Ingredients
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1
batch pie dough - 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups (283 grams) pecan halves, roughly chopped
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (230 grams) real maple syrup, plus more for finishing
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Fleur de sel or flaky sea salt, for serving
Directions
Prepare the pie crust:
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Roll the dough out on a generously floured work surface. Keep turning the dough after every roll to ensure it doesn’t stick to the counter and is of even thickness. Make sure you’re not rerolling the same sections too many times and overworking the dough. Use your hands to cup the edges of the dough to keep it smooth and prevent cracks. Add additional flour to the dough, the counter, and your rolling pin as needed. Roll out into a 12 to 14-inch circle, depending on how deep your pie tin is.
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Gently roll the dough up and around the rolling pin then unroll and drape over a 9-inch pie tin. Gently press into the pie tin, being careful to avoid stretching it to fit. Use scissors or a knife to trim the excess dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under itself and crimp or flute. Pierce the base of the dough with a fork.
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Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Blind bake the pie crust:
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Preheat oven to 400°F and adjust baking rack to the lower third position.
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Line the chilled crust with foil, pressing all the way to the edges to ensure they don’t slump down. Fill the crust completely to the top with pie weights, granulated sugar, rice, or dried beans.
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Place on a rimmed baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until no longer raw. Remove the foil and weights and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
Toast the nuts:
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To toast the pecans, place on a small rimmed baking tray in the 350°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring once, until fragrant. Let cool before coarsely chopping the nuts.
Brown the butter:
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In a medium stainless-steel skillet set over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Stirring with a rubber spatula occasionally, continue to cook the butter, increasing the heat to medium. It should become foamy with audible cracking and popping noises. Once the crackling stops, continue to cook, stirring every 30 seconds, until the butter develops a nutty aroma and brown bits start to form at the bottom. Once the bits are amber in color, remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl, scraping the brown bits into the bowl. Let cool slightly.
Finish the filling:
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs until well beaten. Add the maple syrup, brown sugar, flour, bourbon (if using), vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually whisk in the warm browned butter until combined.
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Place the chopped pecans evenly in the bottom of the still-warm partially baked pie crust. Pour egg mixture into the crust, over the pecans.
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Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until the edges of the filling are set but the center is still slightly wobbly. If the crust begins to brown too much, cover with a pie shield or foil and continue baking. Remove from the oven and brush with about 1 tablespoon of extra maple syrup, then sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
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Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Place the baked and cooled pie in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
This is easiest done with a disposable aluminum pie tin. When ready to serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before slicing. Refresh in a 300°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes to re-crisp the crust, if desired.
Hi, have you tried this recipe without brown sugar and used coconut instead?
Hi Vick! No, we have only tried this recipe as written. Feel free to experiment, but just note that coconut sugar doesn’t behave exactly the way regular sugars do, so the taste and particularly texture of your final baked good will be different. Let us know how it goes!
I made this pie for Thanksgiving this year & the flavor was absolutely amazing! However, I’m thinking I might have used too many nuts in this first try as it seemed to be more nuts than custard. I suspect that my error was in thinking that the amount needed was 2 1/2 cups of the chopped nuts vs. unchopped? Before I make it again I thought I’d best get the amount clarified.
Hi Becky! I’m so glad you enjoyed this pie, even if there were a few too many nuts for your preference! The cup measurement is un-chopped nuts; measure out, toast and then chop for best results 🙂 I hope that helps!
I made this as mini tarts on Christmas Eve for Christmas Day and it was a great success. Soooo good even 2 days later. Will make again for sure.
Sounds incredible, great idea!!
I want to make this but am intimidated by your crust right now, can I use mine and do i still blind bake it?
Hi Susan! We prefer the texture of the crust when it’s baked first, it’s crispier and stays that way for longer. Feel free to use your own pie crust, but I do hope you give ours a try too! I make mine using the food processor method as explained in the directions on our Best Ever Pie Crust recipe. Check out the step-by-step photos above the recipe as well, it’ll help you know what each step should look like. It’s easier than you think, I promise! Let me know what you think of this recipe when you give it a try 🙂
This recipe for pecan pie is far superior to the overwhelmingly sweet pecan pie most of us are familiar with made with corn syrup. The flavor of maple, browned butter and a touch of bourbon allowed the toasted pecan taste to shine. I followed this recipe exactly and would not change a thing. Even people who were not pecan pie fans in the past liked this one! I will be making it aagin, for sure!
Amazing!! So happy to hear how much you loved this recipe and that it was such a hit, especially with non pecan pie fans!
Loved it. The texture felt a little dry, but no complaints. Maybe because it was on the counter for 2 days before Thanksgiving. But, the taste was wonderful! (I used a peach brandy-flavored syrup from Burton’s Mapelwood Farms, and Jack Daniels instead of bourbon. I may try a good barrel-aged stout next time.) The pie was beautiful coming out of the oven! Photos are on Instagram.
Glad you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 It is definitely possible the texture was dry due to its age, but I’m happy the taste was still delicious!
So excited to make this! Do you butter the tin before placing the pie crust in?
Hi Alex! You don’t typically need to grease a pie pan as the crust includes a significant amount of fat and won’t stick. Please let us know what you think when you give this recipe a try 🙂
I like to make my pecan pie into bars with a shortbread crust. Do you think this filling work for that?
Hi Debbie! Yum, that sounds incredible! I honestly can’t say for sure how it’d turn out as we haven’t tested that, but this pie does have a nice and thick custard-y filling that holds together well. Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
The is the best pecan pie recipe I have ever had! The maple syrup and flaky sea salt take it to the next level.
I completely agree with you, those two additions make such an impact on the taste of this pie! So happy to hear this is the best pecan pie you’ve ever had, thanks for the rave review!
I have a question about pie dough and pie pan depth. I bought the Oxo glass pie dish but that is pretty deep – is the single Best Ever Pie dough recipe is sufficient to fit that pie dish? What size do you roll the dough out to fir the Oxo dish vs standard pie plates? And importantly, is the filling quantity for the pecan pie best suited to a standard depth pie pan?
Hi Mariangela! Yes, the Best Ever Pie dough recipe will work well, even with a deep-dish pie. I always end up cutting off about 3 inches extra of pie dough in my shallower pie pan. Tessa specifically made her pie crust recipe with more ingredients than other recipes because we wanted to make sure that there was extra dough for deeper pie dishes or if you want to get fancy with any designs 🙂 It also helps to have a little extra if you get any rips or tears!
For a 9-inch pie pan, you want a 12-inch diameter rolled out crust. A deep-dish is typically about 13 inches. What size is the pan you purchased, or could you provide a link? THIS is the pie dish Tessa typically uses.