My son recently asked for a pecan pie, so I am sharing that recipe today. This is a pretty straight up, classic pecan pie recipe. I saw a recipe recently I want to try where you make homemade caramel first to use for the filling instead of the typical corn syrup. If I try that one, will share that too later.
I used my favorite crust recipe for this but cut in half since I just needed one pie crust. I’ve tried many crust recipes and I always like this one the best. It has great flakiness and the right amount of fat, and it is delicious.
It is super important to toast your pecans before using in this pie. Nuts take on a totally different level of flavor when toasted, and you also want them to start out crunchy since they absorb moisture as the pie sits. Just be careful to watch them closely, it is really easy to burn them and the bitter burnt taste isn’t pleasant.
Classic Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1/2 my pie crust recipe from the blog prepared a day ahead and refrigerated overnight
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 4 tbsp melted butter cooled
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cup toasted pecans 1 cup whole, 2 cups rough chopped
Instructions
- Remove the pie dough from the fridge and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll into a 12 inch circle on a lightly floured counter top.
- Wrap the circle around your rolling pin to transfer to a 9 inch pie dish. Using kitchen scissors, trim the edges until you have about 1/2 inch extra dough past the rim of the pie plate. Fold the 1/2 inch under so that it rests just past the edge of the pie dish.
- Crimp or pinch with your fingers or fork to decorate the edge. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the fridge for 1 hour to rechill.
- Adjust the oven rack to lower middle and preheat to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, honey, molasses, corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, salt and vanilla. Whisk for 30 seconds to 1 minute until smooth and homogenous.
- I prefer to blind bake the crust first for this pie, because it doesn't really get baked enough otherwise. To do so, line the pie crust with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the parchment and bake another 5 minutes until it looks set but not overly browned.
- Pour the chopped pecans into the crust, and then pour in the filling. Top with the saved pecans for the top. Bake the pie for about 40 minutes. Checking on it at 20 and 30 minutes. If the top pecans or crust are getting too brown, cover with foil. When it is ready it should be puffed a bit and jiggle slightly in the middle but not be liquid. I use an instant read thermometer to be sure not to over cook….when it is 175-180 in the center it is done.
- When it is done, remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool at least 2 hours at room temp before cutting. Store at room temp.