Healthy Pecan Pie Bars – Gluten Free, Vegan
These healthy Pecan Pie Bars are super easy to make and are the perfect Holiday dessert! They are gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free, and taste amazing!
When I was younger, I was never really a big fan of pecan pie. It was way too sweet for me and I usually tried to avoid eating nuts in any kind of dessert when I was a kid.
I actually used to order the “Peanut Buster Parfait” from Dairy Queen without the peanuts because I just wanted a giant hot fudge sundae and thought the peanuts had no place in a sundae.
Now that I am technically a grown up, I decided I needed to give peanuts, pecans, and walnuts in dessert another chance.
With the holiday’s coming up I knew I wanted to make pie. Lots and lots of pie! Some of the popular pie’s on the list are always apple and pecan so I definitely wanted to give those a try.
I finally feel like I’ve conquered apple pie so next on the list was pecan pie.
I remembered the ingredients in a traditional pecan pie and how sweet it was supposed to be which made it seem like an impossible dessert to make gluten free, vegan, and refined sugar free.
So I started researching and came across this pecan pie bar recipe from Without Adornment.
I loved the idea of making bars instead of a pie so you can have as little or as much as you want.
I also really liked that they were already refined sugar free so I wasn’t going to have to do much tweaking to the recipe to get them just right.
These pecan pie bars turned out FANTASTIC! They are the perfect amount of sweetness and crunch and have officially changed my opinion on desserts with nuts.
I think we will be having these pecan pie bars all year round!
What are some of your favorite desserts that include nuts? I can’t wait to try out some more and would love to hear your ideas!
I hope you all enjoy these pecan pie bars as much as my family does.
♥ Don’t forget to rate this recipe and leave a comment below if you give this recipe a try! ♥
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Pecan Pie Bars – Gluten Free, Vegan, & Refined Sugar Free
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 40 min
- Yield: 9 Servings 1x
Description
These Healthy Pecan Pie Bars are super easy to make and are the perfect Holiday dessert! They are gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free, and taste amazing!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 6 tbsp refined coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- dash of salt
For the Pecan Filling
- 1 3/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/3 + 2 tbsp cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp flaxseed meal and 3 tbsp warm water (or 1 egg)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8×8″ pan.
- In a medium bowl, add all crust ingredients and mix until a crumb is formed.
- Pour the crumb mixture into the 8×8″ pan and press evenly to form the crust.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- While the crust is baking, in a small pot, mix together maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to cool.
- While filling mixture is cooling, toast the chopped pecans in the oven on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes.
- While the pecans are toasting, in a small bowl, add flax meal and warm water and stir. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken up.
- Once the filling is cooled, add in the flax meal mixture and whisk to combine.
- Stir in the toasted pecans and pour the filling mixture evenly over crust.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture begins to set.
- Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the pecan pie bars to be easily cut and served.
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These pecan bars are to die for! Seriously great!
Thank you!!
These taste so good! Unfortunately my crust falls apart. Any suggestions?
Hi Tracy, I’m so glad you love the taste of these! As far as the crust falling apart, I have not had that happen before. I would suggest adding a bit more coconut oil. Also, make sure you wait to cut it until it has completely cooled and use a sharp knife when cutting. I hope this helps!
Hi Tracey,
My crust fell apart too. I think it needed to bake longer. It didn’t look quite done after 10 mins. I should have stuck to my intuition and popped it back in until it looked done.
Hi Camille, thanks for sharing your experience. I would definitely try cooking them a bit longer. Usually when I make them the crust is a little crumbly but it shouldn’t fall apart.
I have been searching for the perfect GF, DF sweet for ages & this is it ! I love it, it’s delish & very easy. Thanks so much
★★★★★
Yay! You are so welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
These sound amazing but I can’t do coconut oil. Can I replace with something else?
Hi Jen, you should be able to use another neutral flavored oil like avocado oil.
These are delicious and a big hit among all of my non-food restricted friends. I’ve made them several times and always have to bake them at least an extra 15 minutes, the flavor is much enhanced as is texture in my opinion. Maybe you can consider changing the time listed for baking in your recipe. the first time I made them they tasted kind of raw and realize they’re much better baked longer after cooking them again the next day for about 30 minutes. When baking continuously I think an extra 10 to 20 minutes, based on your browning preferences, is all that’s needed.
★★★★