Ah yes, the glorious pie we all look forward to this time of year! The purely irresistible, rich and decadent Pecan Pie. Indeed there is no other pie like it and how I’d love to sit down to a meal made by whomever came up with the very first pecan pie because they had to have been an unbelievable cook. From what historians have found apparently the pie goes way back to 1800’s with the earliest dated recipe showing 1886 (but some would say earlier than that). So this humble pie has some history and it’s here to stay.
Some pecan pie recipes may use honey, agave, maple syrup or molasses but I say the only way to go is with corn syrup (plus the sugar). [post_ads_2]It gives it the perfect consistency, plus it’s just the way Grandma made it and didn’t our grandma’s always now best :)? I like to use Karo Light Corn Syrup, it’s made with real vanilla and it has zero high fructose corn syrup in it. And as always, I used Fisher nuts for this recipe. I always have Fisher’s pecans stocked in my pantry at all times. I use them for baking, cooking, I add them to my breakfast or the pack them on the go and for a perfect midday snack. I love that Fisher nuts are one of the only brands of recipe nuts made entirely without preservatives, the only ingredient are the nuts and that’s the way it should be!
This recipe requires and extra step of blind baking the pie crust (where you chill the crust then cover with foil, fill it with beans and bake it before filling it) so you end with a perfectly crisp and flakey crust from edge to edge. Personally I just like to do this because I hate soggy pie crust. If you aren’t super picky like me you can do the method of preheating a baking sheet in the oven then place the filled pie on the hot baking sheet. This will help it cook a bit more on the bottom, just not quite as much blind baking the crust first. Just do what you prefer or what time allows. And I do recommend using a homemade crust for this pie, it’s one of the best parts! You can make this pie a day or two in advance so time for a homemade crust shouldn’t be an issue.
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I hope you do get a chance to try this pie this season, this is my idea of the best pecan pie! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Let the countdown begin, I can’t wait for all the goodness to come!
Pecan Pie
Yield: About 8 servings
Ingredients
Crust
1 1/4 cups (177g) all-purpose flour (scoop and level to measure)
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt*
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, cold and diced into small cubes
3 - 5 Tbsp ice water
Filling
2 cups (214g) Fisher Pecan Halves, divided
1 cup (220g) packed light-brown sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt*
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (73g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
3/4 cup Karo Light Corn Syrup
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
For the crust:
In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and cut into flour using a pastry cutter or a long pronged for until mixture resembles coarse meal with small visible chunks of butter. Add 1 Tbsp of water at a time and fold with a rubber spatula, while adding just enough water until mixture has almost fully come together and is in moist clumps. Gently press dough together and shape into a 6-inch round disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 45 - 60 minutes until nearly firm.
[post_ads_2]Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll crust out into a 12-inch round. Fold dough in half then fold in half once more, transfer to a 9-inch pie dish with the folded corner of the dough in the center of the pie pan. Carefully unfold dough and fit into dish. Trim excess crust coming within about 3/4-inch of the pie dish. Tuck that excess under crust and flute or decorate as desired. Pierce bottom and sides of the crust all over with a fork. Transfer to freezer and chill 15 - 20 minutes until firm**. Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place pie on a baking sheet. Fit two layered sheet of foil snugly against the pie crust (but being careful not to smash decorative edge but still covering loosely), fill with 2 lbs of dry beans (or pie weights, I've also seen granulated sugar used just fill nearly full). Bake crust on baking sheet in center of oven 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Lift out beans using foil. Return to oven and to bake 10 minutes longer. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
For the filling:
Chop 1 cup of the pecans then sprinkle evenly into pie crust. Sprinkle 1 cup whole pecans over chopped layer. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl whisk together brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Mix in butter, corn syrup, eggs and vanilla extract (there should be no streaks of egg). Pour mixture evenly over pecan layer in crust. Transfer pie to a baking sheet. Bake in lower portion of the oven, covering edges or tenting entire top of pie with foil as needed (I covered the edges of my pie shortly after putting it in so they didn't brown too much, then I had to tent the entire pie to prevent the top from over-browning at about 40 minutes). Bake until pie is set, about 45 - 55 minutes (it should appear set when you nudge the baking sheet, a very light giggle is fine). Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
*Regular table salt works fine too if that's what you have on hand
**I recommend using the homemade crust recipe list but I'm guessing some of you may prefer to just use a store-bought crust. If so doing then par-baking the crust wouldn't be neccessary, just fill then bake as directed once filled.
Recipe source: inspired by all of the classic Southern pecan pies on the web, such as Epicurious and Food Network
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Fisher nuts. The opinions and text are all mine.
Courtesy: Cooking Classy
