Try these easy keto pecan pie bars with a French twist! They have an almond flour shortbread crust and a deliciously soft pecan frangipane filling. Topped with pecan halves, you're getting all flavours we love in a proper pecan pie at a fraction of the carbs.
I'm all about Thanksgiving recipes at the moment! Last week I made my sugar free pumpkin pie, and after that a proper Keto Pecan Pie. I served it to American friends and it got the thumbs up all round. They even took down the recipe to make it again at Thanksgiving!
Today I came up with these keto pecan bars. I called them keto pecan pie bars because they have all the pecan pie flavours - buttery, nutty and sweet... but with a French twist.
You see, instead of simply topping the pie crust with pecan halves and a sugar free syrup or caramel, I made a sugar free pecan frangipane.
Frangipane is a traditional French pastry cream. It contains ground almonds, butter, egg and sugar. Here, I have replaced the almonds with pecans and used a sugar free sweetener instead of sugar.
These sugar-free pecan pie bars are sweet and buttery and have a wonderfully soft texture.
And did I tell you they are only 2.5g net carbs per bar?
Jump to:
Ingredients
Let's take a look at the ingredients:
Ingredients
Gluten free pie crust
- Almond flour or ground almonds
- Egg
- Butter
- Sweetener
- Salt, cinnamon, almond extract
See? Very straight forward! I like almond extract here, but you could also use vanilla extract. The cinnamon and salt both give extra flavour.
Frangipane
- Pecans
- Butter
- Egg
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
- Low carb substitute
Instructions
This section contains step by step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Let's get started with our low carb pecan pie bars. First, you'll want to preheat the oven and line a rectangular baking dish with parchment paper.
Step 1: Place the flour, sweetener and salt in the food processor and pulse briefly.
Step 2: Add the butter and egg and blend until the mixture forms a ball. Alternatively, stir together with a fork in a bowl, then knead until a smooth dough.
Step 3: Press the dough into the cake pan with your hands. Option to roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper and have it thinner, reaching up the sides of the pan like a pie.
Step 4: Brown the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until golden, stirring continuously. Let it cool to lukewarm.
Step 5: Next, blend the pecans in a food processor to a flour. Add the cooled butter, sweetener, egg and egg yolk, vanilla extract and cinnamon and mix until well-combined.
Step 6: Add the filling on top of the crust and smoothen with the back of a spoon or a spatula.
Step 7: Last, top with pecan halves and bake for circa 30 minutes or until browned. You want the top to be firm, but the inside to be still jiggly.
FAQ
It's possible to pre-bake the crust for 12 minutes if you want it extra crisp. I've omitted this step because I wanted to keep the recipe as simple as possible.
I made a test without browning the butter. It works as well. However, I really liked the additional flavor from the browned butter.
I think allulose is the best sweetener for this recipe. It melts just like sugar and does not re-crystallise.
Alternatively, you could also use a brown sugar substitute such as Swerve, erythritol or a monk fruit sweetener (powder it first in a high speed blender).
Another option would be sugar free maple syrup. Lakanto makes a good one.
No, this would change the recipe too much.
Top tip
This keto pecan bar recipe is very fragile straight out of the oven. Let it cool completely before cutting!
Variations
Get it ready for Christmas: On top of the cinnamon, also add ½ teaspoon ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon allspice and a pinch of cloves.
More pecan flavor: Sub half the almond flour in the base for pecan flour.
Make it dairy-free: For a dairy free version, swap out the butter for coconut oil.
Add a streusel topping: Hold back â…“ of the base mix. Make a thinner crust with â…” of the mix (it'll still be plenty) and crumble the rest on top of the frangipane filling.
Add a caramel sauce: Make a batch of my Keto Caramel Sauce. Add the pecan halves for the topping and stir, then add on top of the bars.
Storage
Refrigerator: Keto Pecan Pie bars are fine at room temperature for a day or two. I always prefer to store them in the fridge - for up to 6 days.
Freezer: Alternatively, freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight.
