This keto pecan bars recipe will easily become a dessert favorite come Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both decadent and yet amazingly low carb, who wouldn’t fall in nut-love with these keto pecan pie bars?
As the holiday season draws near, pecan nuts are most definitely one of those quintessential ingredients that herald the start of Fall and thoughts of warm, cozy evenings by the fireplace.
If you’re on the lookout for that low carb dessert that easily mimics a classic pecan pie – buttery and sugary with that sticky lick-your-fingers crunchy top, look no further. This keto pecan bars recipe should be your ultimate sugar-free holiday dessert staple.
From Holidays Only to All-Year-Round Go-To Dessert
There’s a ton of pecan dessert recipes out there and my recipe for keto maple pecan bars aims to be a stand-out. This one offers that buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture with that classic nutty and caramel flavour, guilt-free!
Making these pecan bars keto is your ticket to a gluten-free sweet and crunchy experience. Pecan nuts are uber flavorful on their own, but by giving them a little extra butter love, the nutty flavor of these keto-friendly pecan pie bars amps up.
Admittedly, people often relegate pecan recipes to the holiday season along. Take it from me, though; this can be an all-year-round dessert wonder. This keto dessert is surprisingly sweet yet healthy at the same time. Why should this pecan bar recipe just be a seasonal dessert?
Get Ready to Go Nuts on this Pecan Nut Dessert
If you’ve scanned through the recipe, you’ll see that I aim to keep it as keto as I can. These pecan pie bars have your classic crust and crunchy top merged together in a glorious ultra nutty combination.
You won’t even notice the lack of brown sugar that’s prevalent in classic pecan bar or pecan pie recipes. The secret? Browned butter sweetened with a keto-friendly sweetener, like my Monkfruit/Erythritol sweetener. More butter for the pecan topping also helps impart further richness. If you can get your hands on it, sugar-free maple syrup is perfect for making these the tastiest bars ever.
You will adore this keto pecan bars recipe, and that’s saying a lot! Picture this – a soft shortbread bottom with an amazingly crunchy and candy-like caramel topping. Actually don’t just picture it. Thanks to this recipe, you’re on your way to savouring these scrumptious pecan goodies!
Just Two Quick Giveaways to Sum Up this Keto Pecan Bars Recipe:
- Cooking the pecans in the butter helps toast them, which adds amazing flavour to the blondie base.
- Making browned butter does away with the traditional way of adding that much-needed caramel flavor to the blondie. Usually, a pecan bar caramel is achieved with copious amounts of brown sugar, but here, browned butter does the trick making this dessert healthy all the way!
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Keto Pecan Bars
Ingredients
For the Blondie Crust:
- ½ cup salted butter
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups almond flour
- 3 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1 Tbsp gelatin
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup Monkfruit/Erythritol sweetener
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp maple extract
For the Pecan Topping:
- 3 eggs room temperature
- ½ cup Monkfruit/Erythritol sweetener
- 3 Tbsp sugar-free maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp bourbon or brandy
- 3 Tbsp salted butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
To Prepare the Blondie Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).
- Spray or lightly grease a 9 x 9-inch (23 x 23-cm) pan and line with parchment so the edges of the parchment hang over two opposing sides of the pan. This will make it easy to lift the bars out of the pan.
- In a small skillet set over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped pecans and cook in the butter, stirring often, or until butter is browned and pecans are fragrant and toasted about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour the butter and pecans into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a bowl combine the almond flour, coconut flour, gelatin, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
- Add the sweetener, eggs, vanilla extract and maple extract to the cooled butter-pecan mixture, and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well-blended. Add the almond flour mixture and continue to mix until well incorporated.
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges just turn golden brown. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes while preparing the pecan topping.
To Prepare the Pecan Topping:
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the sweetener, syrup, bourbon, melted butter, vanilla, and salt and stir to combine. Sprinkle the chopped pecans on top of the blondie crust. Pour the egg mixture over the pecans evenly. Place back in the oven and bake until the pecan topping is bubbly and set about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in pan before removing or slicing.
- To slice, run a knife around the edges of the pan and use the parchment to lift the bars out of the pan. Cut into 16 pieces and enjoy!
Notes
- Cooking the pecans in the butter helps toast them, which adds amazing flavour to the blondie base.
- Making browned butter does away with the traditional way of adding that much-needed caramel flavor to the blondie. Usually, a pecan bar caramel is achieved with copious amounts of brown sugar, but here, browned butter does the trick making this dessert healthy all the way!
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Is there any other liquid substitute for the bourbon that is non-alcoholic ? More maple syrup or just plain water?
You could use queens rum extract? It’s more for the flavour than anything.
Hey Aaron, what would one use if they don’t want to use the bourbon or brandy due to abstaining from alcohol? Some kind of extract? Or does the alcohol enhance the recipe ingredients? Thank you
Yes you can get rum extract, that should work 🙂
Thanks Aaron!
Excellent recipe. Could you tell me the carbs per serving?
Thanks Lewis! 8g total carbs, 4g net carbs.