Butter Pecan Squares
These butter pecan bars are such a simple treat that starts with a box of cake mix and a bunch of tasty pecans!
My husband and I just celebrated our tenth anniversary. I know! Ten years! And I haven’t killed him yet!
Or, maybe it should be: Ten years! And he hasn’t killed me yet!
Or how about: Ten years! And we’re both still alive!
Yeah. I think that last one sounds about right.
How about a little engagement story? Oh, I know, you don’t care how I got engaged, but this is quick and it involves food. Kinda.
You see, my husband and I started dating when I was 16 and, well, I was pregnant not too long after I turned 17. A month or so after our sweet baby boy was born, my husband proposed.
We were driving home from somewhere and he just drove right past our apartment.
“Uh, honey? I think you missed your turn,” I said, ever so politely to him. And, okay, maybe I was irritated. How did he forget where we lived? Also, I was barely 18 with a newborn baby. Everything irritated me.
“I’m just heading to the store for some ice cream,” he replied in a weird tone of voice.
“We don’t have room in the freezer for anymore ice cream! We have lots of ice cream at home!”
“But we don’t have Butter Pecan ice cream! I want Butter Pecan!” he whined. And, okay, so maybe he didn’t whine. Maybe he just stated this in his manly voice.
I proceeded to go on about how Butter Pecan was the worst ice cream flavor ever. In the midst of my rant about ice cream flavors that were not chocolate based, he turned into the parking lot of a golf course that I had worked at the previous summer and parked right where I had told him I loved him for the first time.
“Uh, honey, what the heck are you doing?”
“I think we’ve got a flat tire.” he said in that weird tone of voice that I would one day come to realize was his LYING VOICE.
We both got out, he dropped to one knee, and he proposed.
The end!
I’m sorry. That was long and boring, wasn’t it? Well, let me make it up to you with these amazing Butter Pecan Squares. See? See how I tied it all together?
To see how to make this butter pecan bars recipe, watch the video below!
I have since matured a wee bit (both in terms of food and just in general) and I’ve come to realize that anything with the name Butter Pecan is pretty darn delicious. These bars are no exception. They are so buttery, so rich, so sweet, so full of delicious flavor that they will just blow your mind.
They might even have you running around sharing your engagement story with the internet! They’re powerful, is what I’m sayin’.
The original recipe called for a box of yellow cake mix, but while I was standing in front of hundreds of box mixes, the Golden Butter cake mix jumped right off the shelf and begged me to take it home. I think it knew that it would fit right in at my house full o’ butter.
Enjoy these at room temperature with a fork or eat ’em with your hands right out of the fridge. Either way, they’re amazing.
Check out my homemade brownies, Nutella brownies, and whipped icing for more dessert ideas!
Butter Pecan Squares
Ingredients
- 1 box (18.25 ounces) Butter cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, butter, and pecans. Mix well.
- Press into a greased 9x13 pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese, 2 remaining eggs, and the powdered sugar until well combined. Pour over the crust.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is set. It should be gooey, but not runny.
- Cool completely before cutting, 1-2 hours. Store in the refrigerator.
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving Size | |
| Amount Per Serving | As Served |
| Calories 438kcal Calories from fat 207 | |
| % Daily Value | |
| Total Fat 23g | 35% |
| Saturated Fat 8g | 40% |
| Transfat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 61mg | 20% |
| Sodium 260mg | 11% |
| Carbohydrate 56g | 19% |
| Dietary Fiber 2g | 8% |
| Sugars 27g | |
| Protein 5g | |
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
| Calories | 2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Fat | Less than | 65g |
| Sat Fat | Less than | 25g |
| Cholesterol | Less than | 300mg |
| Sodium | Less than | 2,400mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 300g | |
| Dietary Fiber | 25g | |
What a sweet story! Happy anniversary to you guys – 10 years is amazing and inspirational! And I’m not a huge fan of butter pecan ice cream, but I think I’d love these bars.
Aww, how sweet is that! Also, LOL at “his LYING VOICE.” ๐
What a sweet story! And I can’t wait to get my hands on these butter pecan squares. Thank you for sharing both!
What a great story to go along with a yummy recipe. I think I really need to make these!
You’re a good storyteller! We’re coming up on 18 years and I also think it’s remarkable that HE’S still alive! teehee
The bars sound really good and I think I’ll try them out the next time I need to take a dessert somewhere. Bookmarked!
Happy Anniversary!
What a sweet story! Congrats!
Butter + pecans = delicious always!
Congrats on your anniversary! Ten years is a LOOOONNNGG time…quite impressive!
I loved your butter pecan story. I hope I meet someone someday who I can manage to not kill in ten years. And have a child with. Maybe two.
