Heart Healthy Snack Bars
The first step to making these pecan bars is to make the delicious homemade crust. The good news is that it’s incredibly simple to prepare — all you have to do is mix together two cups of almond flour with an egg, honey, melted coconut oil, and just a pinch of salt. The almond flour serves as an excellent base, providing a nice sweet and nutty flavor while also being very nutrient-dense. It provides tons of essential vitamins and minerals, and even provides some protein and dietary fiber as well.
The Perfect Flaky Crust
The egg, honey, and coconut oil all act as the glue that holds the crust together while giving it a perfectly flaky texture. I’m a fan of using honey in particular in many of my paleo baking recipes, as it’s a delicious all natural sweetener that’s packed with nutrients and antioxidants. Studies have even shown that honey may be beneficial in helping to prevent many types of chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. (1)
The Pecan Topping
Once this mixture is prepared, you just have to press it down into the bottom of your baking pan and then throw it in the oven for 10 minutes. With that out of the way, it’s time to make the best part — the pecan topping. Start by combining the ghee, honey, coconut sugar, and orange zest in a saucepan and cooking the mixture over a low heat until the ghee melts. Afterwards, you’re going to want to stir in the coconut milk (I like to use a homemade coconut milk, but any variety will do) and then add in the chopped pecans. Then it’s just a simple matter of pouring your topping over the crust and baking until it’s done.
Add Some Beneficial Healthy Fats to Your Paleo Diet
As I mentioned before, the combination of pecans, ghee, coconut oil and coconut milk all serve to add a terrific amount of healthy fats to these pecan bars. The medium-chain triglyceride fatty acids found in coconuts don’t act like other forms of saturated fats — they’ve actually been linked to lower cholesterol levels and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. (2) The pecans are loaded with both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as well. These types of fats are known to provide some incredible benefits when it comes to keeping your heart healthy(3), and they are a staple of the Mediterranean diet.
Once you give these pecan bars a try, you’ll easily see why they make such a perfect paleo snack — they’re an incredibly convenient finger food that manages to truly fulfill the criteria of being both delicious AND nutritious. These bars give your body everything that it needs: protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals all in one delicious package.
P.S. – If you’re looking for a few other great paleo ideas to make some tasty energy bars, then you should definitely check out these great recipes as well:
#1 – No-Bake Nutella Bars
#2 – No-Bake Paleo Protein Bars
#3 – Hummingbird Bars
Ingredients
- For the crust
- 2 cups almond flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
- 1 egg
- For the topping
- ½ cup ghee
- ¼ cup honey
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut milk
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 cups pecans, roughy chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- To make the crust, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
- Press down the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- To make the topping, combine the ghee, honey, coconut sugar, and orange zest in a saucepan.
- Cook over low heat until the ghee is melted, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
- Raise the heat and boil for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut milk.
- Add the chopped pecans and stir to combine.
- Pour over the crust.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is set.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Cut into bars and serve.
Better Than ‘real’ pecan pie! The honey and coconut sugar give it a nice richness to combat the sweetness. My favorite part of Thanksgiving this year! I added a pinch of salt to the filling (as well as the crust) and a little extra orange zest. I made it in a circle spring form pan and cut it like a pie, it was perfect. I was a little confused about how to tell if it was done, but once the edges are caramelized and the inside bubbles look thick and gooey instead of liquidy it’s ready to take it out of the oven, for me that was about 25-27 minutes (watch the edges).
What’s the best way to store the bars?
I found this recipe came together easily and is super tasty.
I added a light sprinkling of salt to the top.
I have never tasted traditional pecan pie and see absolutely no reason to after making and tasting these. I would say these are as described.