More keto desserts for fall
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Keto Pecan Pie Frangipane Bars
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cup / 200g almond flour
- 2 tbsp allulose
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg large
- 3 tablespoon butter room temperature
- 1 tsp almond extract optional
Pecan Frangipane
- 1.5 cup / 150g pecan halves
- ½ cup / 114g butter
- ⅔ cup / 130g allulose or ½ cup-⅔ cup golden erythritol
- 1 egg large
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- ½ cup pecan halves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Line a 9 x 5 inch rectangular pan with parchment paper.
Crust
- Place the flour, sweetener, cinnamon and salt in the food processor and pulse briefly. Add the butter, almond extract and egg and blend until the mixture forms a ball. Alternatively, stir together with a fork, then knead until a smooth dough.
- Press the dough into the cake pan with your hands. (Option to roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and have it thinner, reaching up the sides of the pan like when making a pie.)Â
Pecan Frangipane
- Optional step: Brown the butter in a saucepan until golden, stirring continuously. About 5 minutes. Take care that it does not burn! Let it cool to lukewarm.
- Blend the pecans in a food processor to a flour. Add the cooled butter, sweetener, 1 egg and 1 additional egg yolk, vanilla extract and cinnamon and mix until well-combined. Add the filling on top of the crust and smoothen with the back of a spoon or a spatula.
- Top with pecan halves and bake for circa 30 minutes or until browned. You want the top to be set and the inside to be still jiggly.
- Note - this keto pecan bar recipe is very fragile straight out of the oven. Let it cool completely before cutting!
anna.karenina
I made it yesterday and it’s delicious
dinah
Hi, would this work if I used Xylitol?
thanks
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, that would work just as well.
Patricia Leavitt
I'm curious if the pan size is correct. I expected it to be a 9X15, but the recipe calls for a 9X5, or bread size. Is that correct? Can't wait to try the recipe!
Katrin Nürnberger
It's 9x5 inch, measured at the base.
Carla
I love your recipes and always look forward to a new one,, in my Inbox! I wonder what Golden Erythritol is and if I can substitute Maple syrup? Or just use Stevia powder?
Thanks for a great blog!
Regards from Carla
Katrin Nürnberger
Many brands have a golden erythritol, it is a brown sugar alternative. I find that it works well with the nutty flavours of the recipe. However, you can use any sweetener in this recipe.
Marie Steffen
I live in Switzerland and can't find any of these ingredients like golden erythritol or sugar free maple syrup or allulose or monk fruit. Your recipes always look and sound so good ad it's disappointing that I can't make them.
Kristi K Payne
May I just use golden erythritol in the crust too?
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes of course, but I would recommend that you blend it in a food processor first to powder it. Otherwise you may be able to taste the granules in the filling.
Ioana
Hi Katrin, this is not a review since I haven't made them yet - though I'm sure I'll be back with five stars like all your recipes that I've tried so far.
I do have a huge question- your recipe calls for allulose and I can't seem to be able to get it in Canada. Is there anything I can substitute for it please? I think I read somewhere that when a recipe calls for allulose you can use something else.
Would you please let me know your thoughts on this?
Thank you!
Katrin Nürnberger
Of course! You can use any sweetener in this recipe. I chose allulose because I like that it melts like sugar. You could also go for Bocha Sweet, check if you can get it on Amazon Canada. It's available here in the UK now as well. It's also possible to use powdered erythritol or an erythritol blend. Erythritol does not melt like sugar does, that's why a powdered variety would work better so you're getting a smooth result.
Sullivan Family
delish & so easy
MJ
I often use your recipes but always have to rewrite them as the ingredient list is not in the order used. Also, in Topping, you list Cinnamon as an ingredient but don’t use it. If your ingredients were in order, this would be less likely to happen.
Despite the above, you are in my Top 3 bloggers for great Keto recipes.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi there, I use cinnamon in both the topping and base. Glad you like the recipes - and thanks for the feedback 🙂