Pecans, maple syrup, and brown sugar all in a crisp butter crust make what I consider to be the PERFECT pecan pie! This is a dessert where one piece is never enough. I love this pie with a big dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon for contrast. You can also serve with ice cream, a rum sauce, or on it’s own!
What You’ll Need for This Recipe
Dark Corn Syrup: You can use all dark or sub in half for light corn syrup. If you do not like corn syrup then try using golden cane syrup, which can be found in the baking aisle of your supermarket.
Brown Sugar: I used dark brown sugar in this recipe but light brown will work as well.
How to Make Pecan Pie
1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of your food processor. Pulse several times to mix the ingredients. Add the COLD cubed butter to the dry mixture and pulse until you have a crumbly mixture with small lentil-sized pieces of butter. Drizzle in the ice water while pulsing. The mixture is ready once it holds together after getting squeezed together.
2. Dump the mixture out onto a pastry mat or piece of parchment paper and press together. Knead the mixture just a couple of times to help bring it together then cover in plastic. Give the dough a quick roll to form into a disk and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
3. Roll out your chilled pie dough and form the pie tin. Trim the edge so you have about an inch of excess around. Tuck the excess dough underneath itself, press together then use your thumb to create a crimped edge.
4. For a nice crisp bottom blind bake the crust. Line the crust with parchment paper then gently press one or two layers of foil onto the paper and add a layer of dry beans or pie weights. Bake the crust for 15 minutes at 425F then remove the beans and paper (save the beans for another time), prick the crust all over, including the sides, with the tines of a fork, and bake for another 10-12 minutes then remove from oven and set aside.
5. Add the dark corn syrup, maple syrup, salt, brown sugar, and butter to a small pot then place over medium-high heat. For a crisper crust and to reduce bake time I like to heat my filling up but you can skip this step and melt the butter then mix the ingredients in a bowl.
6. Whisk over heat until the mixture comes to a boil then remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, whisk in the vanilla, eggs, and chopped pecans.
7. Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell. Place pecans on the surface of the pie. I like to arrange mine in a pattern of concentric circles but you can just spread them out on top for a less fussy look.
8. Mix an egg with some cream and brush onto the edge of the pie crust. Fold a length of foil in half and wrap around the edge of the pie, gently fold in. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the center is set. You can remove the tenting after 25 minutes so the crust can get more color.
Pro Tips For This Recipe
- TENT your Pie crust! You really want the center of the pie to bake all the way through and set but the crust should be golden brown at the edge.
- I heat the filling up to get a crisp crust, avoid the dreaded soggy bottom, and reduce bake time. If you’re in a rush you can skip this step and just mix all the filling ingredients (making sure to melt the butter) in a bowl then pour into the crust.
- If you want to save some time just make the filling and use a pre-made pie crust.
- Add more pecans if you’d like. I love the crunch but they do make cutting clean pieces more difficult.
- Bourbon and dark rum go really well in this recipe, add about two tablespoons along with the vanilla if desired.
- Serve with a big dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make a pecan pie without corn syrup?
Most pecan pie recipes have corn syrup but you can use Golden Cane Syrup instead. For this recipe you would omit the light and dark corn syrup and use 3/4 cup of cane syrup in it’s place. You can usually find this product in the baking isle or it can be ordered online. The most commonly found brand of golden cane syrup is Lyle’s.
How long does it last for?
Your pecan pie will keep for up to four days in the refrigerator or two months in the freezer. If freezing then wrap the baked pie in foil then seal in a large freezer bag or wrap once more in plastic. To serve, thaw the frozen pie in the refrigerator overnight and then pop into an oven set at 350F for about 20 minutes to warm through. I recommend tenting the edge while you warm up the pie so it doesn’t burn.
How can you Make the crust without a food processor?
- Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together.
- Grate one cup of FROZEN butter into the dry mixture. Toss with flour as you go so the butter doesn’t clump up.
- Use two knives to mix the butter and flour mixture.
- Drizzle in the ice water and mix together with the knives or forks.
- Press the shaggy dough into a disk and knead a couple of times.
- Cover in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.
IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE TRY THESE OUT!
If you’ve tried this easy pecan pie recipe then don’t forget to leave a rating and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Pecan Pie Recipe
Equipment
- Pie Dish
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter very cold
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup ice water plus more if needed.
For the Filling
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter 60g
- 1 cup dark corn syrup
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups whole pecans for decorating top
For the Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp cream
Instructions
For the Crust
- Add the flour, salt and sugar to the bowl of your food processor and pulse to combine then sprinkle in the cold cubed butter and pulse until it's been cut into small lentil-sized pieces.
- Drizzle the ice water in while pulsing until dough just starts coming together. You can tell the dough is ready when it hold together after you squeeze some together in your hand.
- Dump onto a pastry mat or clean counter, press together and knead just a few times to bring the dough together. Shape into a disk then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
- Set oven to 425F and removed the chilled dough from the fridge and place on the counter to warm for about 5 minutes. Roll out into a circle about one inch larger than the pie pan and 1/4 inch thick.
- Transfer the pie dough onto the pie dish and press into place. Trim as needed then fold and crimp the edge.
