Healthified Pecan Pie Cookie Bars {Gluten Free, Vegan, Dairy Free}
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Pe-CAN I ask you a question?…
DID YOU KNOW that it is possible to make Pecan Pie WITHOUT butter and sugar?! WHO KNEW.
I didn’t really grow up eating Pecan Pie, and then someone asked if I could make it for a potluck. I looked up some recipes and was pretty shocked by the ingredients: corn syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, butter, shortening… basically nothing with any nutritional value!
I knew there had to be a better way…
For the base, I used coconut flour. When you get the ratios right working with coconut flour, it is SO GOOD. It’s high in fiber and much easier to digest than other flours. Have you tried this Blueberry Pumpkin Seed Banana Loaf yet?! It’s also made with Coconut Flour and it is SO. TASTY.
For the “filling”, I used a mix of both coconut sugar and maple syrup. Normally I like to use less sugar, even the natural low-GI kind, but pecan pie sort of has to be sweet. Still, these won’t be AS sweet as your grandmother’s traditional Pecan Pie.
I planned on adding egg to for volume and sticking-togethernees, but honestly forgot to add it, and they turned out A-OK without it! High five for this recipe now being VEGAN as well!
One last note about these: When you eat one bar, you’re gonna want to eat a second one. So maybe cut them in smaller pieces if you’re feeding lots of people, because everyone is going to go back for seconds.
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Healthy Pecan Pie Cookie Bars
By The Granola Diaries
Crust:
- 1/3 C Coconut oil, room temp
- 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 3/4 C Coconut Flour
“Filling”
- 3/4 C Coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 3 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 Cup Pecans, toasted and chopped
- Almond milk Flax egg: 1.5 Tbsp flax + 3 Tbsp almond milk
Directions
- Preheat Oven to 350 and line an 8×8″ (or 9×9″) square baking pan.
- Combine all ingredients for crust and press into the baking sheet bottom to spread evenly. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Let cool.
- Make almond milk flax egg (combine almond milk + ground flax in small bowl, stir, and set in fridge to form a “gel”). In the meantime, toast the pecans at 350 for 8 – 10 minutes if not already toasted. Watch closely and careful not to burn. Chop them, if desired, or leave whole.
- Mix first 3 filling ingredients in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in almond milk flax egg. Lastly, add chopped pecans.
- Pour mixture over crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely before cutting in to enjoy.
- Cut into sqaures/bars, and enjoy! Store in the fridge.
Did you use a 9×9 size pan? I have these in the oven right now. I used an egg instead of the flax egg. Were you going to use both the flax egg mixture AND a real egg?
I used a square 8×8″ pan, but 9″ should work too. You only need the flax or regular egg. How did yours turn out?!
They did well in a 9×9 pan. I used an egg in the topping, They were great. Thanks!
Just curious, can you use another oil aside from coconut oil? Although I like it, I find the taste takes over when I make sweets using it. What would be your thoughts?
I think you could use butter if you do not want to use coconut oil. Since the “filling” part needs to solidify, using something that is solid at room temperature is important. I would not recommend using something like Olive Oil or Canola Oil as I don’t think it would solidify.
Use expeller-pressed coconut oil. It doesn’t have the coconut flavor. I purchase from Tropical Traditions. They have lots of information on their site about coconut oil.
Question on the oil- Do I melt the coconut oil for the crust prior to mixing? I’m struggling to figure out how I would mix this in as hard as it is at room temp unless we are to use something like pastry blender thing?
It should be soft and solid at room temp, so it mixes in easily, like a room temperature butter.
Room temps vary and my oil is often hard. Gently warm the oil til it softens, then mix in. Enen melted oil works..