I have recently tried my hand at baking pies...sounds scary right? Wrong! The saying of "easy as pie" really is true! I really believe anyone can master the art of baking pies. This pecan pie was only my second pie I had ever baked, and it turned out fabulous! I tried The Pioneer Women's recipe found on her blog
here, however, I used a different crust recipe from what she used that can be found
here. First, here is the crust recipe I used (this recipe makes enough dough for a bottom and top crust. In my case, I only needed the bottom because I was baking a pecan pie so I doubled the recipe and had enough crust for 3 pecan pies, the more the merrier!):
1 DOUBLE CRUST
- 6 tablespoons ice water
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2/3 cup vegetable shortening [Crisco] plus 2 tablespoons
Preheat the oven to 425F.
Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a fork. Stop as soon as the sheen of the shortening disappears and the mixture is a bunch of coarse pieces. Sprinkle a tablespoon of the ice water at a time over the dough, lifting and tossing it with the fork. When it begins to come together, gather it in your hands in a ball and then pull apart into two pieces: if it crumbles, it's too dry and needs a teaspoon or two of more water. Gather the dough into two balls, one larger than the other for the bottom crust. Flatten the larger ball into a disc and dust both sides with flour. Then working quickly, roll out the dough 1 - 2 inches larger than your pie dish.
Place the rolling pin a third of the way in from one of the edge. Roll the crust onto the pin, then into the pie pan. Lightly arrange the crust into place. Place in the freezer while prepping the pecan filling.
PECAN PIE FILLING
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/3 cup melted butter (salted)
- 3 whole eggs beaten
- 1 cup (heaping) chopped pecans
Mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl. Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell (yes, the bottom, really! It is magic, they float to the top!). Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.
NOTE: Pie should not be overly jiggly when you remove it from the oven. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Required baking time seems to vary widely with this recipe. Sometimes it takes 50 minutes; sometimes it takes 75. For instance, mine took 70 minutes!
Allow to cool for several hours or overnight.
