As it turns out, it’s difficult to run a food and cooking blog when you are broke because decent ingredients are expensive. However, I did manage to make a very successful pecan pie recently, using my Grandmama’s recipe. This is the recipe I grew up with, and it’s the recipe I swear by. I’m pretty sure it’s a no fail recipe as long as you do not do anything silly. It’s not difficult to make, and it’s delicious.
The recipe only calls for six ingredients and a deep dish pie crust (unbaked); before you begin, ensure that your crust has no cracks of holes in the bottom. If you don’t do this, then you may pull an upside down pie from your oven with the crust floating on top. Again I emphasize the need for a deep dish pie crust; a regular pie crust will be too shallow and will over flow.
This is a very sugary pie; dissolving the sugar in the syrup and butter doesn’t take long, but you must do it over low heat, stirring frequently, otherwise you’ll burn the sugar. The moment that mixture is dissolved, remove it from the heat to prevent over cooking it; this will also allow it to cool slightly and prevent partial cooking of your eggs when you mix them in.
I always combine my eggs and vanilla, blending them thoroughly with a spoon before I combine them with the sugar mixture. If you don’t, sometimes the eggs will not combine smoothly, and if the mixture is too hot, your eggs will cook partially, leading to a grainy texture.
There really is no correct way to handle the pecans for this pie. Some people finely chop their pecans, while others coarsely chop them; I usually use them whole, but because I wound up buying pre-chopped pecans, they are coarsely chopped here. I tend to mix my pecans in last, stirring them until they are thoroughly coated with the filling mixture. This gives them a somewhat glossy sheen when the pie is finished. I also usually use a bit more than the single cup of pecans the recipe calls for.
As you can see the pie crust is very full, and you have to move slowly and carefully to place the pie in the oven, otherwise you will be scrubbing sticky pie filling from the floor and bottom of the oven, which is in no way fun. To prevent, overbrowning of the crust, it’s always a wise move to cover the edges with aluminum foil or a crust saver, but I was in a hurry and feeling lazy, so I didn’t do that.
Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling does not jiggle too much; 45 minutes is almost always long enough. I don’t have pictures of the pie after it was sliced because it was made for my kid brother to take to school.
Southern Style Deep Dish Pecan Pie
1 C White Sugar
3/4 C White Karo Syrup
1/2 Stick Butter
3 whole eggs
1 t vanilla
1 C pecans (chopped or whole), more can be added.
1 deep dish pie crust, unbaked
- Dissolve sugar, syrup, and butter over low heat, stirring frequently; remove from heat when completely dissolved
- Mix eggs and vanilla until well blended; stir into sugar mixture
- Add in pecans, stirring until thoroughly coated
- Pour into crust and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes
