« Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon | Recipe Home | Joy of Cooking - 75th Anniversary Edition »

Pecan Pie

Posted by Elise on Nov 17, 2006

Filed under Bakery, Dessert, Thanksgiving

Print Options

Most pecan pie recipes I've found call for 2 cups of sugar - one cup of corn syrup plus one cup of either granulated or brown sugar - which results in pies so sweet they can give you a sugar headache after a couple of bites. This pecan pie recipe has less sugar than most, but the molasses, butter and vanilla bring out the wonderful flavor of the pecans. As with any nut used in cooking, use only the freshest of pecans.

Pecan Pie Recipe

Print Options

Ingredients

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1 9-inch pie shell, chilled for an hour if freshly made, defrosted for 10 minutes if frozen. (See pie crust recipes.)

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie.

2 Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

3 Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Serves 8.

Indexed: Pecans, Pie, Thanksgiving

45 Comments

Wow!! The pie looks gorgeous. Pecan pie is one of my all time favorites - along with strawberry rhubarb. Yours is definitely one to try.

Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Ruth on November 21, 2005 5:12 AM

You did not tell us how you made the filling. How do you make it?

Posted by: josh on November 21, 2005 10:34 AM

Hi Ruth, thanks! It is (was) really good. My friend Suzanne declared it "the best pecan pie I've ever had". We're making it again for Thanksgiving.

Hi Josh - Step 1 - "Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans" That's your filling.

Posted by: Elise on November 21, 2005 10:59 AM

I really love Pecan Pie, though I'm a huge fan of my aunt's. If she makes it for Thanksgiving, maybe I'll ask her for the recipe and see how it compares with yours!

Posted by: Lady Amalthea on November 21, 2005 3:14 PM

Okay, that was very, very easy to put together, and I took a picture of the results and posted it on my blog. The only thing I forgot was to put some whole pecans on the top as a garnish. I was lucky to find fresh ones with good flavor, and the pie looks like it's supposed to look, so we only have to wait until after dinner to find out if I did it right.

Also, I threw a dollop of molasses in the mix for my pumpkin pies, because I saw that mentioned somewhere else. We'll see how those turn out as well.

Posted by: ginny on November 24, 2005 12:29 PM

Elise, I had to let you know that I made the pecan pie using your recipe and it was fabulous! Best pecan pie I've ever tasted and I'm going to make it again to take to Mom's for Christmas but will double the recipe for two pies. Thanks again for sharing your recipe. It's a keeper :))

Posted by: deb on November 26, 2005 8:14 AM

This pie is fabulous and easy! I highly recommend!

Posted by: kerrie on January 19, 2006 6:49 PM

HEY this is the best pecan pie ever!! try it!! byee

Posted by: Noory on August 7, 2006 7:09 AM

I made this yesterday. My first pecan pie and it turned out beautifully. I followed the pie crust tutorial and was so pleased with the result.
I wasn't a fan of pecan pie until the smell filled my whole house, making my guests ooh and ah.
Thanks again, Elise.

Posted by: raquel on September 22, 2006 3:39 PM

One of my all time favorite pies. This looks just like the ones my mom used to bake. I must try it.

Posted by: Don Ray on November 18, 2006 6:08 AM

Mmmm.... this pecan pie was delicious and SO easy to make! The molasses is a very interesting twist. I was browsing the internet for the "perfect pecan pie" recipe for Thanksgiving and cringed every time I saw one cup of corn syrup and one cup of sugar on the list of ingredients. I love your site and should have known to look here first! :-)

Posted by: Tina on November 18, 2006 7:26 AM

Love it. May try substituting the vanilla with a little bourbon....I do declare (how "Southern" of me).

I'll bet some chocolate would be nice, too.

Posted by: jonathan on November 18, 2006 8:39 AM

Hi Elise,
I'd love to make this pie but can't tolerate corn syrup. Do you suppose the recipe would work if the corn syrup was omitted entirely?
Thanks.

Posted by: Christine on November 19, 2006 1:00 PM

Hi! I love your website. It's one of my goto's for recipes and ideas. I loved this pecan pie when I made it, but because it has so little sugar, I garnished it with some coarsly chopped pecan pralines. it was WONDERFUL! I also added a dash of maple extract so that the pralines and pie would marry well (I use the extract6 in my praline mixture)

Posted by: Leslie on November 21, 2006 1:40 PM

I made this for Thanksgiving yesterday and it didn't last the day. People went for seconds. Awesome and simple recipe.

Posted by: katie on November 24, 2006 12:04 PM

This pie is absolutely perfect. I don't feel nearly as bad after eating a piece.

Posted by: krista on December 18, 2006 4:17 PM

This did turn out quite well. I think I overcooked it a bit so do watch it. I didn't chop the pecans as they were small. I would make it again!

