Pecan Pie Recipe
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This traditional Pecan Pie is sweet and delicious, totally made from scratch, including the pie crust! A classic and old-fashioned dessert that’s a must on every Thanksgiving table!
The Best Pecan Pie Recipe
Pecan pie is our favorite and not just for Thanksgiving. I admit, I will have it a few times a year. It’s the sweetness, it’s the pecans and it’s the flaky crust that call to me. When all of those great things are combined together, you get one decadent dessert, if there ever was one.
This pie is an absolute bona fide all American classic, Southern baking at its finest, almost too delicious for words, but somehow here I am, writing about it to share with you all.
But what makes a pecan pie really that great decadent morsel we’re all so fond of? It all starts with the flaky crust. As I always say, homemade is always better and when it comes to pie crust it certainly is true. You’re looking for a flaky, crumbly and buttery pie crust that will literally melt in your mouth. Of course, you can use store bought, but when you feel brave enough, go ahead and make your own. You’ll thank me!
Beyond all the flaky crust, the most important thing when it comes to this classic pie is the filling. Corn syrup is a must, lots of pecans, butter, a bit of vanilla, flour and a bit of brown sugar is what makes this filling so great.
Why You’ll Love This Pecan Pie
- Classic Pecan Pie! With a rich filling made of butter, eggs, sugar, and lots of pecans encased in a super flaky crust, this pecan pie is sinfully delicious with each bite.
- Easy Recipe! This recipe is broken down into a few simple steps. It only requires basic pantry ingredients along with some pecans and you can use a store-bought crust if you like.
- Perfect for Holidays! Classic pecan pie is an iconic holiday dessert that goes with any meal and makes a fantastic homemade gift as well.
- Pie crust – follow my recipe here. We only need 1/2 of the recipe, feel free to make the full recipe and just freeze the other half of the crust. You can also use store bought pie crust.
Filling
- Pecans – We want both chopped up and halved pecans. The chopped up ones are going into the filling and our halved pecans are going to be artfully lined up on top.
- Sugar – Some packed brown sugar is all we need, that molasses flavor is going to add complexity and depth to our filling.
- Flour – Just a bit of all purpose to help keep our filling from getting too liquidy, it’ll bind the filling and help us achieve a custardy consistency.
- Eggs – We want whole eggs for richness and to help us bind our filling.
- Butter – Unsalted is best to control the sodium content of our pie.
- Vanilla – This is a bit of a secret weapon flavor enhancer.
- Corn syrup – This ingredient offers both sweetness and texture to our filling. Either light or dark will work.
- Seasoning – A bit of salt is necessary to all baked goods, it’ll help balance out all the rich and sweet flavors we have going on.
This recipe is really easy! Making homemade pecan pie is not complicated and the results are super delicious. The filling comes together in just minutes and a store-bought crust can be used. Just follow these simple steps and your pecan pie will turn out perfect!
Make The Crust
To begin, you need to make my easy pie crust recipe. You can also use a store-bought crust if you are short on time. Either option works well.
Preheat The Oven
Now, preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C) to get it ready to blind-bake your crust. Then grab a 9-inch pie pan and set it aside for a later step.
Let The Dough Rest
The dough needs to soften up a bit so that you can roll it out. So remove it from the fridge and set it on the counter on a lightly floured surface to rest for up to 10 minutes. If you try to skip this step the dough will often tear. However, you only need to do this step if you are making your own crust.
Roll Out The Dough
Now, we can get rolling! Begin rolling the disc of dough out into a circle that is ⅛ of an inch in thickness. If the dough starts to stick to the surface or to the rolling pin just add a bit more flour. Then once the dough is rolled out, transfer it into your pie plate. The easiest way to do this is by rolling it around the rolling pin and then unrolling it over the pie plate. Then use your fingers to crimp the edges and cut off the excess dough.
Blind Bake The Crust
Before we can bake the pecan pie, we have to prebake the crust. This is a necessary step that will ensure that the crust fully bakes and also keeps it from getting soggy. To do this, lay a piece of parchment paper over the formed pie crust and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Then place the crust in the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes. When it’s done baking, remove the parchment paper and pie weights.
Reduce The Temperature
The pecan pie bakes at a different temperature than the crust so you’ll need to turn the oven down to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the temperature now allows time for the heat to go down as you prepare the pecan filling.
Make The Filling
Now for the nutty part! Combine the brown sugar, salt, and flour in a large bowl. Next, add the butter, eggs, vanilla, and corn syrup. Then whisk everything together with a hand whisk or electric hand mixer until the mixture is well incorporated.
Finally, stir in ½ cup of the chopped pecans and your filling is complete!
Assemble The Pie
With the filling and crust both made, you can now join the 2 to make your pecan pie. First, pour the pecan pie filling into the prebaked crust and distribute it evenly. Then neatly arrange the rest of the pecans on top of the filling.
Bake The Pie
You’re almost done! We just need to bake. Transfer the pie to the oven and bake it for 50 to 55 minutes or until it puffs up. When it’s done, it should not wiggle when you jiggle it.
Cool And Serve
Finally, the best part! But first, you must allow the pie to cool completely so that the filling can set. If you don’t, it will fall apart. Then slice the pie and enjoy with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!
What Is Blind Baking?
Blind baking basically means baking your pie crust before filling it and baking the entire pie. This is necessary when making a pie with a custardy filling like ours today as it prevents the crust from becoming soggy. Don’t forget to read the post on making the perfect pie crust and all about blind baking!
