Pecan Squares Recipe (2024)

Check out the very close Maida Heatter Pecan Squares Americana recipe originally published by her in 1974 - flawless, and the lemon zest in the pastry shell raises it to another level. The cookies are very rich and can be cut into tiny pieces when chilled.

Used salted butter in the crust & cut out salt in the flour. Used cooking spray on the parchment rather than butter. Stabilized parchment on raised edge baking sheet with clothes pins (removed after putting in crust). Cooked the topping while the crust was baking so it was cooling and firming up by the time I put it on the crust. Cooled pan in the refrigerator for two hours before cutting. Came out great!

Great. Very rich. Do not "go generous" with the pecans--the amount of pecans is very generous already.

Whoa. These are crazy good. I substituted maple syrup for the honey... adds a nice depth. Crazy good.

1 stick butter 160 grams all purpose flour34 grams sugar1/4 tsp saltMedium egg yolk1/2 tbs ice water1 stick butter 50 grams sugar100 grams light brown sugar2 tbsp honey1/4 cup heavy cream1 tsp vanilla extract 2 cups coarse chopped pecans

Followed recipe exactly for ingredients, but had to cook the shortbread crust a bit longer than called for (7 minutes or so). I would suggest cutting them into bite size pieces — they are VERY rich. I’ve been asked to reprise these for the holiday cookie exchange. They were a huge hit at Thanksgiving and got voted best dessert!

Interesting ... because all the versions of Maida Heatter’s recipe I find use exactly this volume of butter, but 1/2 C more flour in the crust. The topping is nearly identical but she uses 1C more pecans ... there are very slight differences in varied volumes for the topping ingredients (the sweeteners, and the cream) but they total out pretty much the same. Her big “wow” difference seems to be the use of lemon zest in the crust ...otherwise they are functionally the same...

How far ahead can you make these? How to store?

First made these a year ago and my family asks for them again and again. We all think they are exponentially better than pecan pie! I've left the pecans whole (out of laziness) and the bars are great like that, too. And if you can get some fresh Georgia pecans to use, you will think you've died and gone to heaven.

I just tried gluten free flour for the crust. Bad decision on my part. They do not hold together. Delicious, but totally crumbly. Maybe I can use them as streusel or an ice cream topping. I've been making Maida Heatter's Georgia Pecan bars from her original "Book of Great Cookies" from 1977 flawlessly for years. They are similar, but use less butter and about half the topping.

We make these for every family occasion. They are amazing. Absolutely addicting.

Extremely sweet!

I followed the recipe exactly by weight, and I added 2 tsp of water to achieve a crumbly dough that would *just* hold together when pinched. Cutting the bars revealed that underneath my beautiful toffee nut topping was essentially a pile of dry crumbly sand. Very disappointing. I found that after refrigerating overnight, the bars set up better. I wish I had let the whole pan sit in the fridge for a few hours before cutting.

There is a Fine Cooking recipe for Honey-Nut Bars that is similar in ingredients and technique (and they are delicious) but has much, much less butter in both crust and filling.

Made these without a food processor, and subbed Lyle's Golden Syrup for honey and half-and-half for the cream. They were amazing and a favorite in my family. I did cook a little longer than the recipe specified. The topping was bubbling so I couldn't tell if it was "set" - I took it out and tilted the pan and felt it was still a little too runny so popped it back in for about 7 more minutes. Will definitely add to the holiday cookie rotation!

Make sure to measure sugar by weight. Add grated lemon zest and a whole egg to crust. Used about 600g pecans.

Added an extra half cup of flour and lemon zest in the crust. Used a whole egg instead of just the yolk. Little over 600 g of pecans- broken up with my hands

These bars were a little “sus” at first as my niece Elaine would say. Made GF with gluten free flour because my second husband is vegan. I cleaned the caramel out of the pan with my tongue and then used the pan to hit the birds and the neighbors who tried to steal the bars from my windowsill. I will be serving this with freshly whipped mayonnaise for my church group tomorrow.

These bars were a little “sus” at first, as my niece Elaine would say. Made GF with gluten free flour because my second husband is vegan. I cleaned the caramel out of the pan with my tongue and then used the pan hit the birds and the neighbors when they tried to steal this off my windowsill. Highly recommend this recipe to vegans and meat lovers alike. I will be serving this with freshly whipped mayonnaise on top for my church group tomorrow.

Has anyone added chocolate chip?

Made this for Thanksgiving. Huge hit. Lemon zest essential. Chilled in fridge overnight necessary to cut into small bites with ruler and sharp knife. Used Lyle Golden Syrup instead of honey.

I cook and bake frequently, and my family always enjoys what I make, but these squares got extra raves. Made them for a crowd and they disappeared quickly. There was hoarding, there was fighting…If you keep them in the fridge they are reminiscent of Milk Bar Pie (formerly known as Crack Pie). Yes, they are that good.

My local food co-op used to sell these, so I had to learn how to make them when they stopped. Even though I used their recipe, nearly identical to this one, they always were too sweet. I finally realized they actually used pie crust rather than the sweet cookie crust in the recipe. Pie crust is more trouble, but to me they are so, so much better!

I have made these three times in the last month. I followed someone's suggestion for substituting maple syrup for honey, and loved the results. They are better if they sit overnight before serving/eating. They freeze very well.

Is there any way to reduce the amount of butter?

Gosh, does an AED go along with this recipe? Talk about excessive, 2 sticks of butter in the crust and then ANOTHER 2 sticks of butter in the topping. But then wait, enough sugar in the topping to make you a type 2 diabetic. Why not just throw the pecans on the butter and save some time. Come on recipe writers, enough with the butter already. We need an Eating Well version of this recipe.

Way too much butter in the topping. It soaked the shortbread crust and turned it into crumbs. I salvaged the firmer pieces around the edges and put the rest in the freezer. A pound of butter for a 9 by 13 pan of cookies is A LOT.

I wish someone would respond to the “can these be frozen” questions. I would love to make these ahead of Thanksgiving and freeze them.

Delicious! Was a hit as an easy dessert for a BBQ. Needs ample time to cool.

A wonderful cookie, reminiscent of my favorite pecan pie recipe. I’m not a big fan of the flavor of honey, so next time I will substitute in dark corn syrup.