How to Make Pecan Pie

• Also try: Mahalo's Guide to Pecan Pie

Introduction

• What would Thanksgiving dinner be without pecan pie? Fortunately, this is a simple pie that's also easy to enjoy. Read on to learn all about making tasty pecan pie.

What You'll Need

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) of butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
  • or 1 cup maple syrup, if you prefer not to use corn syrup
• 2 cups pecan halves
  • Use fresh pecans; the oil in nuts can make older ones rancid
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(Creative Commons photo by Scott Robinson)

• 1 Pie Crust: either buy a pre-made one or check out Mahalo's Guide to How to Make Flawless Pie Crust if you want to make your own

Optional Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cream
  • Cream makes the pie a little lighter and richer in taste
• 2 tablespoons brandy, bourbon, rum, or whiskey

Equipment

• 9 inch pie pan
• Large bowl
• Microwave safe dish (for melting butter)
• Fork or whisk (for beating eggs)
• Aluminum foil or pie crust protector
• Spoon or electric beater (depending on whether you want to use elbow grease to mix your ingredients or not)
• Optional: Knife (to chop nuts)
• Optional: Cutting board (to chop nuts)

Make Pecan Pie

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.
2. Place your pie crust in the pie pan. You can keep the pan in the refrigerator until your filling's ready.
3. Optional: Coarsely chop most of your pecans into pieces that are about 1/2 to 1/4" in size.
   • Chopping the nuts makes them easier to eat in the pie, but if you enjoy whole pecans in your pie, feel free to skip this step.
   • If you do chop the pecans, keep a few whole ones in reserve to place on top of the pie.
4. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter; microwave the butter for approximately 20 seconds or heat it on the stove.
5. Use your fork or whisk to lightly beat the eggs in your large bowl.
   • 

     (Creative Commons photo by Wayne Truong)
6. Mix in the:
   • 3/4 cup brown sugar
   • 1 cup corn syrup
   • 1/4 teaspoon salt
   • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
   • Melted butter
   • Also add any optional ingredient(s) at this time
7. Stir (or beat) ingredients until they're smooth and well-blended.
8. Stir in the chopped pecans.
9. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
10. Place in the heated oven, to bake for 55-60 minutes.
11. Check the pie 20 minutes into cooking time; if the crust is already brown cover it with aluminum foil or a crust protector to keep it from burning.
    • If you kept whole nuts in reserve, place them decoratively on top of the pie at this time.
12. After 55 minutes, check the pie. The center should be firm, but still slightly springy. If it's still soggy, cook it for another five minutes.

Enjoy!

1. Once you've taken the pie out of your oven, let it cool completely before serving.
2. The pie's delicious on its own, but it's even better topped with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
3. You can refrigerate leftover pie for up to a week.

Popular Pecan Pie Variations

• You've just learned how to make a basic pecan pie, but it doesn't stop there!

Chocolate Pecan Pies

• Cooking for Engineers: Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Epicurious: Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Recipezaar: Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
• All Recipes: Chocolate Pecan Pie IV
• Food Network: Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie

Liquor-Flavored Pecan Pies

• All Recipes: Brandy Pecan Pie
• Martha Stewart: Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

Corn Syrup-Free Pecan Pies

• Cooking for Engineers: Recipe File: Traditional Pecan Pie
  • Substitutes maple syrup for corn syrup.

• MSNBC: Mark Bittman's Pecan Pie
  • This recipe omits all syrups; the sweetness comes from more sugar and the filling binds with 5 beaten eggs. The recipe's a bit trickier, as you have to pre-bake the pie crust. But if you're looking to try a great recipe without corn syrup, you can't go wrong here.

• Epicurious: Spirited Brown Sugar Pecan Pie
  • As the title suggests, this recipe is only sweetened with brown sugar.

Not Your Regular Pecan Pies

• Martha Stewart: Upside-Down Pecan Pie
  • Requires an oven-safe skillet; this pie is a delicious caramel-like alternative to traditional pecan pie.

• Food and Wine: Deep Dish Pecan Pie

Resources and Recipes for How to Make Pecan Pie

• Chowhound: Corn-syrup free pecan pie
• Chowhound: Pecan Pie for Butterfly
• Food Network: Pecan Pie
  • This recipe asks you to pre-bake the crust while cooking the filling on the stove. The pie bakes for a slightly shorter time as a result.

• Martha Stewart: Pecan Pie
• Simply Recipes: Pecan Pie Recipe
• Karo Syrup: Classic Pecan Pie
• All Recipes: Kentucky Pecan Pie

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