Maple Pecan Bites

I was bored Tuesday night and thought I'd whip up these maple pecan bites I'd seen on Eat, Live, Run. Great idea!!1 c flour
1/4 c packed brown sugar
pinch of salt
6 T cold butter, cut into slices
1 c chopped pecans
1/4 c pure maple syrup
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 T cream (I used full-fat eggnog because that's what I had)
4 T butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar and salt. Cut in the 6 T cold butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, working the mixture together until crumbs form.

Press shortbread into a 9-inch pan (I only had an 8-inch pan) sprayed with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Remove hot crust from oven and set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the remaining butter (4 T). Add the brown sugar, maple syrup and cream (or eggnog) and whisk well. Simmer for one minute while whisking continuously. Add the pecans and pour into the hot crust.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for half an hour to allow the bars to set.

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I ate a couple of these perfect little bars and then took the rest to school to share. My CE2 friends raved about their awesomeness - woohoo! Like yummy little bite-sized pecan pies :)