Insanely easy and delicious date caramel pecan pie bars featuring a gooey, sticky date caramel filling layered with crunchy roasted pecans and an almond flour shortbread-style base. A fun twist on pecan pie!
Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking pan with parchment paper. For the Base/Crust: Place your almond flour in the food processor and pulse with a pinch of sea salt. Add the egg, 2-3 Tbsp of vanilla ghee (or coconut oil), and 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract. Pulse until it clumps/binds together into a ball. Press the dough evenly onto a medium-sized rectangular or square baking pan. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool and harden.
While the crust bakes, prepare the Date Caramel Filling: Simply throw the 20 pitted medjool dates into your food processor and process into a smooth paste. Very gradually add warm water in small increments, starting with 2 Tbsp and continuing to process. If needed, add 1 more Tbsp, and if not smooth enough to spread, add 1 more Tbsp, until it reaches a Nutella-like paste consistency.
For the Maple Pecan Topping: In a bowl, melt the 1 Tbsp of date or coconut sugar and 2 Tbsp of vanilla ghee (or grass-fed butter) together. Stir in and coat the 2 cups of roasted pecans. Add a drizzle of 1-2 Tbsp of pure maple syrup. Line a separate baking tray with parchment paper and spread the pecans across in a single layer (don’t stack them to ensure even baking). Place them inside the oven (still on at 350F) and bake for 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as they burn fast!
To assemble the bars: Layer the date caramel on top of the cooled pie crust. (Optional: mix some pecans into the filling, too). Finally, top with the maple toasted pecans.
