Pecan Pie Surprise Bars
Pecan Pie Surprise Bars are delicious and easy to make with a cake mix cookie crust that’s topped with a pecan pie filling and baked to perfection.
The story behind this recipe
Pecan Pie Surprise Bars won the 22nd Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1971. Recipe on Pillsbury.com by Pearl Hall of Snohomish, Washington. If you’re a fan of pecan pie, then you’re going to love these.
Does anyone have one of these little gems? This one belonged to my Great Aunt Corinne who lived across the street from my grandparents. She was a wonderful baker and lived to be 92. I inherited this wonderful little tool from her and I love it. And as you can see, it really does the job! This recipe calls for 1 cup of chopped pecans. Set aside for the filling.
How to make pecan pie surprise Bars
First you make the crust. This one is made with a whole box of yellow cake mix (reserving 2/3 cup for the filling), 1/3 cup of butter and an egg. Beat them together at low speed, then press into a greased 13″ x 9″ pan.
Then you bake it at 350° for about 20 minutes.
For the filling, combine reserved 2/3 cup dry cake mix, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and 3 eggs; beat at low speed until moistened. Beat 1 minute at medium speed or until well blended. Pour over the baked crust. Sprinkle the chopped pecans on top. Bake for about 35 minutes.
Here they are fresh out of the oven. The hardest part about baking is having to wait for the goodies to cool. These bars have to cool for 1 1/2 hours.
Pecan pie is one of my favorites, how about you? Having it in a bar form is fun and easy to eat. The cake crust makes them soft, chewy and you might even say, “surprising!”
Stay tuned for Recipe #23 Streusel Spice Cake
Lise (Mom Loves Baking)
p.s. If you have been following this baking project, you might have noticed that I have 52 recipes to make in 52 weeks and I am running out of weeks. If you’re counting, it is now the 36th week of this year and I’m on recipe #22. I just need to catch up with the posting. I have a schedule set up and will have to double up on some of the recipes but I’m on track to complete all 52 of the Pillsbury Bake-Off Grand Prize recipes by the end of this year and hopefully before the 47th Bake-Off takes place which will announce a new winner and the 53rd grand prize winning recipe. I’m so excited to be a finalist in the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off.
Pecan Pie Surprise Bars
Ingredients
Base
- 1 box Pillsbury™ Moist Supreme™ Yellow or Butter Recipe Yellow Cake Mix, 18.25-oz.
- 1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened
- 1 large egg
Filling
- Reserved 2/3 cup dry cake mix
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch pan. Reserve 2/3 cup of the dry cake mix for filling. In large bowl, combine remaining dry cake mix, margarine and 1 egg; beat at low speed until well blended. Press in bottom of greased pan. Bake at 350°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine reserved 2/3 cup dry cake mix, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and 3 eggs; beat at low speed until moistened. Beat 1 minute at medium speed or until well blended.
- Remove pan from oven. Pour filling mixture over warm base. Sprinkle with pecans.
- Return to oven; bake an additional 30 to 35 minutes or until filling is set. Cool 1 1/2 hours or until completely cooled. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.
Notes
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What to do now that the original recipe uses 18.25 oz box mix and now the box mix is 15.25 oz?
It will still work fine.
I’d love to know this, too. Except NOW, in October 2024, my box of cake mix is only 13.25!!! I didn’t realize that and followed my old recipe and ended up with a VERY black, burned bottom crust! So frustrating how things keep shrinking in size but going up in price.
I totally agree that this is frustrating. The recipe was written years ago, when the cake mixes contained more mix. If you have a kitchen scale, buy two mixes, then weigh out the desired amount of cake mix.