Can I Skip The Corn Syrup?
You sure can! Although I have to be honest, it won’t be quite the same without it. Just combine maple syrup with 1 tablespoon of flour and you’ve got a perfectly sweet and decadent substitute!
Amp Up The Flavor
To bring out the flavor of the pecans even more, toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350°F (177°C) or until you start to smell them. You can even brown the butter before incorporating it into your filling.
Pie Weights
These little weights prevent the pie crust from forming air bubbles and from puffing up. The crust will stay nestled nicely right against the pie plate and bake uniformly. You can buy ceramic or metal weights or just use plain old dried beans.
Expert Tips
- Blind baking is mandatory. You must blind-bake your crust using parchment paper and pie weights. The crust will not properly cook if you pour the pie filling into a raw crust and then bake.
- Reduce the oven temperature. Don’t forget to lower the oven temperature to bake the pie after blind baking your crust. It will burn if you don’t.
- Mix the filling well. Make sure all the pie filling ingredients are combined well with no lumps and completely smooth before adding the pecans.
Leftovers
Pecan pies are great because they can easily be made a day or two ahead. You can bake it, cool it, then wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until ready to serve.
Freezer
These can definitely be made ahead of time! Just wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and seal in an air tight container before popping in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before warming on the counter before slicing and serving!
More Incredible Pecan Recipes To Try
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake
- Chocolate Pecan Pie
- Pecan Pie Cheesecake Bars
- Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Chocolate Pecan Pie Cookies
- Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Pie Cookies
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Canadian Butter Tarts
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Pecan Pie Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- ½ recipe pie crust
Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons butter (unsalted, softened)
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup corn syrup (light or dark)
- ½ cup pecans (chopped)
- 1½ cups pecans (halves)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Make the pie crust according to this pie crust recipe. You can also use store bought pie crust.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- If using your own homemade pie crust, remove the dough from the refrigerator, and let it sit at room temperature for up to 10 minutes. This is required to soften the dough a bit, so that you can roll it out.
- Roll out the disc using a rolling pin. If your dough is sticking to the surface or to the rolling pin add a bit more flour as necessary. Roll it until it's about ⅛ of an inch in thickness. Place the pie dough lightly into a pie plate. I usually roll it on the rolling pin and unroll it over the pie plate. (see video) Crimp the edge and cut off excess dough.
- Place a piece of parchment paper over the pie shell and fill it with pie weights. If you don't have pie weights, you can use dry beans. Place the pie shell into the oven and blind bake it for 15 minutes. Read more about blind baking here. Once done, remove the pie weights and the parchment paper from the pie shell.
- Reduce temperature to 350°F.
- Make the pie filling. To a large bowl add the brown sugar, salt and flour and combine. Add the butter, eggs, vanilla, corn syrup and whisk or mix with a mixer until everything is well incorporated. Stir in the ½ cup of chopped pecans.
- Pour the pie filling over the pie crust then arrange the rest of the pecans over the top of the pie filling.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 50 to 55 minutes, until it puffs up and when you jiggle it there’s no wiggle to it.
- Let the pie cool completely in order for the filling to set, before slicing into it.
Notes
- To bring out the flavor of the pecans even more, toast them in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350 F degrees or until you start to smell them.
- Check out the recipe to make this easy pie crust with video and step by step instructions here.
- Pecan pies are great because they can easily be made a day or two ahead. You can bake it, cool it, then wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Make ahead: These can definitely be made ahead of time! Just wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and seal in an air tight container before popping in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before warming on the counter before slicing and serving!
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This recipe is by far the best I have ever made and I have made many. It will be the one I make every year. Homemade crust, toasted pecans and a perfectly set inside. The pie is 1/2 eaten so no photo.
Let me start by saying I really love most of your recipes a lot and make many of them very successfully. This one – not so much – and I was so disappointed. Pecan Pie is my youngest son’s fave dessert and it usually is purchased but this time I thought I would surprise him with home-made. Followed your recipe exactly and it looked awesome but we were not really happy with the filling. We expected it to be somewhat similiar to butter tart filling, only not quite as runny. Instead we found it to be more like a custard pie and not to our liking. It seemed rather gummy and heavy. This is not a complaint – just a comment – because I am sure it is absolutely perfect to many others.
Hello! If I use maple syrup instead of corn syrup, should I still add a cup of sugar?
Yes, you still need to add the sugar.
Thank you for a really quick reply and the recipe! Going to make this pie for New Year for the whole family.
Also, will it ruin the pie if I make the blind baked pie crust in 6 hours ahead?
Nope, it should be fine.
This pecan pie is absolutely delicious! I’ve tried so many pecan pie recipes over the years and this is by far the best. My family loved it too. My search for a great pecan pie recipe is finally over. I toasted the pecans as you suggested. I didn’t make the pie crust but I will try your recipe next time. ’m so glad I found your blog. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
Blind baking the crust solves the problem of gooey crust. I’ve made my mom’s pecan pie recipe for years but was never happy with the consistency of the crust. Thanks for helping me solve this problem Jo.
That looks SO delish!
This is a favorite in our house!
Bring on all the pie…especially pecan!
Love the balance of gooey with the caramelized and the crunch. So good!
Perfect pecan pie recipe, thank you!
Life would be so sad without pecan pie!
Are all Pecan lovers here for a crusty pie 🙂