Posted by: Lynne on January 1, 2007 8:58 AM

I liked the idea of having a less sweet pecan pie. I didn't have quite enough corn syrup so I substituted in some sugar free pancake syrup, the pie came out wonderfully! My husband took it to work and the guys said pecan pie is too sweet to eat, but once they tried it, they were very impressed! I am passing this recipe on to other family members! Thank you for such an enjoyable recipe!!!!

Posted by: Christian on January 14, 2007 2:35 PM

I just wanted to add another thumbs up for this pie. I made it for my family last night (super easy!) and everyone Loved it. I Absolutely love that it's not super sweet.

Posted by: allyson on February 19, 2007 8:53 AM

Can I substitute corn syrup with something else? We do not get corn syrup here.

what is mollasses? please explain. how does it look?

thanks

Posted by: arusha on March 13, 2007 1:30 PM

Hi Arusha,

You can substitute corn syrup with golden syrup, and molasses with dark treacle.

Posted by: Ajoa on May 27, 2007 5:56 AM

I have not been making pecan pie very long and every expierenced person says you must bake till it does not shake this drives me crazy , is this really true/ ?

Posted by: joann on August 26, 2007 2:37 PM

Pecan Pie:

No doubt this recipe will produce a perfect pecan pie, but I have experimented and would like to share my recipe with others on this fabulous website. Here in Quebec, we are producers (and connesuoirs) of all sorts of maple products.

Pecan Pie, Quebec-Style

1 cup Grade A maple syrup*
2 cups chopped pecan pieces
4 level tbsp flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk the syrup and flour together to get out the lumps. Add the remaining ingredients.

Pour into a 9'' shallow pie shell, whether homeade or bought.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40 min. The filling should rise and when jiggled, the pie should feel solid. Extra attention should be made not to burn the pecans by over-baking.
* inferior / lighter syrups won't taste right-the syrup should be a golden brown colour

Enjoy!!

Posted by: Lori on August 29, 2007 3:20 PM

I can't believe I haven't commented on this recipe yet! I made this for my Dad last year at Thanksgiving and wanted to make it for him again. He loves pecan pie, and this has to be the best version there is! I'll be making it for him again this year.

Thanks!

Posted by: DawnsRecipes on October 26, 2007 4:06 AM

I've never made a Pecan Pie, but have already printed this one out to make for Thanksgiving.
I have this beautiful glass, fluted tart dish and was wondering if I could use that instead of a regular pie pan??

Posted by: Denise on November 9, 2007 8:38 AM

I've have been wanting to make pecan pie for years, but never bothered because of the huge amount of sweetners in it. Your recipe is a Godsend, as I have been trying to think of a way to make it where it would not be so sweet. I've actually never eaten it because it looks like it would give me diabetes. Finally, I can try Pecan Pie as this recipe seems very sensible and sounds delicious. I love, love, love pecans, so I will definitely be trying out your recipe. Thanks for sharing. I will be writing you back to tell you how good it was. (As if you didn't know already. ;-))

Posted by: Monique on November 17, 2007 8:16 PM

WOW! I made your recipe instead of our usual pecan pie recipe that called for 2 cups sugar and 1/3 cup butter, and it made the world of difference in flavor. I didn't realize all this time with my old recipe that I wasn't tasting the pecans, all I was tasting was sugar! I give this recipe 5 stars, 6 if I could :)
PS- it was such a hit at Thanksgiving I had to e-mail your URL to 3 people that fell in love with pecans all over again

Posted by: Alaina on November 23, 2007 12:57 PM

Thanks for this recipe! It was easy and taste WONDERFUL! Big holiday hit.

Posted by: Christine on December 13, 2007 11:55 AM

After having numerous tries at making a good pecan pie we happened on your recipe and made one and I must say it was the best we've ever made and is as good as any I've ever tasted. We only had the dark Karo and and it was very good. Can't wait to make one with the light Karo to see if it comes out with a lighter colored filling. Thumbs up to anyone wanting to try this. If you can't make a good one with this recipe you might want to try making a cake and give up on the pies.

Posted by: charlotte on December 15, 2007 5:36 PM

I've made this pie for the past few years for Thanksgiving and Christmas for my family. It is, by far, the best pecan pie that any of us have ever had. I do add a tiny bit of dark rum along with the vanilla, which we all love. This pie is AMAZING!!!

Posted by: Carly on December 24, 2007 11:35 AM

I know I am way late on posting but I made this pecan pie with my Husband in mind. He does not like super sweet pecan pie. To my surprise my Father raved about how it was as good as the pecan pie he remembered my Grandmother making.
Later he told my older sister that hers was good but mine was better =)

Posted by: Ashley on November 5, 2008 10:58 AM

Hi Elise,

First off, GREAT pie. I made it today, and even my fiance (who claims to not like pecans) enjoyed it!

