Name: Maple Pecan Bars (Reduced Sugar)
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup (5 ounces/142 grams) all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon baking powder; 8 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled; 2 tablespoons maple syrup; 1 tablespoon water; ⅓ cup maple syrup; 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled; 1 large egg; 1 tablespoon bourbon or dark rum (optional); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1¾ cups pecans , toasted and chopped coarse

Why This Recipe Works

Replacing the sugar in the crust with maple syrup resulted in a crumbly crust that simply couldn't support the hefty topping. Adding water helped to create a better crumb by hydrating the dough, and parbaking the crust before adding the topping was essential to ensuring that it stayed crisp. As for the topping, we found that we could use a mere ⅓ cup of maple syrup (cutting the overall sugar content by more than half). We bolstered the syrup’s flavor with vanilla extract and a shot of bourbon. Although traditional recipes call for sprinkling the pecans over the caramel, we found that the nuts didn't stay on the finished bars. Mixing the pecans into the caramel before pouring it over the crust ensured that our bars were cohesive.

Instructions

For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Make foil sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Grease foil.

Pulse flour, salt, and baking powder in food processor until combined, about 5 pulses. Add chilled butter, maple syrup, and water and pulse until mixture forms small balls of dough, 10 to 12 pulses. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and press into even layer with bottom of dry measuring cup. Bake until crust is light golden brown, 20 to 24 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

For the pecan filling: Whisk maple syrup; melted butter; egg; bourbon, if using; vanilla; and salt together in medium bowl until combined. Stir in pecans. Pour filling over top of hot crust and spread to coat evenly. Bake until top is bubbling, 22 to 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

Let bars cool completely in pan, about 1 hour. Using foil overhang, lift bars from pan and transfer to cutting board. Cut into bars and serve.