Easy Pecan Pie

I love pecan pie. I love homemade pecan pie. I ESPECIALLY love EASY homemade pecan pie. You can use a store bought pie crust to save time, but the few extra steps to make this easy, buttery and flakey pie dough is so worth it. I love serving it with whipped mascarpone to balance the sweetness.

Yield: 1 9-inch pie Prep Time: 20 min Total Time: 1 1/4 hour

Pie Dough

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes

¼ teaspoon salt

3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Pecan Pie Filling

1 cup pecans, chopped

3 eggs, beaten

⅓ cup salted butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup dark corn syrup

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp salt

Pie Dough

Step 1: Add flour, butter, and salt to a large bowl and blend with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture looks like a coarse meal with some roughly sized pea butter lumps. Drizzle 3 tbsp of ice water over mixture and incorporate with a fork.

Step 2: Squeeze a small handful, if it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, about 1/2 tbsp at a time, stirring until incorporated, then test again. It's important that you don't overwork the dough, otherwise it will be tough.

Step 3: Gather the dough together in the bowl, touching it quickly, and as little as possible. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface, and press into a 5-inch disk. Wrap with plastic wrap, chill for at least 1 hour. It can be chilled for up to 3 days.

Pecan Pie Filling

Step 4: Meanwhile for the filling, mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, vanilla ,and eggs together in a bowl.

Step 5: Pre-heat oven to 350F. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round, working as fast as possible, to fit in a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the edge, leaving a 1/2 inch overhang. Fold overhang over, lightly press against rim of pie plate, and crimp with a fork.

Step 6: Pour pecans into the unbaked pie shell, and pour the syrup mixture on top. Cover the top lightly with foil. Bake pie for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for an extra 20 minutes. The pie should not be overly jiggly (it will jiggle a bit). If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Baking time seems to vary with this recipe. Sometimes it takes 50 minutes, sometimes it takes 75!