This Brown Butter Pecan Pie has everything a Pecan pie needs. It has a chocolate base (Black Bottom), toasted nuts, and a brown butter golden syrup filling, all tucked into a flaky par-baked pie crust. This pie is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table this year!
Table of contents
- Brown Butter Pecan Pie
- How to make the best Brown Butter pecan Pie
- Golden Syrup vs Corn Syrup in pecan Pie
- A good pecan pie starts with a great pie crust
- How to Parbake a Pie Crust for Pecan Pie
- FAQ for Brown Butter Pecan Pie
- Tips for Making Pecan Pie Ahead of Time
- A few wee tips for Pecan Pie
- For more Pie Recipes, see:
- Made this recipe and love it?
Brown Butter Pecan Pie
Hi! Just popping on to share this recipe for Brown Butter Pecan Pie with you. Pecan Pie isn't really a thing in New Zealand (we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, and Pecans aren't super common), so I actually hadn't tried one until I moved here in 2014.
Pecan Pie is super simple to make - you par-bake a pie crust, then fill it with a custard like mixture and pecan halves. That's it! The whole thing gets baked until the middle is only just set. The result is a super gooey, incredibly flavourful pie, with crunch, goo, a flaky crust - just so, so good.
There are a bunch of variations on Pecan Pie, and I think every family has their own classic recipe. Here's mine!
How to make the best Brown Butter pecan Pie
There are a few steps that you can take to take your Pecan Pie to the next level. I obviously did as many as possible, which lead to a super flavourful, gooey, delicious Pecan Pie which has an incredible depth of flavour.
- Toast Your Nuts - Toasting your Pecans is a super easy way to make them taste extra good. This takes 10 minutes in the oven and can be done ahead if you like so when it comes to assembly time you are good to go.
- Make your own Pie Crust - Once you've had some practice, making your own pie dough is SUPER easy. You can do it ahead of time (see the tips section), and freeze it if you like!
- Use Golden Syrup - I grew up on Golden Syrup and it's just so good. It adds a beautiful depth of flavour. I get mine online, although I know you can get it in some stores! This article also tells you how to make your own!
- Brown Your Butter - It's no secret that I love, love, LOVE browned butter in anything, and using brown butter in this Pecan Pie really helps the toasty flavours come through.
- Add Chocolate - You can't go wrong with adding chocolate. I turned this into a black bottom pecan pie by adding a layer of chocolate ganache to the par-baked pie crust, underneath the filling. It makes it extra gooey, and extra delicious.
- Add a tiny bit of acid - Adding just a little apple cider vinegar helps to cut through the sweetness of the pie. You won't notice the taste itself but it makes a big difference! I use apple cider vinegar in my pie crust too to help prevent gluten formation and to keep the pastry tender.
Golden Syrup vs Corn Syrup in pecan Pie
If you haven't had Golden Syrup before I really recommend that you try. It is made with a different process to corn syrup, and is made from Sugar rather than Corn Syrup which is derived from Corn.
Golden Syrup is rich and caramelised, and gives baking a really amazing depth of flavour, whereas corn syrup's flavour is just 'sweet'. It's worth tracking some down for this pie if you can - I also use it in my Ginger Crunch recipe if you need something to help use it up!
A good pecan pie starts with a great pie crust
Homemade pie crust takes a bit of practice, but once you have the hang of it, it is super easy. You can easily make the pie dough ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to use. I made six the other day for recipe testing, and they are just hanging out in my freezer! Make sure that you wrap them tightly, then thaw them overnight in the fridge before you use.
The recipe below makes enough for two single crust pies, but it's truly no more work at all, so you might as well make both and have one on hand for something else. It's also much easier to accidentally over or under hydrate a smaller batch of pie dough!
I've written about this a lot but the BEST pie crust trick is something my friend Erin taught me. Once the dough has been mixed and rested in the fridge for an hour, you pull it out, and roll into a rectangle. You then perform 3 letter folds (kind of like making puff pastry). It then gets wrapped back up and put in the fridge to rest. The turns make the dough homogenous and super super easy to work with. I don't ever skip this step now. It makes it particularly easy to crimp!
How to Parbake a Pie Crust for Pecan Pie
I used to be scared of par-baking pie crust (if you don't believe me check my early pie recipes, they are all double lattice with cut-outs. I was SCARED). Once I realised 1) It's not as scary as I thought and 2) Crimping is really fun, now I love par-baking pie crusts!
Par-baking a pie crust starts the baking process. It gives the inside of the pie crust a chance to cook a little before it has filling in it. This helps to prevent the dreaded soggy bottom. It also helps to make your pie flaky, as it has some time to bake without the filling. Here's how to par-bake a pie crust:
- Make your crust - Make your crust as directed. You can do the rolling out trick I mentioned above, which makes it really easy to work with. Wrap it up and chill it for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
- Roll it out - Roll your pie crust out a little bigger than your pie dish. Place into the dish and 'settle' the crust in so that it sits nicely in the bottom, which helps prevent shrinking. Trim the edges if you need to, then fold the edge under to give you a nice crimping edge. Crimp as desired.
