amazing because they literally use three kinds of ginger: crystallized, fresh, and ground ginger. You can see the little crystals and everything. Use whatever snaps (or cookies or crackers) you like, but if you can snag these, I recommend it.

You can probably tell that these are more crust than filling, which I love. I got that result by using an 8×8-inch pan instead of a 9×13. You can use either, with the caveat being that your crust will be less thick in the larger dish. So if you prefer a more equal ratio of filling to crust, go with the 9×13 pan. This one with a cover makes bringing these elsewhere so easy.

Note: if you go with a smaller pan, give it an extra few minutes in the oven.

What desserts are you cooking up for the holidays? Anything portable you’d recommend for me?

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Pecan pie bars with ginger snap crust

Ingredients

Crust:
• 1 3/4 cups ginger snap crumbs, from about 1/2 batch ginger snap cookies
• 2 Tbsp packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Bars:
• 1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ginger snap crumbs, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Add butter and stir until mixture is well combined and crumbly.
3. Press crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate, evenly covering the bottom and sides. Transfer to freezer and chill for 10-15 minutes. Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake until crust is set, about 10 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack; let cool completely.
4. Combine all filling ingredients except pecans in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in pecans.
5. Spread evenly over cooled crust. Bake 30-35 minutes or until filling is set and knife inserted 1-inch from edge comes out clean.
6. Cool completely before cutting into bar shapes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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https://www.bijouxandbits.com/2016/12/pecan-pie-bars-ginger-snap-crust/

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