- Line the crust with parchment paper then gently press 1-2 layers of foil against the parchment paper and add dry beans or pie weights. Bake the crust for 15 minutes at 425F. Remove the beans, foil, and paper (save the beans for another time), prick the crust all over, including the sides, with the tines of a fork, and bake for another 10 minutes and remove from oven.
For the filling
- For a crisper crust and shorter bake time you can warm the filling. Add the butter, corn syrup, maple syrup, brown sugar and salt to a small pot then whisk together and place over medium-high heat. Whisk until the mixture starts to boil then remove from heat.
- Allow the filling to cool slightly then whisk in the vanilla, eggs, and chopped pecans.
- Pour filling into pie shell then arrange whole pecans on surface.
- Mix and egg and a tablespoon of cream in a small bowl and brush onto the edge of the crust.
- Fold a length of foil slightly longer than the diameter of your pie dish and fold in half. Wrap around the pie's edge and carefully fold the top in a bit to protect the crust during baking
- Bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350F, the edge will be set and the crust should be golden throughout. You can remove the foil after 25 minutes so the crust can take on some color.
Video
Notes
- TENT your Pie crust! You really want the center of the pie to bake all the way through and set but the crust should be golden brown at the edge. Tenting with foil like you see in the process shot further down will keep your crust from singeing.
- I heat the filling up to get a crisp crust, avoid the dreaded soggy bottom, and reduce bake time. If you're in a rush you can skip this step and just mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl then pour into the crust.
- If you want to save some time just make the filling and use a pre-made pie crust
- Add more pecans if you'd like, I love the crunch but they do make cutting clean pieces more difficult.
- Bourbon and dark rum go really well in this recipe, add about two tablespoons along with the vanilla if desired.
- Serve with a big dollop of whipped cream and enjoy!
I made this for the family and everyone loved it! They’re surprised that I’m learning to bake, they don’t know I have the best chef teaching me!! Thank you for this recipe John.
BEST. PECAN PIE. EVER! So far I’ve made about 20 of John’s recipes and I haven’t been disappointed yet.
Decided to make this for Thanksgiving after years and years of using an “okay-but-nothing-to-brag-about” recipe. Switching recipes up during a holiday without testing them first can be risky, but in this case it was the best decision I made. The combination of different syrups really put this over the edge, and it was the best pecan pie I had ever tasted. Instead of a traditional crust I used another pate sucree recipe and cooked the filling in a tart shell. Everything cooked and set beautifully. I’m making this again for Christmas and it will be my go-to pecan pie recipe for years to come. Thank you for sharing!
I made this pecan pie for Thanksgiving and it was a real hit. Everyone thought it was spectacular. Thanks John for another perfect dessert. I followed your instructions perfectly and I must say, it looked nearly as good as yours.
This pie is currently in the oven and my kitchen smells amazing. I used an old marie callender’s pie tin from a pie I got from there. I had a little extra filling left. I was also very short on time for making this pie for Thanksgiving so I used pre-made pie dough and still blind baked the crust before hand. I baked it about 5 minutes over the recommended time because I didn’t know if it was ready. But, so far so good 🙂
Hello! Just wondering how big your pie pan is? It looks to be about an 8 or 9?
It was a 9 inch pie pan.
Hi John,
I love, love all your recipes!! Congratulations you are definitely very talented.
I was curious what is the function of the vodka in the pie crust?
Thank you
It helps the dough stick together without hydrating it and forming the gluten.
Could I leave out the vodka in the pie crust? If yes any substitutions?
Sure, you can use more ice water with a squeeze of lemon.
Greetings John from South Africa.
Gratitude and appreciation for all your wonderful recipes received. I have tried several much to the delight of the family. Your apple pie, meringue tart, buttermilk rusks to name but a few. Your video on detailed explanation for each recipe is so valuable. Just a short message to let you know you have made a huge difference to my baking not to mention the aromatic smells from the kitchen. Much love to you and your family.
Thank you and hello from Connecticut!
This was the BEST pecan pie ever! Everyone loved it!
Melissa, I see yours is a recent post. Can you comment on the sweetness factor of this recipe? What made it the best pecan pie ever? I see many recipes of interest but the honey and maple syrup with brown sugar and corn syrups sounds amazing so long as not overly sweet. The quantities of sweet ingredients sound reasonable with no one ingredient overpowering. Is this the case?
Thank you so much for all your Thanksgiving recipes! Time to modify my old favorites with a few of your ideas.
Hey Laura,
It is my pleasure! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Happy holidays!
John
This looks wonderful. Do you think I could use this recipe with a store bought refrigerated crust?
Ashley,
You can definitely use a store bought crust! Happy Thanksgiving!
John
Yummy
WOW
I am going to make this for thanksgiving- my first attempt at making a pecan pie ever!! but it looks so good that i just have to make it. if i do not have dark corn syrup, can i substitute it for light corn syrup?
Ya, you can just use 3/4 cup of light corn syrup instead. The dark just adds some more flavor to the pie but light will work fine. 🙂
Could you substitute molasses for the corn syrup? Or is that too much of a different taste.
I would not recommend that but you can use golden syrup!