Pecan Praline Bars
With a buttery crust topped with sweet, candied pecans these Pecan Praline Bars are perfection. These Pecan Cookie Bars are a great to add to your holiday cookie tray. Or just to eat… any other day of the year. This easy pecan bar recipe is low carb, keto, sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
We spent the last ten days in Minnesota visiting my husband’s brother, his wife, and their 4 children for Thanksgiving. Since we flew from NJ to MN I mailed a box of necessities (my sweetener, almond flour, coconut flour, and a few other things) ahead of time.
I wasn’t planning on making a ton of new recipes while we were visiting but I knew I’d want some sweets while we were there. I settled on making my Creamy Pecan Praline recipe into cookie bars. I knew that I’d be happy having a couple squares of this instead of traditional pumpkin and apple pie.
These filled my Thanksgiving sweet tooth and I’m planning on making another batch for Christmas. I may drizzle a little chocolate on top of them next time. There is always room for chocolate.
Ingredients
You only need seven ingredients to make these amazing bars.
- Almond Flour
- Coconut Flour
- Butter
- Heavy Cream
- Sweetener
- Pecans
- Vanilla
How to Make Pecan Praline Cookie Bars
These have an easy press-in crust topped with a basic pecan praline candy.
The crust only needs almond flour, coconut flour, butter, and water. It is simple but the one trick is to process it long enough in the food processor that the dough comes together in a ball. That is very important!
And then you need to cut the bars, and then chill them. The topping gets too hard to cut if you chill them before cutting. And if you try to take them out before chilling the crust can crumble. It is not hard to cut, chill, remove. Just do it in that order and you are good!
How to make Pecan Praline Topping
My tip here is to stir A LOT and make sure you arrive at a deep golden color before turning off the heat. If it seems to be taking too long turn up the heat a smidge and then keep watch. It is easy to burn cooked candies if you leave them unattended.
While you are at it use the same ingredients to whip up a batch of classic NOLA inspired Pecan Pralines!
More delicious Low Carb Pecan Desserts:
Cinnamon Crumb Cake Recipe w/ Pecans
Homemade Sweetener
One of the best parts of the trip was getting through security on our way home with a baggie of my sweetener in a carry-on. Since I make my own blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia I bring it with me when I travel.
But… that baggie of sweetener bought my husband a pat down and a thorough search of our luggage. The security man thought we were pretty funny. Mom, Dad, and 4 kids armed with baking ingredients needing to be searched. I guess I should’ve just mailed a box back home too!
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Pecan Praline Bars
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups almond flour
- 1 1/2 tsp coconut flour (TEASPOONS)
- 2 tbsp cold butter
- 1.5 tsp cold water
Pecan Praline Topping:
- 8 oz chopped pecans toasted (I toast nuts at 400 degrees for 4-6 min until they are lightly browned and fragrant)
- 6 tbsp salted butter divided
- 6 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine crust ingredients in a food processor and pprocess until a uniform dough forms. This can take 2-3 minutes on high. Keep going until it forms a ball of dough.
- Press into the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Combine 5 tablespoons butter, sweetener, and cream over medium heat. Stir until the sweetener is dissolved. Cook until it is a deep golden brown. As soon as it reached that deep color (right before burning) remove from the heat and immediately add the other 1 tablespoon butter. Stir until smooth. Add the vanilla and toasted pecans. Cool for 10 minutes.
- Pour on top of the prepared crust. Refrigerate until firm.
Living outside Toronto. Have not heard of the sweetener you use, but I use monk fruit sugar. It dissolves quite well when in warm mixture. Do you think I could use? Would you have an idea of where to purchase your sweetener?
I purchase ingredients online from amazon. I have seen monkfruit blends used in caramels so it should work. If you try let me know how they turn out. 😀
Could I sub thm baking blend for the Almond & coconut flour? If so, same measurements but all in baking blend?
Thanks! They look so yummy!
Yes, but only use about 2/3 of the amount or the crust will be dry.
