Where I live, in the Texas Hill Country, we have just splendid pecans that are absolutely all over the place. This year, to save a little money, we decided to go to the local park and pick our own pecans. That was the easy part! Cracking them all was a different story, it took me about 45 minutes with my six year old son "helping" me the whole time. (He thought we had to adjust the nutcracker after every pecan.) All in all, in the end it was completely worth it! I don't think I've ever had a pecan pie as delicious or homemade as the one I made this Thanksgiving! There was ecstatic moaning and fluttering eyes going all around the table during dessert time! To top it off, I was super proud that I personally had a hand in literally everything from start to finish! This is hands down the best pecan pie recipe I've ever had!
Pie Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 Tablespoons cold water
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients together first. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the cold butter until it's crumbly and has pea sized lumps. Add the water and mix well. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll slightly bigger than a pie pan. Carefully transfer to pie pan. Bake until about halfway done for about 10 min or until you finish whipping together pie filling.
Pie Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 Tablespoon imitation vanilla flavor
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter , melted
2 cups pecans (a little extra never hurt anything either!)
Whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add beaten eggs and whisk until smooth. Slowly pour butter into sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Stir in pecans and pour filling into the halfway baked pie crust.
Bake in the oven for about an hour, or until it's "set". It will be slightly jiggly, but not sloshy. If it's too sloshy, put that puppy back in for another 10-20 minutes. If the crust begins to brown too much, cover the edges with foil and return to oven. Once it's set enough, remove pie and let cool for three to four hours before slicing.
Pie Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 Tablespoons cold water
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients together first. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the cold butter until it's crumbly and has pea sized lumps. Add the water and mix well. Turn out onto a floured surface and roll slightly bigger than a pie pan. Carefully transfer to pie pan. Bake until about halfway done for about 10 min or until you finish whipping together pie filling.
Pie Filling:
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 Tablespoon imitation vanilla flavor
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter , melted
2 cups pecans (a little extra never hurt anything either!)
Whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add beaten eggs and whisk until smooth. Slowly pour butter into sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Stir in pecans and pour filling into the halfway baked pie crust.
Bake in the oven for about an hour, or until it's "set". It will be slightly jiggly, but not sloshy. If it's too sloshy, put that puppy back in for another 10-20 minutes. If the crust begins to brown too much, cover the edges with foil and return to oven. Once it's set enough, remove pie and let cool for three to four hours before slicing.
