Paleo Pecan Pie Bar Crisp

Call it a pie, call it a bar, call it a crisp or a cobbler, this Paleo Pecan Pie Bar Crisp is all you need for a special dessert. 

Gosh durnit y’all, I wanted so badly to make this dessert egg free. And I did it but dang that was painful. So my plan was this – make pecan pie bars that can be sliced and eaten by hand. And technically you could do that buuuuut, they are a little messy for that. 

Since I wanted to make these sans egg, that means I have an abbreviated selection of binders to use to hold these puppies together. I didn’t believe flax or chia would do the trick, so I leaned on my trusted pal, gelatin. Gelatin, when used properly is nothing short of magic. But it has its limitations. Nevertheless, I persisted. 

So after round one, where I used a wee bit too much gelatin and ended up with a functioning pecan bar with a terrible texture, I knew that was a dumpster batch. Shame too cuz pecans are not cheap, ya heard?

But all is well here. I figured out a way to title it in such a way that if you are meticulous and daring, you’ll have yourself some pecan bars. And if you don’t want to try so hard, you can just scoop that sucker into a bowl and slap some dairy free (or dairy) ice cream on top. 

I very hurriedly took me photos before I dashed out the door to a ladies get together, where I saw scoop after scoop going down the hatch. I stood back as a silent observer but was able to witness much enjoyment. Whew. For a spontaneous recipe, it worked out well and I’m excited to make it again when it’s not an actual experiment on 15 brand new friends. Want a traditional pecan pie recipe? Go HERE!

Paleo Pecan Pie Bar Crisp

• Author: Jennifer Robins

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1.5 cups almond flour
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 5 tablespoons sustainably sourced palm shortening or coconut oil, softened
• Pinch sea salt

For the pecan portion:

• 3 cups pecan pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup dairy free creamer (I used Nutpods), full fat coconut milk would work too
• 1.5 tablespoons grass fed gelatin (the kind that congeals)

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Combine the almond flour, honey, pinch of salt, and shortening in a bowl
3. Stir to combine and then press into a 9×9 casserole dish
4. Bake for 20 minutes 
5. While the crust is baking, combine the remaining ingredients except for the gelatin, in a separate bowl
6. Remove the casserole dish after 20 minutes and set aside
7. Add the gelatin to the pecan mixture and stir quickly
8. Spoon the pecan mixture into the casserole dish and press with a spatula to evenly distribute
9. Bake for another 40 minutes and then COOL COMPLETELY before attempting to slice or spoon out warm with ice cream if you don’t give a crap whether they are in square shapes