Aw love the engagement story. ๐ Congrats on 10 years!! And these bars look delicious. I love the crackly top.
goosebumps. i have goosebumps. thanks for sharing your sweet story, and congratulations!
i’m all-too-familiar with other variations of this recipe. this butter pecan twist most definitely deserves a try!
These bars look great. They seem to be very close to what we called “chess squares” growing up in TN. I’ll have to try these next time my mom comes out west to visit me (butter pecan is her favorite)! Thank you for your blog – I love it!
what a sweet story for a sweet dessert! these look great! enjoy celebrating!!
My family came over this weekend to see our new house for the first time. We had a nice lunch and then I served them your fabulous Butter Pecan Squares. They were quite a hit and everyone enjoyed your cure story too. My mom said this is her new favorite dessert.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful treat!
Aww that is so sweet!
Congrats on 10 years!!
oh this receipe looks so good too!
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i made these and they were GREAT, wonderful recipe!
Your second image is broken. It’s a shame since your pictures are always so pretty!
How in the world did I miss these??!! Holy shoot ~ these sound amazing!
I loved your story, not boring at all, and I love the recipe, making it again tomorrow.
These sound delicious but I am finding the cost of pecans in my area to be prohibitive. A small cellophace pack is around $6.99 and I don’t think it would measure the two cups listed.
Whats up this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you
have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding skills so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
A wonderful and delicious recipe! I ordered your cookbook for my son; he is the breakfast cook in his house. So many mouthwatering pancakes!
Oh, thank you! ๐ Hope he’s been making you lots of pancakes!
What a great story! Happy Anniversary…In New Orleans we make this and call it Ooey Gooey Cake…It is a staple there and you can do so many variations of it using different cake mixes and add in’s such as nuts and chocolate chips.ย
My husband LOVES these. I add in a handful of butterscotch chips.
Pecans DO get expensive! Lucky for me, my Dad planted a grove of pecan trees several years before he passed. I am now reaping the benefits And the trees are beautiful at the “old homeplace”. A little work to crack the nuts and “pick them out”. But not so bad on long winter evenings, something to do. Thanks for the recipe!!
There is a butter pecan flavored cake mix. Have you ever tried that with this recipe?
I haven’t, but I’m sure it’d be great!
Ok a..What is the recipe for the squares that you have pictures on your blog. I made this as listed and never got the nice brown pecan bottom of the squares pictured. What I got was a blonde cake thick mess not at all like in the picture.
I’m sorry you struggled with this one, Mike. This is the recipe that I used. The cake mix is very thick and sticky before baking, so you just press it into the pan. The topping should set up a bit like cheesecake after baking. You do need to let it cool completely before cutting as well.
Enjoyed your little story.
Will try the recipe. Damn the diabetes. Full speed ahead.
I have all the ingredients to make this. Hate to turn on the oven in summer, but these looks amazing. Love anything with pecans. I buy big bags at BJ’s and always have them on hand. Thanks. Congrats on anniversary. Just celebrated our 45th last Februaryย
How much carbohydrates & sugars are in those
I haven’t calculated the nutrition for this, but you’re welcome to plug this recipe into any of the free online nutrition calculators if you’d like.
How sweet, he was awesome. Happy Anniversary to you both wishing you many more!! Me and my husband just celebrated 40 years on the 2nd.
Congrats on 40 years! That’s amazing! ๐
I met my husband when I was 16 and he was stationed at the near by Air base. When I was 17 he was sent to another base for 6 weeks for special training. The night he left he gave me an engagement ring. While he was gone I have him a call to let him know he was going to be a father….We were married the week he returned and 54 years and 3 daughters later I’m still looking for sweets he would like. (And they said it wouldn’t last!) Thanks for this recipe, will be trying it tomorrow.
Love it!! Thanks for sharing, Sandy! Hope you both enjoyed the recipe.
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Hi, true love story is so sweet. I need help. I do not have a stand mixer for the butter pecan bars. Can I use a hand mixer?
Yes, that should be fine.
Hi, I prepared the butter pecan squares for a New Years Eve gathering. This dessert is absolutely delicious! The crowd is still talking about the dish. They want me to make it again. It’s very easy to prepare. I wish I had a square right now.
So glad they were such a hit!
Is a “Butter” cake mix a brand of cake mix like Betty Crocker or a flavor like chocolate?
It’s a flavor of cake mix. You can use yellow if you can’t find the butter, but it’s generally not tough to find.
Thank you
Hello,
Can you please tell me if you think this could also be done with a gluten free cake mix?
Thank you,
Natividad
I don’t have any experience with gluten free mixes, so I really can’t say. Sorry. ๐
No problem, I’m going to try it, and see what happens.