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Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on December 18, 2012

Time

1½ hours, plus 1 hour cooling and 3 hours chilling

Yield

Serves 8 to 10

Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie

Ingredients

Pie Dough

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, divided1¼ cups (6¼ ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour, divided1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup ice water

Filling

1 cup maple syrup 1 cup packed (7 ounces/198 grams) light brown sugar ½ cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon molasses 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces½ teaspoon Salt 6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten1 ½ cups toasted and chopped pecans 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (see note), chilled in pie plate for 30 minutes

Before You Begin

Regular or mild molasses tastes best in this pie. Use your favorite pie dough or use our Foolproof All-Butter Pie Dough for Single-Crust Pie recipe (included in recipe). If using a different pie shell than the Foolproof All-Butter Pie Dough for Single-Crust Pie, jump to step 12.

Instructions

    for the dough

  1. Grate 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter on large holes of box grater and place in freezer. Cut remaining 8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into ½-inch cubes.
  2. Pulse 3¾ ounces all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ½ teaspoon table salt in food processor until combined, 2 pulses. Add cubed butter and process until homogeneous paste forms, about 30 seconds.
  3. Using your hands, carefully break paste into 2-inch chunks and redistribute evenly around processor blade. Add remaining 2½ ounces all-purpose flour and pulse until mixture is broken into pieces no larger than 1 inch (most pieces will be much smaller), 4 to 5 pulses.
  4. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add grated butter and toss until butter pieces are separated and coated with flour.
  5. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Toss with rubber spatula until mixture is evenly moistened. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons ice water over mixture and toss to combine. Press dough with spatula until dough sticks together.
  6. Transfer dough to sheet of plastic wrap. Draw edges of plastic over dough and press firmly on sides and top to form compact, fissure-free mass. Wrap in plastic and flatten to form 5-inch disk. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
  7. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling. (Wrapped dough can be frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.)
  8. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on well-floured counter.
  9. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang around edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand.
  10. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of plate. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of plate using your fingers.
  11. Refrigerate dough‑lined plate until firm, about 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
  12. for the filling

  13. Heat 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 cup maple syrup, ½ cup heavy cream, and 1 tablespoon molasses in saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
  14. Whisk 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, and ½ teaspoon table salt into syrup mixture until combined. Whisk in 6 lightly beaten large egg yolks until incorporated.
  15. Scatter 1½ cups toasted and chopped pecans in pie shell. Carefully pour filling over.
  16. Place pie in hot oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until filling is set and center jiggles slightly when pie is gently shaken, 45 to 60 minutes.
  17. Cool pie on rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate until set, about 3 hours and up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Time

1½ hours, plus 1 hour cooling and 3 hours chilling

Yield

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

Pie Dough

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, divided
1¼ cups (6¼ ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup ice water

Filling

1 cup maple syrup
1 cup packed (7 ounces/198 grams) light brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon molasses
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ teaspoon Salt
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups toasted and chopped pecans
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (see note), chilled in pie plate for 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pie Dough

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, divided
1¼ cups (6¼ ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup ice water

Filling

1 cup maple syrup
1 cup packed (7 ounces/198 grams) light brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon molasses
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ teaspoon Salt
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups toasted and chopped pecans
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (see note), chilled in pie plate for 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pie Dough

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, divided
1¼ cups (6¼ ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup ice water

Filling

1 cup maple syrup
1 cup packed (7 ounces/198 grams) light brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon molasses
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ teaspoon Salt
6 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 ½ cups toasted and chopped pecans
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (see note), chilled in pie plate for 30 minutes

Why This Recipe Works

The overly sweet, artificial-tasting pecan pies of today bear little resemblance to their 19th-century inspiration. Could we recreate a traditional pecan pie without using modern day, processed corn syrup? We tried a host of traditional syrups (cane, sorghum) to replicate the flavors in a traditional pecan pie. While many produced great pies, we couldn't find them at our local supermarket and had to mail away for them. After exhaustive testing, we discovered that combining maple syrup with brown sugar and molasses replicated the old-fashioned pies almost as well as the mail-ordered syrups, and certainly much better than corn syrup ever could. To ensure the bottom crust was crisp and golden brown, we started the pie at a high temperature and then dropped it down to finish cooking. Our crust was perfect, but the filling left something to be desired. A last-minute addition of cream yielded a welcome custardy transformation to the filling. This also made the filling looser; a problem easily solved by adding extra egg yolks. To finish off our Pecan Pie recipe, we found toasting the nuts before they went into the pie gave them enough crunch and flavor to hold their own in the filling.

Before You Begin

Regular or mild molasses tastes best in this pie. Use your favorite pie dough or use our Foolproof All-Butter Pie Dough for Single-Crust Pie recipe (included in recipe). If using a different pie shell than the Foolproof All-Butter Pie Dough for Single-Crust Pie, jump to step 12.

Instructions

    for the dough

  1. Grate 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter on large holes of box grater and place in freezer. Cut remaining 8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter into ½-inch cubes.
  2. Pulse 3¾ ounces all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and ½ teaspoon table salt in food processor until combined, 2 pulses. Add cubed butter and process until homogeneous paste forms, about 30 seconds.
  3. Using your hands, carefully break paste into 2-inch chunks and redistribute evenly around processor blade. Add remaining 2½ ounces all-purpose flour and pulse until mixture is broken into pieces no larger than 1 inch (most pieces will be much smaller), 4 to 5 pulses.
  4. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add grated butter and toss until butter pieces are separated and coated with flour.
  5. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Toss with rubber spatula until mixture is evenly moistened. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons ice water over mixture and toss to combine. Press dough with spatula until dough sticks together.
  6. Transfer dough to sheet of plastic wrap. Draw edges of plastic over dough and press firmly on sides and top to form compact, fissure-free mass. Wrap in plastic and flatten to form 5-inch disk. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
  7. Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes, before rolling. (Wrapped dough can be frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.)
  8. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on well-floured counter.
  9. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang around edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand.
  10. Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of plate. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of plate using your fingers.
  11. Refrigerate dough‑lined plate until firm, about 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
  12. for the filling

  13. Heat 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 cup maple syrup, ½ cup heavy cream, and 1 tablespoon molasses in saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
  14. Whisk 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, and ½ teaspoon table salt into syrup mixture until combined. Whisk in 6 lightly beaten large egg yolks until incorporated.
  15. Scatter 1½ cups toasted and chopped pecans in pie shell. Carefully pour filling over.
  16. Place pie in hot oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until filling is set and center jiggles slightly when pie is gently shaken, 45 to 60 minutes.
  17. Cool pie on rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate until set, about 3 hours and up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.

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