Paleo Vegan Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars combine delicious pecan pie with gooey chocolate richness for an incredibly flavorful treat! These cookie bars are easy to prepare and amazing for sharing!
Rich, buttery shortbread crust with gooey caramel-covered pecans and melted chocolate chips make these soft, chewy, crumb bars completely addicting.
I made these bars for my family’s Thanksgiving feast and they were all the rage. In fact, my sister insisted she take home the leftovers 😉
If you’ve tried my Paleo Pecan Pie Bars, or my Dairy-Free Keto Pecan Pie recipe, you may just love this chocolate version just as much, if not more!
They are also reminiscent of my 7-Layer Paleo Magic Bars, minus a couple of layers.
Fans of pecans, chocolate, shortbread, or caramel will find these bars utterly scintillating!
Let’s dive right into the details!
Ingredients For Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars:
Pecans
Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar
Coconut Oil
Dairy-Free Vegan Chocolate Chips
The bars are nestled on a delicious shortbread crust, which is made from almond flour, coconut oil, and pure maple syrup. While the crust contains no dairy, it has a natural buttery flavor, making it taste ultra inviting.
Dairy-free homemade caramel is made using full-fat canned coconut milk and coconut sugar, resulting in thick, sticky gooey deliciousness.
Finally, the pecans and chocolate chips make up that nutty crunch and incredibly sinful richness.
Make no mistake…just because these luscious bars are grain-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free (buzz words) does not make them “healthy.” They are, indeed an indulgent dessert!
Tips For Making This Recipe:
Before you set out to make this recipe, read all of the instructions and give yourself plenty of time. This is a fabulous make-ahead dessert recipe, as you will need time to allow the crust to cool and to allow the bars to chill to set up.
While this recipe involves a few steps, the great news is it can be performed in parts.
For instance, you can make the shortbread crust up to 3 days ahead of time.
You can also prepare the chocolate filling and the caramel ahead of time, but you will need to reheat them in order to make the bars as they will become too thick to spread when chilled.
My recommendation is to prepare the shortbread crust ahead of time so that it has plenty of time to cool.
That way, you can make the chocolate filling and the caramel quickly and compile the bars to get them ready to chill in advance.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars:
Prepare the Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9” x 9” cake pan with parchment paper.
Stir together all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Keep stirring until a thick, moist, crumbly dough forms.
Press the rest of the crust mixture into the parchment-lined cake pan until you have an even layer of crust. Poke several times with a fork to ensure even baking.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 16 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and appears as though it has set up.
Remove the crust from the oven.
Make the Caramel:
Heat the coconut milk, coconut sugar, and sea salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring it to a full boil, whisking consistently. Add the gluten-free flour (or tapioca flour) and whisk vigorously at a continuous boil until the clumps of flour are out and the caramel is very thick, about 8 to 15 minutes.
Stir in the pecans.
Note: it’s easy to prepare the caramel while the crust is baking in the oven!
Make the Bars:
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the cooled pie crust evenly.
Pour the caramel mixture over the chocolate chips and spread it into an even layer.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Allow the bars to cool for 15 minutes before moving them to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Note: You can slice the bars sooner than 1 hour if you want them to be melted, gooey and don’t care about how messy they are 😉 (this is my preference)
And that’s it! Rich, gooey, chewy, buttery nutty cookie bars for gift giving and sharing with friends and family!
More Gluten-Free Cookie Bar Recipes:
- Vegan Paleo Cranberry Bliss Bars
- Paleo Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
- Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Keto Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars
Caramel + pecans + chocolate + shortbread = wins all around!
If you make these caramel pecan bars, feel free to share a photo on Instagram and tag me @The.Roasted.Root!
Paleo Vegan Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
- 2 ½ cups superfine almond flour
- 6 Tbsp coconut oil melted*
- 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- Pinch sea salt
Chocolate Pecan Caramel Filling:
- 1 15-ounce can full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar**
- Pinch sea salt
- 2 Tbsp tapioca flour or gluten-free flour
- 2 cups raw pecans***
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Prepare the Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9” x 9” cake pan with parchment paper.
- Stir together all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Keep stirring until a thick, moist, crumbly dough forms.
- Press the rest of the crust mixture into the parchment-lined cake pan until you have an even layer of crust. Poke several times with a fork to ensure even baking. Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 16 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and appears as though it has set up.
- Remove the crust from the oven.
- Make the Caramel:1. Heat the coconut milk, coconut sugar, and sea salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring it to a full boil, whisking consistently. Add the tapioca flour (or gluten-free flour) and whisk vigorously at a continuous boil until the clumps of flour are out and the caramel is very thick, about 8 to 15 minutes.
- Stir in the pecans.
Make the Bars:
- Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the cooled pie crust.
- Pour the caramel pecans evenly over the chocolate chips and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake at on the center rack of the preheated oven at 350 for 10 minutes.
- Allow the bars to cool for 15 minutes before moving them to the refrigerator. Chill for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Note: You can slice the bars sooner than 1 hour if you want them to be melted, gooey and don’t care about how messy they are 😉
Notes
Nutrition
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I just made this and it’s cooling right now before going in the fridge. I find the caramel has a gummy texture, most likely due to the tapioca flour. If I were to make these again I would probably cut the tapioca in half as they seem super gummy. Hopefully the texture is better after chilling by the time I serve it tomorrow.
Hi Stephanie! The filling should be rather gooey, but not necessarily gummy. What brand of tapioca flour did you use?