A layer of buttery shortbread topped with a gooey mixture of honey and walnuts, these bars are easier to make than you'd think and very delicious! It's a great recipe for the holiday season and as a finger dessert for parties.
Whether you call them honey walnut squares or bars, these are delicious, crunchy and just perfectly gooey.
A twist on traditional pecan bars, I love that both the shortbread base and the topping are easily made with a bowl, a spatula, and a saucepan.
A great dessert for parties, they can be cut into small pieces and used as finger food. Everyone will rave about them!
Vintage Kitchen Tip
3 steps
This recipe, as with many bars or squares, has two parts:
- The crust, which is a shortbread (flour, powdered sugar and butter) and comes together in no time.
- The filling, which is made in 5 minutes in a saucepan. And you probably have all ingredients in your kitchen right now.
- Baking: the final step and a very important one because the chewiness will depend on the correct baking time so the filling is neither too hard nor too runny.
Shortbread base
Making shortbread is super easy and all you need, besides few and simple ingredients, is a bowl and a spoon.
- Butter: it must be at room t°, or soft.
- Powdered sugar: if you sift it before adding it to the butter (image 1) it will be easier to incorporate.
- Flour: all-purpose or cake flour can be used. Patiently work it with the spatula (image 2) until it's all mixed and a cohesive dough forms.
Once you have the shortbread dough mixed, you need to pat it into the pan.
I like to line the pan with a wide strip of parchment paper because it makes it easier to remove the walnut squares from the pan after baking.
- Put small pieces of dough all over the bottom of the pan. Then, with your hand, pat the dough (image 3) until it covers it completely.
- Prick the bottom lightly with a fork (image 4) and bake as directed.
Walnut filling
Ingredients
The ingredients for this wonderful filling are simple (image above).
- Honey: use any runny honey that you like. If you choose a flavored one (eucalyptus for example) the bars will have a different flavor.
- Walnuts: broken pieces are fine, and they're usually cheaper. Again, use your favorite kind.
- Brown sugar: I like the medium colored one because it gives the bars a nice golden color without making them too dark.
How to make it
This honey walnut filling is made in a saucepan, similar to the butterscotch bars, starting with butter, honey, and sugar (image 1).
It boils for 5 minutes and foams a lot during that time (image 2).
Then the rest of the ingredients are added and the filling is poured into the prepared pan (image 3).
After baking the honey squares will be golden and bubbly (image 4).
Top tips
- Shortbread base: it can easily be frozen before baking. When I have a lot of baking to do, I prepare the base, prick it and freeze it in the pan. Then I bake directly from the freezer.
- Filling: I think that honey and walnuts is the best combination, but you can use pecans.
- Storing: these bars can be stored in the fridge for several days, always well wrapped to prevent drying out. Or keep them in a tin separated in layers by parchment paper.
Related recipes you might like:
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Honey Walnut Squares
A layer of buttery shortbread topped with a gooey mixture of honey and walnuts, these bars are easier to make than you'd think and very delicious! It's a great recipe for the holiday season and as a finger dessert for parties.
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 squares 1x
Ingredients
For shortbread base:
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose or cake flour
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- ½ cup (115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the filling:
- 6 tablespoons (90g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (60g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (175g) runny honey
- 1 cup (120g) walnuts, very coarsely chopped, or in halves
- ¼ cup (60g) whipping or double cream
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest (about ½ a lemon)
Instructions
For the shortbread base:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Butter or spray an 8-inch square pan and line with a wide strip of parchment paper. It will cover the bottom and two of the sides.
- In a large bowl mix soft butter with powdered sugar. It should be creamy.
- Add flour and patiently incorporate it all until you have a soft dough. I use a spatula or a wooden spoon.
- Put this dough in the bottom of the prepared pan in small mounds. With your fingers pat until it covers the whole surface.
- Prick with a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes, until starting to dry and barely color. Reserve on a wire rack while making the filling.
- Leave the oven on.
For the filling:
- Put butter, honey and brown sugar in a medium saucepan.
- Cook on medium heat until it breaks a boil. It will start to bubble.
- Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. It will foam and maybe you want to lower the heat a bit.
