Pecan Shortbread Bars
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Everyday Food, May 2006
- Prep Time 20 minutes
- Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield Makes 18
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Ingredients
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour, plus more for preparation
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 cup cold (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.
- In a food processor, pulse pecans until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl; set aside. In processor, blend flour, sugar, butter, and salt until moist clumps form. Add reserved pecans; pulse 2 or 3 times, just to incorporate.
- Press dough evenly into the bottom of prepared pan (if dough is sticky, dip fingers in flour). With a floured fork, prick dough every 1/2 inch. Bake until lightly golden, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Cool 5 minutes in pan. Use foil overhang to lift shortbread from pan onto cutting board. With a serrated knife, carefully cut warm shortbread into 18 bars (6 rows by 3 rows). Remove from foil; cool bars completely on a rack before serving.
my recipes for shortbread use no liquid. Just a little moisture from the butter. That's what makes them so tender. That part of why it's called "short bread" high fat, no liquid.
What holds these together? Is there no liquid in the recipe?
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Sawzbella,
To make the dough by hand, mix the flour, sugar, and salt together and then cut in the butter with a pastry blender or a fork, like you would do for pie dough. Shortbread and pie crust are similar; you want to coat the butter with flour so it will be flaky, but don't handle it any more than you have to.
Since you will be chopping up the pecans anyway, why not
just use pecan pieces and not the more expensive pecan halves?
Mykele
Sawzbella....chop them finely by hand.
I don't have a food processor, but these sound like they would be a hit at my house! My 10 year old discoverd his Dad's Pecan Pie this Thanksgiving!
Any suggestions for making them without a processor would be appreciated! Thank You!
These are the easiest and yummiest cookies! Everybody LOVES them!
These turned out great and were very quick and easy!