Pecan Bars

The past few days I have rediscovered my exercise mojo. Unlike my blog-partner Jen, working out hasn't been a consistent part of my daily routine. You are more likely to find me in the kitchen wielding a spatula than handbells. I recently found the fitness videos on Hulu, though, and am really enjoying my daily sweat session. What have I been loving lately?

Kick boxing. Oh yeah.

This may have something to do with my binge-watching of Buffy The Vampire Slayer on Netflix. What can I say? Watching Buffy kick some demon butt has made me want to discover my own inner slayer. Except I'm not slaying vampires. Or demons. Or anything that hits back. However, I do get to pretend that I am punching and kicking people that I don't like. I have a rotation of about three or four people who have made it onto that list.

Somewhere, a therapist has a lot to say about this.

When I'm not kicking invisible-butt you can still find me in the kitchen with my spatula. A few weeks back I made these pecan bars for my dad's birthday. The process of making the bars was truly a comedy of errors. I spent ten dollars on pecans. Accidentally put them on a hot burner to cool. And spent about twenty minutes chiseling burnt pieces off the shortbread crust. Miraculously, they still turned out edible.

Pecan Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:

18 tbsp. butter

6 tbsp sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

For the topping:

16 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tso. grated lemon zest

2 tbsp. heavy cream

1 1b pecans, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Next, beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Press the batter into a prepared baking dish. For smoothing the batter, wrap your hand in saran wrap. This will keep it from sticking. Bake for 15 minutes until it is set. Let cool.

For the topping, combine the honey, sugar, and butter in a sauce pan. Cook on low heat. Once the butter has melted, boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the pecans and heavy cream.

Pour evenly over the crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool and then move to the refrigerator. Cut into bars and serve.

Source: Annie's Eats