Hi guys. I’m Emily Carter, and on this AJ Zorvella Bakes, we’re making the perfect pecan pie. So let’s get started. First off the crust, you have two options here. A store-bought frozen pie shell, which often comes outta the container shattered and useless, sad. Or you can make your own easy pie crust. I have a recipe for this in the description box below. This is chilled for an appropriate amount of time, and we’re just gonna roll it out on a lightly flowered surface. If you are using a pre-made pie shell or you froze in advance, just skip ahead. If you get any cracking, just go ahead and pinch things together. And I will tell you that the crust is half of the pie.
The pie itself is very sweet, and syrupy, and crunchy. It’s delicious. But the shell is your respite. It’s like very crisp, flaky, hardly sweet at all, and it balances everything out, along with a big dollop of whipped cream or scoop of ice cream. This is a nine inch pie, so I’m gonna roll this out to about 12 inches. Once your dough is all rolled out,it’s time to grab a nine inch pie tin, preferably a metal one. And now you’ll have a really crisp crust! And pie plates, if you happen to be working with one of those But this one’s better, it’s just gonna give you a browner golden crust. And if you can see there’s holes on the bottom, which means that the air will circulate a bit more and things will just be really, really crisp.
It’s time to transfer your dough, and this is where a pastry mat really comes in handy. If things are getting sticky,you just take it off the counter, pop it in the fridge, and then let it set up. All right, you do not wanna press your dough down. It could crack and break. And also you don’t wanna stretch it. So instead, push it from the edge inward. Okay, grab some scissors. We’re gonna trim this up now. Just there’s an inch of overhang. All right, the last step here is just to fold the edge underneath and then crimp things up. If your dough’s cracking up, just smooth it out later.Don’t worry about it. Try and get an even-ish overhang, so it’s not gonna be like dipping down drastically in one section. And once you’re there, it’s time to give it a crimp.
I like to use my thumb and two fingers. It’s for a super basic crimp, but some of them get so fancy. It’s up to you. Let me know in the comments which you prefer. I’m giving my points, just a little extra pinch for a bit of extra style, but we’ll see if they hold. Okay, that looks pretty nice.It’s ready to go into the freezer at least 45 minutes, but I like to do an hour or two.
I’m making one, I often just make two. That way you can bake one pie now and then have an empty shell leftover for a lemon meringue, a chocolate, a coconut cream, a banana pie, anything you want. Right, into the freezer. Making your own pie crust is a little bit of extra work, but the flavor and texture are so much better in my humble opinion. And the process is actually really fun. Plus, you can put your own spin on things.If you wanted to, you could have added a little bit of cocoa powder, cinnamon, or your favorite spices to add a little bit of extra depth of flavor. When your crust is frozen and you’re ready to start the filling, set your oven to 425 so it’s nice and hot. It’s time to get to chopping, specifically 1 1/2 cups of pecans. You can buy them pre-chopped, but I didn’t. So chop. And while I chop, I have to tell you, yes, this is a pecan pie, but would it be delicious with walnuts?Sure, if you like walnuts.
I like pecans But you could also Oh no. I don’t know why it’s so funny. So you could use walnuts or if you wanted to add in some chopped chocolate, that could be delicious. Macadamia nuts. Anything crunchy is gonna be. I mean, how about some chopped pretzels? Like nice and salty. This pie is basically like a custard pie, except instead of milk, you’re using an inverted sugar, like corn syrup, or maple syrup, or honey.Inside of that, you want some delicious, crunchy things. So gather ye delicious, crunchy things and add them in, about 1 1/2 to 2 cups. Okay, by the way, I always like to toast my pecans whenever I use them for baking.
So if you haven’t toasted yours, pop ’em into the oven, 350 for like 10 minutes. Just give ’em a mix every few minutes. All my prep work is done. We’re gonna set this aside and grab a big bowl to get to work. All right, I am gonna grab a scale now because corn syrup is so annoying to measure out.Here’s the deal. Today I’m gonna use dark corn syrup, but you have your choice. You could use Lyle’s Golden Syrup, you could use honey, you could use maple syrup. Any kind of inverted sugar is gonna be great in this. You’ll want one cup of your inverted sugar, that’s 240 mls or 350 grams. Oh, I didn’t turn it on. It’s how you deal with them.just. I will say that if you use maple syrup, for example,which is thinner than this, it’ll bake up just fine.
But your nuts might be just kinda like on the bottom more than the top, but that’s fine. Okay, that’s good. Zero your scale out. You also want 3/4 of a cup of granulated sugar. It’s 150 grams. Four tablespoons or 57 grams of melted butter. To help hold things together, three large eggs. Two teaspoons of vanilla for some flavor. Today I’m using vanilla, which is amazing, but you could also use brandy, rum, bourbon.These are all spirits that you can also use to make vanilla, just by the way. So play with the flavors as you like. And this is a classic pecan pie, but you could add your favorite spices, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, mace, cardamom. These are all delicious warming things that’ll only compliment your pie. So use your favorites. I would say a max of 1 1/2 teaspoons total. This sweet pie needs contrast. So we’re gonna add 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt that’s gonna go in and give you some balance.
Whenever you have something sweet, you need the salt, so you can taste the actual dessert. Otherwise, it’s a flat note of sugar and the taste is not delighting your palate. Grab a whisk and we’re gonna mix this up. This is a quintessentially American pie. Pecan trees are native to this country, and it was the Native Americans who introduced them to American colonists, be they from England or France. There’s a lot of debate on who actually baked the first pecan pie and where. New Orleans, Alabama, the Northeast.I’m not gonna get in on it, but either way, it’s a delicious classic recipe that we all love. Okay, stir this up until it is really well combined.
The one ingredient that can give you some trouble is the corn syrup. It’s just so thick that you really have to mind the bottom of your bowl and make sure it’s all combined really well. That looks lovely. Ooh, look at that, so rich and thick. Grab your frozen pie crust and place it on a baking sheet. This is just in case there are any spills.And now for the fun part, we’re gonna fill the bottom with our pecans or whatever you’re adding. By the way, if you wanted to, you could have mixed your nuts or whatever else you’re using with that sugary filling and then poured it in. This is actually just a little bit easier on cleanup because there aren’t little mixed nut bits in my bowl. Now, we’re gonna add in this fragrant delicious filling. So pour that in all over your pecans. Ooh, that’s nice. Look at all those pecans floating right on up.This looks nice, it could look better.
I’m just gonna arrange some pecans over the top in little concentric circles because it sparks joy for me, but it’s totally optional for you. See, that’s looking better already. It’s a nice little extra touch just to show people that you care. Final pecan goes on. And as an optional step, I’m gonna add a little bit of flaked salt just for kind of a punch. My beautiful pecan pie is ready to go into the oven,for 15 minutes, then reduced to 350, and cook for an additional 35 to 40 minutes, or until it’s a little bit puffed, but has a slight wobble in the center.
If the crust is getting too dark, loosely tent with foil at any time. In you go. Allow your pie to cool completely, and then it’s ready to enjoy. This is gonna be good. You just can’t beat those flavors. And the combination of that gooey filling with all the crunchy pecans and that nice crisp butter crust with a dollop of whipped cream is impossible to beat. I hope you get a chance to make this recipe.
