What's your favorite holiday dessert? Nothing says holiday festivities quite like a pecan pie. These chewy Gluten Free Pecan Pie Bars with Date Syrup take a Thanksgiving staple and give it an update.
With pecans in the buttery shortbread crust as well as the filling, theses bars deliver maximum nutty flavor and texture. The Dairy Free crust, with hints of cinnamon, is the perfect base for the chewy yet crisp topping.
Recipe Redo
When it comes to most pecan pie and pecan bar recipes, one of the first ingredients you'll see is corn syrup. This recipe for Gluten Free Pecan Pie Bars with Date Syrup swaps out the highly processed corn syrup and replaces it with date syrup.
The natural sweetness of dates gives a layer of caramel flavor. I use D'vash Organics Date Syrup. With only one ingredient, dates, there are zero artificial ingredients, flavors, or sweeteners. date syrup is lower on the Glycemic scale, have less sugar than honey, maple syrup, and most other natural sweeteners. D'vash Organics date syrup is non-GMO certified and organic.
The combination of date syrup and brown sugar gives these bars a deep layered caramel flavor as well as that slightly chewy bite. Besides the cinnamon in the crust, there is also cinnamon bringing warm fall flavors to the filling.
Just imagine these as they start baking in the oven. That combination of toasting pecans, buttery crust, rich date syrup, and cinnamon perfuming the air. Don't save these just for the holidays!
Baking Your Gluten Free Pecan Pie Bars with Date Syrup
While these bars might be perfect for a holiday, they're easy enough for any day of the week. I will walk you through a few simple steps so you can turn any day into a celebration.
First, let's start with the crust. This is a shortbread style crust with a base of Gluten Free flour and Dairy Free butter. You want to ensure your butter is at room temperature so it mixes together quickly and evenly. Once all of your ingredients are mixed and the pecans and cinnamon folded in, you are going to evenly press the dough into your baking dish.
Because the filling for these Gluten Free Pecan Pie Bars with Date Syrup is wet, the crust gets par baked first. You are going to bake the crust for 20 minutes before adding the filling and baking for 30-35 more minutes.
To make sure these bars are fully cooked through, insert a knife around the edge of the crust. If it comes out clean, they're done! I love to serve these with Dairy Free ice cream.
Are you looking for more baking inspiration? Make sure you check out my recipe for The Best Dairy Free and Gluten Free Cheesecake. Now let's get baking!
Gluten Free Pecan Pie Bars with Date Syrup
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- 9x13 baking dish
Ingredients
Pecan Shortbread Crust
- 1 ½ cups 1.1 Gluten Free flour
- ¾ cup pecans, finely chopped
- ¾ cup Dairy Free butter, room temp
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅓ cup sugar
Pecan Pie Filling
- 1 ½ cups date syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup 1.1 Gluten Free flour
- 2 cups pecans, chopped
Instructions
Pecan Shortbread Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl add the butter, sugar, and flour and mix until just combined. Add the cinnamon and pecans and gently mix.
- Press the dough into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Proceed with the filling.
Pecan Pie Filling
- While the crust is baking mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
- Once the crust has baked 20 minutes pour in the filling.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. When done a knife inserted near the edge should come out clean.
- Allow to cool. Enjoy with your favorite Dairy Free ice cream.
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