I love pecan pie, but really kinda hate the cloying sweetness I usually find in versions made with corn syrup.
I know that there has to be an answer, because I have had awesome pecan pies, so, when the nice folk at Southern Living posted a recipe for an “Utterly Deadly Pecan Pie” without any corn syrup, I figured that it would be my dessert contribution to our Thanksgiving feast.
And it really is deadly. And delicious.
And also, indisputably, pretty frikkin’ ugly coming out of the oven.
Now, mebbe – just mebbe – it was because their recipe called for baking the pie in a cast iron skillet, and, well, I do not have one.
Yeh, I know, “Oh! The horror!”
Chill, people. I was simply not raised using cast iron, and every time I have tried it – except for the griddle on my stove – my results have not been among the rhapsodic odes to cooking perfection; so I used a glass pie pan – which had a fitted lid, so, bonus!
INGREDIENTS
•1 pie crust
•1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
•4 large eggs
•1-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
•1/2 cup butter, melted, at room temp
•1/2 cup granulated sugar
•1/2 cup chopped pecans
•2 tbsp flour
•2 tbsp milk
•1-1/2 tsp bourbon (or vanilla) – I would use at least 1 tbsp next time
•1/2 cup pecan halves*
*I used raw pecan halves, so toasted them at 350º for about ten minutes, just until I could smell them.
For the pie, heat your oven to 325º, line a pie plate with the pie crust, and sprinkle the confectioners’ sugar over the crust.
Whisk the eggs until foamy – I used my stand mixer, so, perhaps mine were extra foamy? No matter, the pie was still totally delicious.
Whisk in the remaining ingredients, except for the pecan halves, then pour into the sugared pie shell.
Top with the pecan halves, I started out going for a nice pattern, but more or less lost interest about halfway through.
Bake for 30 minutes at 325º – then reduce the temperature to 300º and continue to bake, and then…
remember this part, because it will totally take over your oven…
turn the oven off, and let the pie rest inside – without opening the oven – for three hours.
!
So… do make this awesome pie ahead.