That said, I noticed that mine was pretty shallow. Is that usual? I seem to remember the last one I baked being thicker, but that was four years ago. This ended up too done (though still delicious), even though I only baked it for 45 minutes. I wonder if increasing the filling amount by 50% would do the trick. Or maybe I just have a hot oven ...

Posted by: Trish on November 9, 2008 6:15 PM

Super delicious Pecan Pie. I made this recipe last Thanksgiving and it was so awesome, best Pecan Pie I have ever had and I had a lot since I love them so much. Less sweet but real proof that less is more!

Also, Lori, I will try your Quebec Pecan Pie, it sounds delicious and I love Maple syrup, I used to go to Vermont on vacation and they have great MS too!

Another winner Elise, Thanks!

Posted by: Dunja on November 14, 2008 11:48 PM

Ok, follow up here. I made the "Quebec Pecan Pie" Lori suggested in this comment section and here are the results.
IT was super easy to make and it baked great too. The flavor is great but where it comes in for me is the texture, I went exactly by the recipe instructions and the pie looks, smells, tastes great but the texture is a little like gummy. I prefer my PP rather creamy and moist and this one is rather firm and dry. But if you like the texture this way then this pie is a winner too. I think for my part I will stick with Elise's PP recipe.

Posted by: Dunja on November 15, 2008 6:25 PM

I have ALWAYS found pecan pie to be sickeningly sweet-not this recipe! The ingredients in this recipe enhance the flavor of the pecans greatly, and the result is a pecan pie to die for!!! You can actually taste the pecans- not that corn syrupy sweetness...

Posted by: Athina on November 19, 2008 11:45 AM

I am wondering if there is any modifications for this recipe to consider for baking it in high altitude?

Hello Barbara, I do not bake at high altitude and do not have advice to give you on this subject. ~Elise

Posted by: Barbara Diner on November 24, 2008 10:00 AM

For years we have made a pecan pie with no syrup. It is really good. The pecans just rise to the top.

1 cup pecan halves
1 lb (2 1/2 cups) brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pie crust (either deep dish or 12")
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line pie crust with pecans. Combine sugars, flour and salt. Add milk, vanilla and butter. Beat at low speed. Add eggs 1 at a time. Pour into prepared crust.

Bake 1 hr 15 minutes.

Posted by: Elizabeth on November 24, 2008 1:35 PM

WOW! This was the easiest pie to make (I made two at one time!)and it's the prettiest pie I have ever made. Thanks! (Oh..and delicious)

Posted by: Jennie on November 27, 2008 6:31 AM

Thanks for this recipe, Elise. It's definitely a keeper. I made it when you first published it, last year, and this year. In fact, I just baked three of them.
Happy thanksgiving and thanks for keeping me pecan-pie-happy.

Posted by: Kate on November 27, 2008 12:44 PM

I finally have made a beautiful pie! This pie was so simple to make, yet the final result was superb. Delicious and just the right amount of sweetness. I brought it for Thanksgiving last month and it was a complete smash! Thanks for helping give me the appearance of being a fabulous baker and for boosting my confidence in the kitchen! :)

Posted by: Sarah on December 15, 2008 2:39 PM

I love Lori, the Goddess who submitted the Quebec-style Pecan Pie recipe. It is the most amazing pie on the face of the planet. Everyone should make this pie. And I _KNOW_ that maple syrup is expensive right now, but it's seriously worth it. Thank you so much!

Posted by: MaryAlecia on December 25, 2008 11:24 AM

If you put chocolate chips in there, or on top while it's still warm if you're not a big fan of all that sweetness, it is soooo delicious, like tollhouse pie!

Posted by: meliss on January 8, 2009 12:39 PM

When I make pecan pies, they rise during the baking process but when I take them out of the oven, they cave in and look sunken. Any tips for keeping them plump and full when removed from the oven?

Posted by: Chloe on February 6, 2009 2:35 AM

This was an absolute winner!! We do not have corn syrup where I live, so I replaced it with a cup of grade-A maple syrup, and it was SO delicious. I also used the recipe for the almond-flour crust - VERY good.
This is by far the best thing I have EVER baked - and I bake a lot!

Posted by: MB on March 9, 2009 12:01 AM

I made this for my dad's birthday and it was superb! I also made the crust using the butter crust recipe suggested on this blog and it was also perfect. I would definitely make this pie again. yummy!! I love this website :)

Posted by: gaby on May 17, 2009 8:46 PM

Link to this recipe

Bookmark this page using the following link: http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001595pecan_pie.php

Do you have a website? You can place a link to this page by copying and pasting the code below.

<a href="http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001595pecan_pie.php">Pecan Pie</a>

Simply Recipes Food and Cooking Blog

Pecan Pie

Print Options

Pecan Pie Recipe