Earlier this year, I saw baker Sonja Norwood makes these brown sugar pecan bars on Instagram as part of her Black History month posts.
They were so good that I immediately made them twice more over the two weeks that followed so that I could share them with other people. They are intensely caramel, which elevates the nuttiness of the pecans. The bitterness of the nuts helps to balance out the brown sugar. They are buttery to boot—a real treat.
They are faster to make than cookies, which makes them practical to bring as a dessert. You do need to wait until they cool to cut them properly. My trick is to let them cool overnight. Then in the morning you can slice them and pack them up to share with friends. (They also make a solid breakfast choice.) They are intense, so I try to cut them on the small side.
One of the challenges with gluten-free baking is that each flour or starch has its own flavour profile. So each gluten-free substitute or blend brings its own flavour, and it can be off-putting. A way to counter that effect is to make baked goods with strong flavours that will mask any odd undertones. This recipe, with its strong caramel, masks the flavours of the blend well. (I am still sad about a vanilla cake I baked a few years ago that just didn’t taste right because of the gluten-free flour blend I used.)
I highly recommend these to fans of caramel flavours and pecans, whether you make them with wheat flour or not.
A Flour By Any Other Name 