You know how most people would look at a recipe that calls for more than a box of brown sugar a teddy bear full of honey two pounds of pecans and nine sticks of butter and say oh no. Ina Garten is clearly trying to kill us. And while I often thought that to myself I really just saw this as a challenge. Could this be the thickest thing I’ve ever made? I mean this makes chocolate caramel cheesecake look like a Weight Watchers 2-prong ice cream cone. I have to make them.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 America's Test Kitchen | 2019-04-14 21:00:03 |  175,930 Views |
How to Make Ultranutty Pecan Bars
Because if we’re all going to go sooner or later I think everyone should get a few of these first not that we ever doubted that a pecan pie baked over a thick shortbread crust was worth its weight in coronary arteries. And while I know our arteries are clogged and our scales are groaning at the thought of such an avalanche of ingredients that are best taken in moderation just remember that this will yield a tray full of bars. That’s a hell of a lot of cookies.
Unfortunately a recipe this expensive in building blocks begs for criticism and I have a few complaints though the first is entirely my own stupidity. Whatever you do make sure your pan is at least the right size because I now realize that my baking sheet may be a little too short for the recommended 1-inch height as evidenced by the piles of burnt caramel on the bottom of our oven and our subsequent inhalation of smoke but not the fun kind. It’s been a little over twelve hours since this gunk settled on the oven floor and I’m beginning to suspect that maybe our oven isn’t a self-cleaning model after all — maybe the lack of a self-cleaning setting should have given that away — though I really wish I’d mentioned that sooner. It also pretty much destroyed our pizza stone but since I’ve been itching for a new one for a while now this is the perfect excuse.
My only real recipe-related complaint is that this isn’t the best shortbread I’ve ever had. I know that’s not the point but I would like more flavor and texture. I think the baking powder makes it a little soft for the crushing weight of two pounds of caramel-wrapped pecans; it holds up but not as well as it should so if you have a shortbread base that never fails to hold up for your lemon bars or other cookies and you can scale it up to this size I say go for it.
