Perfect Top Pecan Pie

Baking began early this morning as Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I asked Kennedy to go to the basement and grab a bag of dry beans. Why…do you need beans? Are you going to blind bake your pie? I looked at her a little shocked. How do you know what a blind bake is, I asked. Mom, I watch The Great British Baking Show. I laughed and tried to call her bluff. What temperature should the oven be set for a blind bake, I asked. Duh mom, 400° or 350° if your ovens because they are convection. I laughed so hard I cried a little.

The back story that makes this so funny is that Kennedy is my child that randomly starts talking with an English accent. No, she does not have FAS, Foreign Accent Syndrome (look it up…it’s a real disorder), she just thinks it is hilarious. We will be sitting in a restaurant and she will suddenly order her food in an English accent. Sometimes we all join in because we don’t want her to look silly or out of place. So now, I no longer think my daughter has a mental illness…I blame The Great British Baking Show, This certainly explains the tent she put up in the backyard!!!

For those of you who don’t think it is fun to talk in an English accent while binge-watching The Great British Baking Show. Blind baking is baking or partially baking the pie crust before pouring in pie filling to ensure a flaky crust. Don’t feel bad if you didn’t know this…my husband walked in the kitchen while I was preparing to blind bake the shell and said, “what-cha making hun…a bean pie”? You can tell who shares my DNA and who doesn’t.

Blind baking, along with coarsely chopping the nuts, is our time tested proven steps to perfect pecan pie. Most people like to leave the pecans halved and even place them in designs on the top of the pie filling. While I will admit this looks amazing… the taste doesn’t come close. By chopping the pecans, the butter, sugar, and salt in this recipe caramelize around the small pecan pieces to form a top crust that tastes like a brittle or toffee. It’s crunchy, sweet, salty and seriously delicious!!!

 

Ingredients:

1 recipe Perfect Pie Crust (linked below)

https://sweeterthymes.com/2019/11/21/perfect-pie-crust-101/

1 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

3 eggs plus one yolk

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Instructions:

1. Prepare pie crust. Line with parchment paper and fill with dry beans or pie weights. Blind bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 400°.
2. Remove crust from the oven and reduce heat to 350°. Let crust cool while making pie filling.
3. In a bowl whisk together granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, butter, salt and vanilla. whisk until well combined.
4. Place coarsely chopped pecans in bottom of pie shell, pour filling mixture over the top of pecans.
5. Place a tin foil tent over the top of pie and place in oven.
6. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes
7. Remove tin foil tent and bake for another 10-20 minutes. When pie is finished it should appear set when moved and no longer jiggle in the middle of the pie.
8. In order to properly set, pie needs to cool completely before serving.

 

Tips:

• Coarsely chop the nuts. Some larger and smaller nuts will be in the pie. The smaller pieces will allow and upper nut crust to form while the larger pieces will create an elegant look.
• The all-butter pie crust in our perfect pie crust recipe is a must in this pie. It is so buttery and flaky that the flavor perfectly compliments the caramel and salty tones of the pecan pie.
• When you remove pie shell from the blind bake for an extra flaky crust, egg wash the inner shell and put back in the oven for 3-5 minutes. This will seal the crust and prevent moisture from creating a soggy crust.