Whisky salted caramel pecan pie squares

The saying ‘better than sex’ is thrown around a lot in relation to certain foods. This pie – served as squares – with the addition of whiskey caramel sauce, may not be better than sex but it sure is up there with some of the best PG-rated times you’ll ever have. 

You may be familiar with the inspirational Averie Cooks blog (http://www.averiecooks.com/). It has the tagline ‘recipes for sweet teeth’ so right away you know you’re in for a sugar hit and a half. Here’s her post: http://www.averiecooks.com/2014/10/salted-caramel-maple-pecan-pie-bars.html

All I did was reduce the sugar by a small amount from the original.

This grabbed my attention, not least because I can often be found in the kitchen making up some absolutely addictive salted caramel sauce. I found a way to make my salted caramel sauce even more saucy, and that’s by adding two tablespoons of whiskey to the pan while it is cooking – try this and tell me that it is up there with the best.thing.ever: https://thehungrymum.com/2012/04/10/nigella-lawsons-fast-and-easy-salted-caramel-sauce/

Serve this baby sliced into squares with plenty of serviettes – things will get messy really quickly.

LET’S GET TO IT:

Base:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, diced

Filling:
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup (please use the real thing, not maple-flavoured syrup. That stuff is fake and tastes fake)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup unsalted pecans
about 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce (my recipe is here: https://thehungrymum.com/2012/04/10/nigella-lawsons-fast-and-easy-salted-caramel-sauce/)

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 20cm x 20cm cake tin with non-sticking baking paper, allowing overhang.

In food processor pulse together the base ingredients until well combined – you want a sandy texture.

Pour into prepared pan and use base of a glass to pack down and evenly distribute the crust. Bake for 17 minutes – do not overbake or it may burn later.

Set aside.

In a large bowl with a silver spoon stir together all the topping ingredients until just mixed – do not over-mix.

Pour over cooked base, ensuring that pecans are distributed evenly. Any nuts sticking up may burn so try to ensure they are even.

Bake for 15 or so minutes – better to have it slightly under-baked than over. It will firm up on standing so take this into consideration.

Place on cooling rack and allow to totally cool before slicing.

When cold drizzle with salted caramel sauce.

Tags: alcohol, bake, baked, baking, caramel, dessert, from scratch, gooey, home baked, home-made, homemade, pecans, pie, recipe, salted caramel, sugar, whiskey, whisky