With a homemade crust and a sweet pecan filling, this is THE pecan pie for your Thanksgiving table! Make it a day or two in advance or freeze it even longer.
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What’s your favorite Thanksgiving cake? Mine is a toss between apple, pumpkin and this homemade pecan pie. In fact, I love them all so much I’m making one of each for our Thanksgiving Day celebration. (It seems like everyone in our family has their favorite. And if I don’t make them all, someone will be running to the store to fill the void!)
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pecan pie
Pecan Pie: A History
Pecans are native to North America. So it’s entirely fitting that a pecan pie pops up every Thanksgiving, along with our other native foods like turkey, squash, and cranberries.
However, pecan pie itself is a more recent invention. While the first printed recipes for the pie appeared in the late 1800s, the classic pecan pie as we know it was made popular by Karo’s marketing efforts in the 1930s to help sell their corn syrup, a necessary ingredient for the pie .
Tips for making the best pecan pie recipe
Most pecan pie recipes I’ve found call for two cups of sweetener—one cup of corn syrup plus one cup of granulated or brown sugar. I find it a bit too sweet for my taste. So, for this pecan pie recipe, I lowered the sugar by 1/2 cup. Feel free to further reduce or add more to your liking.
Molasses, butter and vanilla bring out the wonderful flavor of the pecans. Nuts will go rancid in storage, so make sure you’re using the freshest pecans for this cake!
How long to bake pecan pie
This cake bakes at 350°F for just over an hour. When done, the crust should be golden brown. The cake should be set around the edges but still a little wobbly in the center (like Jell-O). It will continue to solidify as it cools.
How to serve pecan pie
After baking, the pecan pie should be completely cooled to room temperature before serving, otherwise the filling will become runny. Once the cake has reached room temperature and the filling is set, you can reheat it in a 275F oven for 10 minutes if you want it warm. But for the most part, pecan pie is served at room temperature.
How to store pecan pie
Typically, pies with egg-based fillings, like this pecan pie, need to be refrigerated. However, I often make pecan pie a day ahead, stretch it lightly with aluminum foil, and leave it on the counter. I’ve never had a problem.
Leftover cake should be stored in the refrigerator, where it will keep for up to 3 to 4 days. If you want to keep your cake longer, I recommend freezing it.
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How to freeze pecan pie
Pecan pie freezes well. Bake it and let it cool completely on the counter. Wrap the cake in a double layer of sturdy plastic wrap, squeeze out the air, then double wrap in foil and freeze for up to 1 month.
To serve, thaw frozen cake in the refrigerator overnight before bringing to room temperature. If you like, reheat in the oven for 10-15 minutes before serving.
The best crust for pecan pie
Here are some pie crust recipes you can use to make pecan pie:
- Sour cream pie crust
- perfect pie crust
- All butter pie crust
Or you can use a store-bought crust if you’re short on time.
Why Freeze Your Pie Crust Before Baking Pecan Pie?
We recommend freezing your unbaked pie shell before adding the pecan pie filling. Why? This is because refrigeration hardens the fat in your dough. This will keep your pie crust from becoming soggy and help maintain its texture.
Pecan Pie troubleshooting tips
- Be sure to use unsulphured molasses and not blackstrap molasses for the cake. Blackstrap molasses is bitter and can dominate this cake. Or just omit the molasses altogether.
- For a non-dough bottom crust, preheat a baking stone in your oven directly on the rack you will be baking the pie on. Set the pie in its pan directly onto the baking stone, which retains heat for a more browned bottom crust.
- Use fresh pecans whenever possible, as aged nuts can go rancid.
- If your crust is browning too quickly, loosely cover the pie with foil.
- If your filling doesn’t set, the cake is undercooked. Continue baking the pie (after shielding the crust) until the filling is sticky and not runny. The filling needs to reach 200°F in order for it to set. Keep in mind that it will firm up as it cools.
Swaps and Substitutions
- No more molasses? You can substitute honey or maple syrup. Or just leave it out entirely.
- Use dark corn syrup instead of light.
- You can also substitute maple syrup, honey, agave syrup, or golden syrup for the corn syrup. However, you should add a few tablespoons of flour to the filling to keep that thicker texture.
More Thanksgiving Pie Recipes:
- Our Best Thanksgiving Pies Ever from Simply Recipes
- Old fashioned pumpkin pie
- apple slice cake
- Old fashioned apple pie
- Sweet potato pie with pecan topping
From the editors of Simply Recipes
The best pecan pie
For this recipe, you prepare the pie dough, roll it out, place it in the pie pan, trim the edges, and then freeze it. Freezing the crust keeps it from shifting as the pie bakes. You don’t need to pre-bake the pie crust before adding the filling.
I recommend our easy flaky pie crust with sour cream.
ingredients
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1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust, frozen at least 30 minutes (see recipe note)
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2 cups (210g) pecansroughly chopped (save a few whole pecan halves for decoration on the top of the cake if you like)
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3 big eggs, beaten easily
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1 Cup light corn syrup
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1/2 Cup Brown sugar
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1 tablespoon molasses (unsulphured)
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4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
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1/2 teaspoon Salt
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2 teaspoon vanilla extract
method
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Preheat oven to 350°F
Preheat the oven and place a rack in the middle.
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Mix filling:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, melted butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth. (No mixer required, you can hand-beat with a wooden spoon.)
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Fill the cake base:
Spread the chopped pecans on the bottom of a frozen pie shell. Pour the filling over the pecans. Don’t worry about burying the pecans, they will rise to the surface. (If you reserved a few whole pecan halves, you can arrange them in a decorative pattern on the top. Just dip them under the wet filling and let them rise again so the filling coats them.)
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Bake the filled cake:
Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, loosely cover the cake with aluminum foil to prevent the crust and pecans from getting too brown. Bake an additional 35 to 45 minutes until the filling has set. The cake should be a little wobbly in the middle.
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Remove from the oven and let cool completely:
Note that the pie will be a little puffy when you first remove it from the oven. It settles as it cools.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 636 | calories |
| 38g | Fat |
| 72g | carbohydrates |
| 7g | protein |
