Pecan Pie Recipe with a dark brown sugar and maple custard, plenty of pecans, and a foolproof crust—no shortening or dark corn syrup!
Other holiday favorite desserts to try next: this apple crumble, apple fritter bread, pumpkin cheesecake bars, or this simple pumpkin cake.
The Best Pecan Pie Recipe
My dad’s all-time favorite dessert is pecan pie (and this Crème Brûlée), a recipe I’ve always wanted to perfect for him. Thanks to Gemma’s cookbook, Bigger Bolder Baking (affiliate link) I’m now equipped to make the best pecan pie for him. Gemma, a renowned YouTube baker and blogger, offers over 100 easy, flavorful recipes in her book.
I’ve slightly tweaked her pecan pie recipe, and it’s become a must-have for our Thanksgiving table. What I love most? It uses maple syrup instead of dark corn syrup, creating a perfect blend with the pecans and the rich, molasses-like dark brown sugar.
Ingredients
- Crust: Chill ingredients for a flaky crust—or use store-bought in a pinch!
- Egg Yolks: Use leftover egg whites in these delicious Meringue Cookies.
- Maple Syrup and Brown Sugar: Sweeten the filling and add depth with caramel-like and molasses flavors.
- Heavy Cream: Adds creaminess to the custard for a smooth texture.
- Unsalted Butter: Melt and cool butter to room temp before mixing.
- Pecans: Toast the pecans before adding them to enhance their flavor.
- Salt: A pinch is all you need—don’t skip it!
- Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
How To Make Pecan Pie
- Make Crust: Mix flour, salt, sugar, and butter until crumbly. Add egg yolk and cold water to form a dough. Chill it, roll it out, and press it into a pie pan.
- Toast Pecans: Spread on a pan and bake. Chop some and keep others whole.
- Make Filling: Whisk egg yolks, maple syrup, brown sugar, cream, salt, vanilla, and melted butter until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans.
- Assemble: Pour filling into the cold crust and place the whole pecans on top.
- Bake: Bake until the filling is set but still a little wobbly in center. Let it cool before cutting.
Storage
Can You Freeze Pecan Pie?
- Yes! Freeze Baked Pie: The completely baked pie can be frozen for up to 3 months. Ensure it’s covered tightly and stored securely.
Does Pecan Pie Need To Be Refrigerated?
- No, this pecan pie recipe does not need to be refrigerated. It can be stored at room temperature for up to two days. For longer storage, refrigeration is recommended.
Make Ahead Tips:
- Prepare in Advance: Make the pie dough and toast the pecans 1-5 days ahead, storing the dough in the fridge and pecans in an airtight container. This allows for easy assembly, as the filling can be quickly prepared.
- Bake Pie a Day Ahead: Bake this pecan pie recipe a day before serving, let it cool, cover tightly, and store at room temperature. Reheat individual slices if desired.
More Amazing Desserts
- Candied Pecans Recipe
- Oatmeal Pecan Cookies
- Coconut Cream Pie
- Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Pie
- Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie
Pecan Pie Recipe
This Pecan Pie is a game-changer! Made with maple syrup, dark brown sugar, and loads of pecans in a buttery, no-fail crust—no shortening or corn syrup needed!
Equipment
- Pastry cutter or 2 table knives
- Sheet pan
- Pie pan 9-inch, preferably glass or ceramic
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed and chilled
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Filling
- 6 large egg yolks at room temperature
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2 cups pecans halves divided
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Crust: In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and powdered sugar. Stir. Add butter, and using a pastry cutter, cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 egg yolk and water until smooth. Pour egg yolk mixture into the center of the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until combined as much as possible. Gently knead with your hands to form a crust (add extra tablespoon of water if needed). Handle the dough as little as possible and once it’s formed into dough, wrap in plastic wrap and gently flatten into a small disc. Refrigerate for (at least) 30 minutes to allow the gluten to relax before rolling. You can make the crust ahead of time and refrigerate for 1–5 days.
- Toast Pecans: (Melt butter now so it has time to cool to room temperature.) Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread pecan halves on a sheet pan and toast them for 8–10 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove and let cool. Divide the toasted pecans, reserving 3/4 cup for the top of the pie. Chop the remaining 1 and 1/4 cups to add to the filling mixture.
- Filling: Combine room temperature egg yolks, syrup, brown sugar, salt, vanilla and cream in a large bowl (it’s very important all ingredients are same temperature for this filling). Whisk until smooth. Once melted butter is completely to room temperature, drizzle it in while whisking constantly. Fold in the chopped pecans. Reserve the bowl from the egg yolk; if there are any bits of mixture remaining, they can be brushed over the crust before baking.
- Form Crust: Roll out the pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a 12-inch circle of dough. Use the rolling pin to lift up the dough and gently place place into a 9-inch pie pan (preferably glass or ceramic; avoid metal). Gently tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth, then crimp the edges of the crust. Chill 15 minutes in the fridge or freezer (don’t skip this step!). See note 1 for pie crust tips.
- Assemble: Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour the prepared filling into the chilled crust (you don’t need to blind bake the crust). Press the remaining 3/4 cup pecan halves on top. Place the pie on a lined sheet pan. Use a pastry brush to brush any tiny remains of the egg yolk and water mixture (from the reserved bowl; you didn’t need to leave some, but there should be a bit leftover) onto the crust. Place in the preheated oven.
- Bake: Bake for 40–55 minutes or until the filling is set—when it’s very slightly jiggly in the center. It should not slosh around at all. If it is sloshing, return to the oven another 10–20 minutes (baking times can greatly vary with pecan pies). If the edges of the crust begin to brown, cover with a pie shield. Once the filling is set, remove and let cool completely on a cooling rack, 3–4 hours, before slicing. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Crust tips:
- The less the crust is handled, the better it will work.
- Keep it chilled to prevent the butter from softening.
- If desired, you can crimp the crust following the instructions in the blog post.
- You can also brush the edges of the crust with egg yolk to encourage a golden brown appearance after baking.
- Unbaked crust freezes well.
- Some crusts need to be blind baked (pre-bake without any filling) but Pecan Pie doesn’t need that step.
- When baking, a pie shield can protect against the crust over browning. The blog post has tips on making your own pie shield.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 477kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.9g | Protein: 5.7g | Fat: 34.7g | Cholesterol: 175.7mg | Sodium: 21.9mg | Fiber: 2.2g | Sugar: 26g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wrecipe. the vanilla and salt get added? No mention of them in the recipe, that I can see..
Hey Susan, I’ve updated the recipe to be more clear! Thanks for your comment!
We baked this pie and we thought it was the best we ever had. Big success at our house.
So happy to hear that!! Thanks for the comment 🙂
thank you for reprising this classic, forgot how much I’ve missed the taste of pecan pie, nice tips too
Thanks Sabrina 🙂
I LOVE pecan pie and make it every year for Thanksgiving. Never used corn syrup, but my original recipe always led to a cracked top – thinking it might be from whole eggs vs egg yolks. I will have to try this recipe out this instead!!