TapasPecan Pie
By the Tapas kitchen · Jump to the recipe
Pecan pie can taste of nothing but sugar, so the nuts are toasted first and the filling gets a full teaspoon of salt. Take it out when the middle trembles as one piece instead of sloshing, and let it finish setting on the counter for 4 hours.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Rest
- 4 hr
- Total
- 5 hr 25 min
- Yield
- Serves 8
Ingredients
- 1 pie dough, for one 9-inch crust, homemade or store-bought, chilled
- 250 g pecan halves, about 2 1/2 cups
- 57 g unsalted butter, 4 tablespoons
- 100 g dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup, packed
- 330 g light corn syrup, 1 cup
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp bourbon (optional)
The salt amounts here are for Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you have Morton kosher salt, use a little over half as much, because its grains are denser and saltier by the spoon.
Steps
- Roll the dough into a 12-inch round and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate (not deep dish). Trim the overhang to 1/2 inch, fold it under and crimp. Refrigerate it while you make the filling, at least 15 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the lower third and a rimmed baking sheet on it. Spread the pecans on another sheet and toast them on the middle rack until fragrant and a shade darker, 8 to 10 minutes. Let them cool a few minutes, then coarsely chop half and leave the rest whole.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and take it off the heat. Whisk in the brown sugar, corn syrup and salt until smooth. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, just until combined; you don't want foam. Stir in the vanilla and the bourbon.
- Scatter the chopped pecans over the crust, then the whole ones, and pour the filling over slowly. The whole halves float up and arrange themselves on top.
- Set the pie on the hot baking sheet. Bake until the edges are puffed and set and the center trembles as one piece when you nudge the sheet, without any sloshing, 50 to 60 minutes; an instant-read thermometer in the center reads about 200°F. If the crust or nuts darken too fast after the first 30 minutes, lay a sheet of foil loosely over the top.
- Cool the pie on a rack for at least 4 hours, until the filling has set enough to slice cleanly.
Notes
Keeps 2 days covered at room temperature or 5 days in the fridge, so for Thanksgiving bake it the day before. For a crisper bottom, line the crust with foil, fill it with pie weights and blind-bake it at 375°F until pale gold, about 20 minutes, then fill and bake as above. If you'd rather skip the bourbon, use another teaspoon of vanilla.
