BFB: Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

So, as I've mentioned before... my best friend Steph recently moved to Oregon. She, like me, loves to bake, and she also, like me, has a blog. Are we two cool cats, or what?

Anyway, since we talk about baking and food a lot and compare recipes, we thought it would be fun to buy the same cookbook and randomly and sporadically pick out recipes to make together (well, apart... whatever, you get the idea).

So, we bought this book Favorite Brand Name Best Loved Chocolate Recipes (quite the title, no?). And since we both love pecans and chocolate... we picked as our inaugural recipe... Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars.

These bars were good. But, I'm going to be honest... they're not great. I mean... pecan pie is my absolute favorite pie. I have dreams about pecan pie... I would marry pecan pie if it were legal (incidentally... maybe it is, in sweden?) And so when the words.. "pecan pie" appear in a recipe, I get a little excited. These bars do not taste like pecan pie. Actually, they taste like fudge pie with pecans thrown in. Good bars and easy to make... but not worthy of having "pecan pie" in their name.

Incidentally, if you want to try these... Steph had a good idea... of instead of melting the chocolate into the bars, to throw in chocolate chips whole... I think thats a great idea!

Check out Steph's Blog to see how hers turned out and stayed tuned for some more chocolatey recipes in the future :)

Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
from Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved Chocolate Recipes

The crust will seem VERY dry. Just make sure you press it really hard into the pan and as it bakes the butter will melt and meld it all together. Like I said... don't expect it to be very pecan pie-y. Think of it more like fudge pie squares with pecans and I dont think you'll be as disappointed as I was.

Makes about 32 bars

Ingredients

Filling
3/4 cup light or dark corn syrup (I used dark)
3 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate, or 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Bar Cookie Crust
non-stick cooking spray
2 cups flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold margarine or butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

2. First, prepare the bar cookie crust: In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press firmly into bottom and 1/4 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Meanwhile, for filling, in heavy 3-quart saucepan stir corn syrup and chocolate over low heat just until chocolate melts. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla until blended. Stir in pecans. Pour over hot crust; spread evenly. Bake 20 minutes or until filling is firm around edges and slightly soft in center. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into 2 x 1 1/2-inch bars.