- Remove from heat and immediately add the walnuts, cream, salt, vanilla, and lemon.
- Pour into the pre-baked crust and return to the oven for 20 minutes. It will be bubbling and still look wet and somewhat runny, but not as much as before baking. The filling hardens a lot when it cools down, and if you bake it too much it will become so hard it will be almost impossible to eat.
- Remove from the oven and let stand 5-10 minutes on a wire rack.
- Carefully run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges so that they don't stick when it cools completely.
- Cut into squares and serve. Or refrigerate for 1 hour after it has cooled down completely and then serve. The squares will hold better.
Notes
Shortbread base: it can easily be frozen before baking. When I have a lot of baking to do, I prepare the base, prick it and freeze it in the pan. Then I bake directly from the freezer.
Filling: I think that honey and walnuts is the best combination, but you can use pecans.
Storing: these bars can be stored in the fridge for several days, always well wrapped to prevent drying out. Or keep them in a tin separated in layers by parchment paper.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cooling time: 90
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Bars & Brownies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: International
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/9
- Calories: 504
- Sugar: 34.4 g
- Sodium: 9.3 mg
- Fat: 35.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 46.8 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Cholesterol: 71.6 mg
Keywords: honey walnut squares, honey bars
Adapted from Rosie's Bakery Cookbook, by Judy Rosenberg
Rachael Maple says
Hey, your recipe looks really good and I have a ton of walnuts which I am trying to use. How bad of an idea do you think subbing honey is for maple syrup. I don't have any honey on hand 🙁
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Rachael! Maple syrup has a thinner consistency and is not as viscous as honey, but it should work just fine. Check that it's not too runny when the oven time is up. Leave it a little longer if that's the case.
Bethany G says
Rave reviews! I followed recipe exactly. Made a double batch and baked in a 9X13 pan. They were phenomenal! The lemon zest gave them and extra special flavor. Don't forget the parchment paper! Thanks for an amazing recipe!!!
★★★★★
Paula Montenegro says
SO happy you loved them Bethany! I agree with the lemon zest, which I was skeptical at first. But it balances the sweetness wonderfully. Have a great weekend.
Gail Mondoux says
Should the filling still be pretty runny when the squares come out of the oven ?
Paula Montenegro says
It's not very firm but should not be too runny. It's similar to caramel and it hardens noticeably as it cools.
Gail Mondoux says
It did firm up . I made them for my book Club potluck and everyone said how delicious they were. I used pecans instead of walnuts.
Paula Montenegro says
So glad they turned out well Gail! Pecans are a more traditional nut to use and so delicious.
Gail Mondoux says
Is it possible to use regular salted butter instead of unsalted butter ?
I never buy unsalted butter.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Gail! Yes, you can. Omit the salt in the recipe to compensate for it.
Christine Lanman says
Also, one more question. I’ve seen other recipes topped with chocolate drizzle and flaked salt. Could I add those to this recipe? Also, in your list of ingredients you do not list salt, but in your filling prep instructions you do. Should I add salt to the filling, and if so how much? If I add flakes salt on top, should I leave the salt out of the filling? Thank you.
Paula Montenegro says
Yes Christine, you can drizzle chocolate and sea salt on top, no problem! Do so when they are at room temperature. Salt is a pinch, and I've added it. Hope this helps!
Christine Lanman says
Hi Paula, is it possible to double the walnuts while leaving everything else the same? I have so many walnuts. (Costco).
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Christine! You can add more for sure, I don't know if double because the honey mixture won't be enough to hold them all together. If I were you, I would add the amount the recipe says and then add by handfuls until there clearly is too thick.
There is a fantastic walnut maple bundt cake in the blog that uses a lot of them (the images are not the best but the recipe is great lol!).
Christine Lanman says
Thank you so much! Happy holidays!
Ralph M says
Hi the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter which is listed as 115 g in the crust and 3/4 cup of butter for the filling which measures only 90 grams. On my scale 1/2 cup equals 115 g so 3/4 cup should be about 172 g. What is the correct measurement for the filling? Thanks!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Ralph, the amount is 6 tablespoons (90g). It was wrongly copied, apologies for that and thanks for the heads up.