Caramel Pecan Pie Bars

I had my mind set on pecan pie bars for the Halloween party, which is so random! Well these were a MAJOR success.

In my humble opinion, regular pecan pie filling is very corn syrup-y. So I prefer caramel as a filling. It was difficult to find a caramel pecan bar that didn't also have chocolate. (Not that I'm against chocolate!) But I combined a couple internet recipes to make these little winners. 

So if you're looking for a healthy holiday dessert..................... These aren't the ones. (Chuckle) 

Crust--- 

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of margarine

Filling---

40 caramels (about 1 package) 

1/2 cup butter 

1/2 cup water

1.5 cups sugar 

4 large eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt 

 2-2.5 cups coarsely chopped pecans or pecan halves, toasted

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13. (I baked mine in a jelly roll pan but it was too small! My filling was running over the side.) 
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Cut in 1 cup of margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the prepared pan, and press in firmly. *when I made these a second time in the 9x13, I didn't use all of the filling. I had about 3/4 cup left over. You can eyeball it and decide how much crust you want! 
3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
4. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. 
5.  Combine caramels, butter, and 1/2 cup water in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until caramels and butter are melted; remove from heat. 
6. Stir together sugar and next 3 ingredients.
7.  Stir into caramel mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in pecans. 
8. Pour into prepared crust.
9. Bake at 350 for 33-36 minutes, until inside no longer wiggles. 
10. Let cool before cutting. If difficult to cut, try refrigerating it before cutting. That makes for a bit cleaner cut.