These are excellent – have made them several times & get RAVE reviews.
I plan to make these again later today but I am running low on Gentle Sweet… Would Super Sweet work if I did the conversion?
I’m not sure. They might need the bulk of gentle sweet. Do you have xylitol or erythritol? You could do half SS and half one of those.
I made this with Pyure and I think I shouldn’t have let the mixture cool for 10 min. The sauce turned out great and even browned! I’ve never made that before, so was very excited. I wasn’t able to poor the mixture on, I had to spread on the shortbread. Once chilled the shortbread was pretty crumbly. It still tastes great. It was for my husband’s birthday and was a great replacement for sugary pecan pie!
Hi KB, did you use 1/2 cup of Pyure ? Every time I find a recipe it seems I always need an ingredient that I don’t have. I do have Pyure and don’t want to have to buy Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet or the ingredients to make Taryn’s blend. Thank you.
I have made these 2 times in 2 days. A slight chocolate drizzle makes them even better. Thank you!
Were do you get the sweetener or can you use some like stevia?
You can buy Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet on their website or on Amazon. My sweetener and links to the ingredients are at: http://www.joyfilledeats.com/sweetener
I don’t think plain stevia would work in this recipe.
These were excellent! They taste like something so naughty. Absolutely delicious. I actually made these on my youtube channel and sent my viewers to your blog for the recipe. Here is the link. These really were a hit!
https://youtu.be/ZOsMhRwPh5o
Could I use coconut milk (full fat) instead of heavy cream in this recipe?
I have made these bars 3 times in the last 6 weeks….they came out perfectly each time and are so delicious. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Just made these but the topping didn’t stick to the crust… so when I cut a square it turns into a crumbly mess. I think I went wrong letting it cool 10 minutes before pouring on top. Any ideas for salvaging the recipe before I serve it tomorrow?
If you pop it in the oven for a few minutes the topping might melt enough to adhere to the crust. Or you could put melted chocolate on top like glue. It is important to cut this before it cools too much. Or you could put it in clear plastic cups crumbled and put a dollop of whipped cream on top.
I just made these and had the exact same problem! I used Pyure sweetener, so it could be that for me? Not sure either. Oh well, it’s good with a spoon too 🙂
I don’t know what I did! Followed this recipe exactly and the crust is just like dust! It never made “dough” and I even added more butter. It was awful. I used it anyway thinking the praline would stick it together. The top tastes good even though it didn’t turn out…but the crust is like sand…..
Hi Hannah, I’m not sure why that would’ve happened. I’ve made this crust at least a dozen times and I’ve had many readers make it successfully too. Sorry to ask such a silly question but are you sure you measured the coconut flour correctly? This only uses one and a half teaspoons. If that is off it can ruin the whole recipe.
This looks amazing! I’d like to make these for Christmas but am wondering if I can use Swerve or just Stevia in place of the gentle sweet or your blend?
Thanks!
Sorry, but I’m not sure. I doubt stevia would work and I’m not familiar with how well swerve melts.
What did I do wrong here? My sweetener/butter/cream mixture never browned, it just separated until it was mostly butter, as if the dm cream and ‘sugar’ melted off. I tried it three times and followed the directions exactly. Help!
Hi Audra, are you using gentle sweet?
Omygoodness… these are wonderful! I made them to take to a Christmas party last night and they disappeared. I have already been commissioned (by my husband) to make them again for another party on Wednesday/ It’s a keeper– thank you!
This is probably the best low carb recipe I have made so far. I tried this recipe last week and took it to a potluck. There were two small pieces left and the hostess kept them when she packed up my plate to go home. Many of my friends are pre-diabetic (as am I) and so really appreciated knowing that they could eat this and not feel guilty! I have since made it again for just my husband and myself and have loved it as much as my friends. It is so easy and tastes so good and it will have a permanent place on my cookie tray. Thanks for always great recipes and I do appreciate the nutrition info with the recipes!
It would also make a great praline without the crust!