Well, it's just about that Thankful time of year, and people are making plans, gathering their old favorite recipes and planning the big meal ahead. There's plenty of really well-qualified people out there who can tell how to perfect a turkey, and make stuffing, but what I want to talk about is Pecan Pie. Pecan Pie that has pre-toasted, crushed pecans for the maximum ratio of nut-flavor per bite of pie. More importantly, Pecan Pie that is absolutely corn-syrup free.
***This is actually a picture of THE PIE that I made for Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did!***
Pecan Pie Extraordinaire- sans corn syrup!
1.5 c pecans -toasted and chopped
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup water
1 lb. dark brown sugar -Use real cane sugar and weigh it. Not all sugar is created equal. (~2 cups by volume)
1/4 cup butter
pinch of salt
pastry for 1 bottom pie crust
Prick the bottom of your pie crust with a fork all over and bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden in a 400* oven. Remove pie crust, and lower the oven to 275*.
Combine the sugar and the water and stir until sugar dissolves over low medium heat. Bring to a full boil for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat source and let it cool off a bit while you proceed. Add the butter to the sugar and let it melt in and continue to cool. Toast pecans in a dry skillet on medium heat, stirring fairly often to prevent burning. Alternately, you can toast them in the oven. Let the nuts cool and chop up. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk the hot butter syrup into the beaten eggs. Add vanilla extract, salt, and chopped pecans into the mixture. Pour into your previously made golden pie crust and let bake for 1 hour.
**Note, if you can only find light brown sugar, which I know happens to the best of us, add 1 T. of molasses or even Grade B maple syrup and that will give it a bit more flavor.
Enjoy!!!
16 comments:
I cannot wait to try this. HFCS us evil.
Oh so evil! I almost fell over, I was looking at a bottle of Karo syrup, and it actually contained High Fructose Corn Syrup! It's not even just plain old corn syrup anymore, which wasn't that good to begin with. Talk about bad to worse!
Made this as a gift for a friend, he loved it. I am making another one today. It was soooo easy.
Excellent! Happy pie baking!
Can I substitute Smart Balance for the butter?
Hi. You're not the first person to ask me this question. I don't think you'll have any problems with Smart Balance in this pecan pie recipe. But just a bit of an FYI about butter and substitutions: Most commercially made American butter is about 80%fat and 15% water, though some -especially homemade butter- can be as low as 65%fat and 30%water. (European butter has a higher fat content, but that's besides the point) Smart Balance is 67%fat. Earth Balance, which I believe is made by the same company, is 79%fat. If I were baking something bread-y that needs fat for proper consistency, cookies or the like, I'd pick the Earth Balance, but for this pecan pie either will work. Oh, but I would definitely NOT use the Smart Balance Light (37%fat). Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you from a corn allergic person who loves pecan pie!
Kate
You're very welcome!
Enjoy:)
Do you really use a whole pound of sugar? Does this pie filling fit in a normal pie pan?
Hi Sasha.
A pound of sugar is about 2 cups if you measure it by volume instead of weight.
If you have a very shallow pie plate you might have enough leftover for a small tart- one year I used a shallow pie plate on purpose so I had enough to make a small tart for a family member who is allergic to nuts.
I have made this pie a few times from your recipe and it is always a huge hit. It's so much easier than making most fruit pies and WOW is it ever a rich, tasty treat. I'm making one tonight. The one change I make is that I usually do a graham cracker/crushed almond crust, which makes slicing and plating messier, but ah well.
Thanks for this most excellent recipe!!!
Hi! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I'm glad you enjoy the pie- and that does sound like a tasty variation!
I am going to try this one instead. I tried one with no corn syrup and unsalted butter and not heating the sugar and it was very dry and crumbly. Tasted good but didn't cut like normal pie. So I will try this and see if I can get a more creamy pie from it or more pie type pecan.
Hi. This recipe definitely makes a rich, gooey pecan pie. I made one again for Thanksgiving this year and it was a hit!
I loved this pie. I had too much filling for a normal pie crust though. I'm going to try boiling the water a little longer. Great for those of us who have to watch the corn syrup due to allergies.
we boycott corn syrup of any kind..will be trying this recipe for thanksgiving..
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