Maple Shortbread Bars Recipe (2024)

OH! I cubed my butter and froze for a couple hours - then pulsed in the food processor with the flour, sugar, and salt mixture - about 20 times. PERFECT!

Delicious! Almost like a pecan pie cookie. I cooked a little over the 30 minutes suggested, but only 5-7 extra. Basically until I could shake the pan and the middle didn't wobble much. Perfect!

Would not recommend using maple extract with maple syrup. Just stick to the real maple syrup.

I was skeptical because they seemed too runny. I cooked them 5 extra minutes, which was a good call. After everything set, THEY WERE AMAZING. I served with a small amount of whipped cream. Major hit at the party and even better the next day. I chilled mine for storage and they remained tasty.

Wow, these are delicious! If you like pecan pies, you will LOVE these. I read others' notes and baked my crust longer, til it was a little more brown overall (took at least 20 mins). I also baked about 35 and that was perfect. Best time to cut is many hours later, if you can wait that long! I sprinkled a few mini chocolate chips on one half after it came out of oven, as an afterthought, which was tasty. Bourbon was a great replacement for the extracts. This is easy and pretty fast.

I followed some of the advice in the notes - and they turned out great - cooked the crust then filling about 5-8 minutes longer. Also, used bourbon instead of maple extract - so good! Next time I make these I will line the pan with parchment paper as they're tricky to get out of the pan in neat bars otherwise.

My new favorite bar recipe...pulsed crust ingredients in food processor, using all for bottom of crust, did not go up he sides. Used a maple syrup from Trader Joes that is aged in bourbon casks and replaced the extracts with 1 tablespoon of bourbon. Crust takes 22 minutes and topping 30. WOW,,,they disappeared so quickly. Absolutely wonderful!

I didn’t have pecans, but it worked well with a mix of walnuts, cashew nuts and almonds. Following other comments, I replaced maple extract by bourbon to add more flavor. As usual with American recipes, I halved the amount of sugar to accommodate the less sweet Japanese tooth. My colleagues loved it.

Excellent bar version of a classic pecan pie. Love that it doesn't use processed corn syrup like many pecan pie recipe fillings. Like others, I found the bars needed some extra time in the oven--I took them out when the outside edges were brown & caramelized and the center was just set. After they were cooled and cut, they were perfect!

I made these, and they turned out wonderfully, but I had to cook them the first time for about 35 minutes, and the second time I had to cook them for about 45 minutes. I didn't have maple extract, so I just skipped that. They are absolutely delicious!

I agree with Alison- very gooey and rich. I cooked them for 35 minutes and probably should have gone another three or four. I cooled and then refrigerated them. It made for a smaller but clean cut. Serve on a tray in mini cupcake papers.

There is something not right with this recipe. Following the advice of commenters, I gave the bars longer in the oven, but the center was still very gooey and the base in the center had dissolved. Maybe the dough for the base should be worked more to create a firmer base? It was hard to push the crumbs up on the sides, so the perimeter pieces had a thicker base and were good.

Adjusted the recipe for my slightly less sweet-toothed European taste: used a third less sugar in the crust and halved it in the filling, and used only two thirds of the required maple syrup. Skipped extracts and aromas entirely. Spread the whole thing out in a brownie pan, added 5 to 10min baking time and baked it to a dark brown until nothing was wobbly anymore, and cut it into tiny brownie-like cubes. Perfect texture and great for coffee!

I used a frozen pie crust which I rolled out and placed in a baking pan and pierced with a fork so it wouldn’t puff up. I cut the brown sugar in half (so only 3/4 cup), and I ran out of maple syrup so I used 1/3 cup maple syrup and 1/3 cup honey. I only used vanilla extract. These were delicious!!

If you haven’t made your own vanilla extract with bourbon and vanilla beans please do. It will change your life! Perfect for this recipe

A friend just told me that these were the best thing he had ever tasted.

Waaay too sweet, and mushy.

1 1/2 c brown sugar = 235 g2/3 c maple syrup =

What is the best way to cut them in order to get 39 bars?

Oh my goodness, these are good! I followed suggestions in comments for cooking the shortbread base the night before, leaving it in an extra 10-15 minutes, and cooking the topping for an extra 10 min as well til the center was firm. These are very rich, so I've cut them quite small, maybe 1.5 inches square? But rich doesn't mean "too sweet--they are perfect little indulgent bites!!! Definitely going into my fall/winter baking rotation.

Used salted butter, and slightly less sugar and maple syrup at each call for it. Added a tsp of bourbon instead of the maple extract. Would up try 1.5 next time. Otherwise made as directed (lol). Probably cooked sightly longer as the comments suggested. These are delightful according to each person who has sampled. Will make again. I do think even less sweet and possibly some fresh rosemary in the crust would be an interesting twist to try.

Made this almost exactly as is and it was fantastic. I did bake the crust the night before. I didn’t bother trying to push it up the sides of the 9x13- just did a flat bottom. It required 5-7 minutes extra baking time. Kept filling the same, except I swapped 1T bourbon in lieu of the vanilla/maple extracts. Filling baking time as listed. It is a very sweet dessert and seems like a pecan pie with a thicker crust (I loved the ratio). Kept well sliced for two days in a container. So good!

Delicious. My dough needed more moisture - Added 1 egg yolk and a tablespoon of ice water which worked well. Next time will make in a 9x9 dish to have more shortbread in each bar

Made for Brian, Kathy, and Craig 7/3/22. They were a hit.

This is my go to recipe to bring to BBQ's, family gatherings, etc. Everyone loves it whenever I make it. I do add extra time for the crust and filling. I omit the maple extract. It's pecan pie in a bar, and it's easy and delicious!

Used amaretto in place of vanilla and maple concentrate. Delicious!

Mint—-so good