Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars

Helllooo! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. Did you take part in Black Friday shopping? I stayed home and watched Mad Men, read a book, and it was perfect. Later on Eric and I did venture out to Target and the mall... but only for a few minutes.

I had a great Thanksgiving. It was a gas... and I mean a gas. Heh heh heh. Long story.



I woke up, got ready, and then made corn casserole. I used Paula Deen's recipe. It's the easiest thing in the world to make. You just mix together butter, sour cream, corn, and cornbread mix, and bake it for a while before topping it with cheese. I thought it was pretty good, but I think it could be better. I think I should have stirred some cheese into the filling instead of just topping it with cheese. And I don't think some bacon could hurt either.

Here's what it looked like. Eric drove to my parents' house and I held the blazing hot corn casserole in my lap the whole time.


It snowed a little bit on Thanksgiving. The night before we had tornadoes. You gotta love Missouri weather.




We didn't wait too long before digging into the food. My parents outdid themselves... they always do. Everything was SO delicious. Good job, guys! Thank you so much!

Eric's favorite Thanksgiving dish is corn casserole. I had to make it for my pumpkin. Awww.


Look at Mom hard at work. There's like, ten things in that oven.


Rolls. After nine years of eating these rolls, I'm a bit sick of them. (They come from where I work at.) Maybe next year I'll bake some parker house rolls.


Dad roasted two turkey breasts instead of making a whole turkey. I think it was the best turkey he's ever made. It was moist and delicious.


Traditional sage-cornbread stuffing/dressing.


Mashed potatoes & gravy.


Sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows! My favorite!




This was a whipped cream salad my mom made. It had apples, grapes, whipped cream, pecans, and mini marshmallows in it. We called it "Linda's Deelite."


My plate. I did my best to finish it, and I almost did.


But then I started feeling ill from eating too much. Eric had the same problem.
We held hands through the pain.


We rested a while, discussed the latest South Park-Food Network episode, and then played a mini pool tournament. This is my sister Hannah in action. She's a better pool player than I am.


I'm so thankful for my family. I love them.


I'm thankful that my brother in law is alive. I'm thankful that he was able to spend Thanksgiving with us. It truly is a miracle that he's doing so well.
I'm also thankful for my nephew, Jayden, and my new niece, baby Maddy.


Of course I'm thankful for this guy. :)


AND I'm thankful for you guys! And dessert.






This is my mystery dessert I made. I promise I'll be able to tell you about it soon. But not yet...




I made these chocolate pecan pie bars this year, because I felt like bars would be easier for people to eat, and they could try a little dessert without overdoing it. Chocolate pecan pie is my favorite, so it made sense to make the pie in bar form.


The crust is not a pie crust, but not really a cookie, either. It's made out of butter, cream cheese, flour and confectioners' sugar. After a quick bake, the crust is topped with a mixture of eggs, corn syrup, melted chocolate, bourbon, brown sugar, vanilla, and pecans. I browned some butter and then toasted the pecans in the butter. That's the best decision I've ever made.

These were good. Sadly, I didn't get enough of them, though. I was too full and only ate half of one. Well, half of one and a slice of pecan pie. And a small slice of mystery dessert.

And that was my Thanksgiving! Now it's time for Christmas. Bring on the egg nog, candy canes, Christmas popcorn tins, gingerbread men and Little Debbie Christmas tree cakes. Hooray!


Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Printable Recipe

Crust
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted
3 large eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chunks, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

To make the crust, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese until creamy. Beat in butter until well combined and creamy. Beat in confectioners' sugar and salt until combined. Beat in flour until just combined. Pat dough into bottom of baking dish to form a crust. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown around edges.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook about 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter browns ands starts to foam. Stir in pecans and cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs until combined. Whisk in brown sugar, corn syrup, bourbon, vanilla and salt until well combined. Whisk in melted chocolate until combined. Stir in pecans until combined.

Pour filling onto crust. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown and set. Cool completly on a wire rack before lifting out foil from dish and slicing into bars.

I can't remember the yield. I believe it made about 20 bars.