Pecan Squares Recipe & Video

Pecan Squares are similar to a Pecan Pie, only instead of a pastry crust, it has a buttery crisp shortbread crust. For the Pecan Filling the pecans are toasted first to enhance their flavor. I love how this recipe uses Lyle's Golden Syrup in the filling, rather than the more commonly used corn syrup. Lyle's Golden Syrup is a British sugarcane syrup that is thick like molasses, amber colored, with a rich and delicate, almost caramel flavor. Using this syrup, instead of corn syrup, keeps the Pecan Squares sweet, but not cloyingly so. You can usually find this product in some grocery stores or else in specialty stores or on the net. However, if you cannot find it, you can use an equal amount of either dark or light corn syrup.

While some nuts are often used in both sweet and savory dishes, pecans definitely hit their stride when used in sweet dishes. Desserts ranging from cakes and pies to pralines and ice creams. Their buttery, soft-textured, slightly bittersweet flavor is the ideal partner for fruits, chocolates, caramel, coffee, and even maple syrup. Recipes calling for pecans will often say you can substitute walnuts for the pecans, and that is because these two nuts are both part of the hickory family. In fact, they even look similar although the pecan does have a smoother shell and its flavor is milder, more buttery. The reddish-brown shell of the pecan is long, oval-shaped, and smooth and inside it has two golden-brown crinkled lobes with ivory-colored meat. When buying pecans, look for nuts with good color and shape and make sure there is no mold. You want to buy at a store with a good turnover as pecans have a high oil content so they will go rancid fairly quickly. Nuts can be stored in a cool, dry place but I prefer putting in the freezer where they will keep for up to a year.