Grandma’s Pecan Rum Bars

Mardi Gras. Year eight. Beignets by Colette (she's added orange zest this year — the girl innovates). Dirty rice by Rémy. Jambalaya by Tommy. King cake from Randazzo's. The parade. Rémy in crawfish claws — version 3.0 now, because Danielle made ANOTHER set, stronger, with actual moving hinges (she found a tutorial). The claws are no longer craft. The claws are engineering. The boy is thirteen this summer and still wearing crawfish claws to Mardi Gras, and the commitment is the culture, and the culture is alive, and the alive is the claws.

Luc came home for Mardi Gras — drove himself from LSU, which is the first time he's driven to Thibodaux without me, and the drive is a passage, and the passage is: the boy navigates his own way home now. He knows the road. He knows the sugarcane fields and the bayou bridges and the gas station in Donaldsonville. He knows the way. He doesn't need me to drive him. He just needs me to cook when he arrives. And the cooking is the homecoming, and the homecoming is the door open and the roux on and the gumbo ready, and the gumbo is always ready, because home is the place where the gumbo is always ready.

We had jambalaya and dirty rice and Colette’s orange-zest beignets, and that was more than enough — but when Luc walked through that door having driven himself home for the first time, I needed something on the table that felt like a finish, like punctuation on the whole beautiful day. Grandma’s Pecan Rum Bars have always been that for me: they’re rich enough to feel like a celebration, Southern enough to feel like roots, and the rum is a nod to the fact that some homecomings deserve something with a little heat in it. I made a pan before the parade and it was gone before king cake was even cut.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients

Shortbread Base:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Pecan Rum Filling:
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups roughly chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides for easy removal.
Make the shortbread base. In a food processor or large bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter and cut in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Par-bake the crust. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden. Remove from oven and set aside while you make the filling.
Whisk the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, dark rum, melted butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth and well combined.
Add the pecans. Fold the chopped pecans into the filling mixture, making sure they are evenly distributed.
Fill and bake. Pour the pecan rum filling over the warm par-baked crust and spread evenly. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20–22 minutes, until the filling is set and no longer jiggles in the center.
Cool completely. Let the bars cool fully in the pan on a wire rack — at least 1 hour — before lifting out with the parchment overhang and slicing into bars. Cutting too soon will cause the filling to run.
Slice and serve. Cut into 24 bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for up to a week.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grandma’s Pecan Rum Bars — The Sweet Thing Waiting When the Door Opens