Converting Pecan Bars For Wedding Reception

[debbielynne]

Morning!

Have a wonderful Honey Pecan Bar recipe I plan to use for my daughters June wedding reception. The base is 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar,1 egg yolk and 1 1/2 cups flour- baked 15 minutes before adding the cooked topping. I subst. Wendy's flour mix for the wheat flour and added 1/4 tsp zanthan gum. I am awaiting the "test" batch to finish cooling. My question is if the base is crumbling what suggestions do you have for correcting this. I thought about adding a second egg yolk and/or increasing the zanthan gum. Does anyone have experience bar dessert bases? I seem to remember seeing a lemon bar recipe but haven't located it again. Thank you!

Debbie Lynne

[Rusla]

  debbielynne said:

Morning!

Have a wonderful Honey Pecan Bar recipe I plan to use for my daughters June wedding reception. The base is 1/2 cup packed brown sugar,1 egg yolk and 1 1/2 cups flour- baked 15 minutes before adding the cooked topping. I subst. Wendy's flour mix for the wheat flour and added 1/4 tsp zanthan gum. I am awaiting the "test" batch to finish cooling. My question is if the base is crumbling what suggestions do you have for correcting this. I thought about adding a second egg yolk and/or increasing the zanthan gum. Does anyone have experience bar dessert bases? I seem to remember seeing a lemon bar recipe but haven't located it again. Thank you!

Debbie Lynne

I would suggest adding a bit of guar gum. xanthan gum is expensive and I don't find it as binding as guar gum or add more xantham gum if that is what you have on hand.

[debbielynne]

  Rusla said:

I would suggest adding a bit of guar gum. xanthan gum is expensive and I don't find it as binding as guar gum or add more xantham gum if that is what you have on hand.

  Rusla said:

I would suggest adding a bit of guar gum. xanthan gum is expensive and I don't find it as binding as guar gum or add more xantham gum if that is what you have on hand.

thank you. I have just sampled it and the base is not even like crumbs- it is powdery cooked flour, alittle sandy to boot! lol. quess i will have a rich topping to use on ice cream for quite a while! Okay, i think i have read that when there is a large percent of butter that subst. sour cream or cream cheese helps it hold it's shape.... any other ideas? I really wanted this one dessert to be gluten free.

[jerseyangel]

A couple of ideas--Use some sort of shortening or butter, use a whole tsp. of xanthan gum,-- and what is in the flour mix that you used? I get good results with replacing some of the rice flour with potato starch. The reason I sugested the shortening is because the gluten-free flours tend to be drier than wheat flour. Perhaps cut 1/2 cup or so of shortening with the flour mix, add in the brown sugar and xanthan gum, then the egg. This will add moisture, and help hold the crust together.

[debbielynne]

  jerseyangel said:

A couple of ideas--Use some sort of shortening or butter, use a whole tsp. of xanthan gum,-- and what is in the flour mix that you used? I get good results with replacing some of the rice flour with potato starch. The reason I sugested the shortening is because the gluten-free flours tend to be drier than wheat flour. Perhaps cut 1/2 cup or so of shortening with the flour mix, add in the brown sugar and xanthan gum, then the egg. This will add moisture, and help hold the crust together.

yes, butter would be basic, I neglected to type in the 1/2 cup butter, but I did have it in the base I baked. The flour mix includes brown rice flour, white rice flour, potoato starch, tapioca flour, sweet rice flour, conrstarch and zanthan gum. I have successfully subst it in a cornbread recipe, ginger cookies, and scones. All three have tasted fabulous, better than the original recipes. In the pecan bars the cooked top is added and then the pan bakes for another 30 minutes. Thank you for your time and thoughts. debbielynne