- Prick it all over - Prick your pie crust all over. This stops it puffing up too much in the oven. Then chill it. You can either do at least 30 minutes in the fridge, or I like to do 20 minutes in the fridge and then 10 to 15 in the freezer. This makes sure that the crust is super solid by the time it gets to the oven. When the cold crust hits the hot oven, you get the flaky crust!
- Cover with Parchment and fill with pie weights - I use crumpled parchment. Cut a square a bit bigger than the pie, and place into the crust, fitting it in. The crumpled parchment stops it from folding and makes sure that the paper goes right into the corners and doesn't leave any gaps. Fill the parchment with pie weights, right up to the top edge of the crust. I use ceramic pie weights, but you can use baking beans or rice, or a mixture of both!
- Bake with pie weights - The pie gets 17-18 minutes at 425°f / 220°c, until the edges are slightly golden and the crust is starting to set. Don't worry if it's still a bit pale. This is a par-bake. You just want to bake it a wee bit. Remember it is going to go in the oven again.
- Remove the Pie Weights - Lift the parchment and pie weights out all in one go. I like to have a little sheet pan nearby to put them on while they cool down so they don't roll all over the kitchen. I've been there. They show up weeks later.
- Finish off Baking - The pie then goes back in the oven just for a teeny bit - 2-3 minutes, to set the part that had the pie weights on it. This is key for a non soggy bottomed pie.
- Seal it off - One more safety measure against soggy bottoms is to seal off the pie. For this pie we are making it a black bottom pecan pie, so the chocolate ganache does that. If you are not doing that, you want to brush the inside of the pie with egg wash and pop it back in the oven just for one more minute. This seals the crust, which stops the wet filling from seeping in.
- Cool it down - Pull it out of the oven and leave to cool. You can do the par-bake ahead of time if you like. You are now ready to assemble!
FAQ for Brown Butter Pecan Pie
You can sub regular corn syrup for this recipe, although I really recommend tracking down some Golden Syrup if you can!
You absolutely do not have to add the chocolate layer. However, if you choose not to, you will want to seal your parbaked pie crust to make sure that it doesn't get soggy. You can do this by brushing the crust with a layer of egg wash while it is still hot after it has parbaked. Then return it directly to the oven just for one more minute to set the egg wash. Remove from the oven and proceed as usual.
It's worth tracking down pecans for this, but if you can't, you could sub walnut halves. Otherwise this brown butter oatmeal pie is basically pecan pie but without the pecans!
Ideally Pecan Pie needs to be cooled to room temp which takes 3-4 hours before you can slice into it. If you're in a big rush, let it sit at room temp then pop it on something heatproof and throw it into the fridge to chill down.
You don't have to if you don't want to! Use 70g melted unsalted butter.
You can tell when the pie is baked when the outside is firm and set and the inside still has a little bit of jiggle to it. For me, this takes 50 to 55 minutes. You are better every so slightly underbaking it rather than overbaking it to get the nice gooey inside.
Yes! I didn't have any on hand but if you would like to add bourbon, add in 1 Tbsp to the filling.
Tips for Making Pecan Pie Ahead of Time
There are a few ways you can go about making this Pecan Pie ahead of time, depending on what you want to do ahead and your workload.
- Make the whole thing a day ahead. This pie will store on the counter top, covered with foil or a kitchen cloth, for up to two days.
- Make your Pie Crust the day before. Par-baked pie crust will last overnight at room temperature, so if you like, you can do the par-baking section and then bake the pie off the next morning.
- Make your Crust ahead of time. Pie crust keeps up to 2 months in the freezer, so if you like, you can make the dough now, then wrap tightly and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge before using.
- Prepare some of your components ahead of time. You can toast your pecans ahead of time so they are ready to go, and have your butter browned and cooled ready to use.
A few wee tips for Pecan Pie
- Make sure you give this enough time to cool. You need the filling to set up a little bit, so that you can cut into it. Make sure you account for this!
- You can add chocolate chunks to this if you need.
- If the filling seems like it is a little too much and you are worried it might overflow, you can hold back a little bit and discard.
- The pie will puff in the middle - don't worry about this! It will deflate as it cools.
- If you want to par-bake your pie crust ahead of time, this can be done up to 24 hours before and the par-baked crust can be stored at room temperature.
- To get the top of the pie pretty, you can flip over any pecans which are flat side up so that they are floating rounded side up on top of the pie.
