Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Pie That Will Make You Cry

There's a joke in my family that once you eat a big holiday meal, it's often necessary to "go and cry." The joke roots from a story of my Uncle Bobby who once ate so much that he had to drag himself to his bed and just cry it out until his stomach felt better.

I often feel this way after Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. We usually have a pretty rigid menu on Thanksgiving because we're so attached to the tried and true dishes, but mom went all out this year and got all adventurous on us, making italian sausage stuffing and a pear harvest salad—everything was absolutely incredible! 


So following suit, I decided to make my first pecan pie ever! I'm generally not a huge pie person (where's the icing??) but pecan pie has just enough sugar to keep my sweet tooth satisfied. 



And if you're turned off by big nuts, keep reading because these ones are little enough to give a nice crunch without being overpowering. I spotted this recipe on Pioneer Woman and am absolutely in love with it. It was beyond delicious. And so easy. Especially if you use refrigerated pie crust. 
 
Are you sold yet? Because you need to make this pie for Christmas. 

Pecan Pie (AKA The Pie that will
Adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
  • 1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust
  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Corn Syrup
  • 3/4 teaspoons Vanilla
  • 1/3 cup Melted Butter (salted)
  • 3 whole Eggs Beaten
  • 1 cup Chopped Pecans
First, take your refrigerated pie crust out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes. And preheat your oven to 350. Next, Chop your pecans nice and small. You don't need to pulverize them, but chop them up good. Mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl. When your pie crust is pliable, flute it nicely in a pie pan. 


Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell.



From there, pour syrup mixture over the top. 


Within just a few seconds, the little nuts will rise to the top like magic. You'll see these cute little bubbles rising and popping at the surface too. Wait until it looks like this before you pop it in the oven. You may want to cover the edges with a little foil or a pie shield.


Bake pie at 350ยบ for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil/pie shield then continue baking for 15-20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.

Note that the baking time for this pie varies quite a bit. You'll need to keep an eye on it. When you think it's done, shake it around a bit. It should not be overly jiggly!

Allow the pie to cool for several hours or overnight. This is not the kind of pie that tastes awesome very warm. You will definitely want some time to chill it in the fridge. 

















And for your viewing pleasure, a few photos from Thanksgiving... 

4 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm so excited for this! I fell in love with pecan pie a few years ago, but I haven't ever actually made one myself. Definitely trying this out this holiday season.

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  2. Courtney Rieder NielsenDecember 1, 2011 at 12:18 PM

    You totally need to. It is honestly so easy, you cannot go wrong. Happy Baking M.C.!

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  3. My whole life, growing up, my Dad made pecan pies. He tweaked the recipe until he got it just right. He did not like the dark karo syrup. He passed away 13 years ago and I have not been able to find his recipe! I found a note with a list of ingredients, but no instructions and went to Pinterest looking for something. Low and behold I found your recipe with almost the identical ingredient list. Thank you so much for posting this! I'm making the pie today and will let you know how it turns out!

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    1. Eva, forget about the pie--your comment made me cry! Thank you so much for sharing that. I'm so pleased it's so close to your dads recipe! Please stop by again and enjoy the pie. :)

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