Caramelised pecan butter shortbread

These are absolutely delicious bars! The amount of pecans is perfect, the filling was just slightly gooey, and the shortbread base is so buttery and delicious. The only thing wrong with these is that the maple flavor isn't all that present...you can taste a delightful hint of it in the bars, but they aren't extremely maple-y. I may decide to add some maple flavoring to the next batch I make, because adding more syrup would mess too much with the texture of the filling. I lined my baking pan with Reynold's release foil so that I could just take the whole section of cooled bars right out of the pan for ease of cutting. I did cut them into triangles instead of one inch squares...I thought they looked prettier that way. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe...it's a winner!  -  04 Jul 2010  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

Excellent! Here are my additions: 1). doubled batch; 2). used 1/3 brown and 1/3 white sugar in the dough; 3). added 1/3 c. shredded coconut and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon to the topping; 4). lined the pan with foil and lightly coated with Wilson's Cake Release; 5). Immediately after removing from oven I sprinked lightly and evenly with miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips (don't spread when they melt - just let them 'dot' the cookies with little bursts of chocolate). After cooling almost completely; the bars cut beautifully! For first time shortbread makers - let the butter come to room temperature naturally - don't try to microwave it. Then cut the sticks into little cubes, and sprinkle the cubes into the flour/sugar mixture as you're mixing it. Mix on low to medium speed and don't overmix. Taking this extra care with the butter and using a standing mixer will make a beautiful dough that is evenly incorporated, allowing you to just lift the dough out and press right into the pan.  -  10 Apr 2011  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)

Made this exactly as written, except for the addition of 1/2 tsp maple extract to give it a more distinctive flavor. My husband loved these. Tastes a lot like pecan pie tarts. Next time I'm planning on substituting some white sugar because it was a little too caramel tasting for my liking. I also lined my pan with foil so i could lift out, to make the cutting into bars easier.  -  06 Sep 2010  (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)