For more Pie Recipes, see:
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Brown Butter Pecan Pie
Description
This Brown Butter Pecan Pie has everything a Pecan pie needs. It has a chocolate base (Black Bottom), toasted nuts, and a brown butter golden syrup filling, all tucked into a flaky par-baked pie crust. This pie is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table this year!
Ingredients
Pie Dough (makes enough for two single crusts)
- 375g all-purpose flour
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 tsp (8g) sugar
- 225g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 240g cold water
- 1 cup ice
- 60g Apple cider vinegar
Chocolate Ganache
- 100g dark chocolate (I used 72% cocoa solids), finely chopped
- 60g heavy cream
Brown Butter Pecan Filling
- 300g Pecan Halves
- 115g unsalted butter (You will use 70g brown butter in the recipe, the extra accounts for water loss when browning)
- 150g dark brown sugar
- 250g Golden Syrup
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
Instructions
PIE DOUGH
- Place flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut butter into chunks, and add to the flour. Toss lightly to coat.
- Working quickly, using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are only large pea-sized chunks left. You want a few lumps of butter remaining to keep the pastry nice and tender.
- Combine ice, water and cider vinegar in a bowl. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the ice water into the flour and butter mixture, and using a stiff spatula or your hands, mix in well. Continue adding water a tablespoon at a time ( I normally need about 1/2 cup plus a little more) until you have a dough that holds together well, but is not too wet.
- Squeeze together with your fingertips to make a homogenous dough. Shape into a rectangle, Rest in the fridge for one hour.
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a rectangle, fold it in thirds like a letter, then roll again and repeat the folding. Repeat this process one more time. Divide the dough into two pieces, and shape each into a disc by folding the edges under. Rewrap tightly in plastic, and rest for at least two hours, or preferably overnight, before using.
- Once the dough has rested, unwrap one disc and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/4” (6mm) in thickness, turning the dough 45˚ often as you are rolling to keep it even. You want the circle to be slightly larger than your pie tin. Transfer to a 9” pie tin, and arrange to ensure that the dough is well settled.
- Trim the dough using scissors or a sharp knife, leaving about one inch excess around the edges. Gently tuck the dough under and onto itself, to give you a neat folded edge. Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, then remove from the fridge and crimp as desired. Dock all over with the tines of a fork, then chill for a further 30 minutes, or freeze for 20 minutes or until solid.
- While the crust is in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425˚f / 220˚c. Cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than the pie dish. Line with the parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans, filling right to the bottom of the crimps.
- Place the pie tin on a baking sheet, and place in the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven, remove the parchment paper and beans Return to the oven and bake for a further 2-3 minutes, until the inside of the crust is set and barely golden.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. If you are baking the rest of the pie straight away, reduce the oven temperature to 350°f / 180°c.
PECAN PIE FILLING AND ASSEMBLY
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Spread the pecan halves out on a baking sheet. Toast for 10-12 minutes, shaking the pan often, or until golden throughout (snap one open to check). Leave to cool.
- Meanwhile, place the butter in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, allow to cool slightly.
- To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate into a small bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until there is just movement around the edges, then pour over the chocolate, place a plate on to act as a lid, then leave to sit for 3-4 minutes. Whisk until completely smooth.
- Pour the chocolate ganache into the bottom of the par-baked pie crust, and smooth with an offset spatula. Place in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the filling.
- To make the remainder of the filling, whisk together 70g of the cooled brown butter, the dark brown sugar, and golden syrup together in a large bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, and whisk to combine. Add the heavy cream, vanilla bean paste, apple cider vinegar, and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Remove the par-baked pie crust from the freezer and arrange the pecans in the par-baked pie crust. Place onto a baking sheet.
- Pour the prepared filling over the pecans - hold back a little filling if you are worried that it will be too full. Flip over any pecans using your fingers so the rounded side is up.
- Place the pie into the oven and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the top is golden brown, the edges feel set, and the middle still jiggles a little. It should be a little puffy.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature for at least 3-5 hours before slicing.
- Store leftovers at room temperature loosely covered by foil.
Crust was beautiful and flakey. Filling was delish! I turned the pie into bars for easier snacking. Huge hit at Friends-giving!
★★★★★
The flavor in this was incredible! Golden syrup and browned butter were unbeatable. My only tweak when I make this again, is to reduce the pecans by at least 50g. It might be a preference but the filling didn't fit in the pie and I longed for more goey middle. It was an overwhelming amount of nuts for mine and my partners taste. But it might just be us!
Yayyy I am so glad that you love! It's pretty versatile so you can definitely ditch some of the nuts if you like! x
Looks perfect!
★★★★★
Is 60g correct for the amount of apple cider vin in the pie crust? Seems like a lot.
Hi! Yep it's correct! You don't use all the ice water!
beautiful pie! The easiest crust I’ve worked with, the filling is so tasty! I did miss adding the egg wash - I didn’t see it noted in the actual instructions and blanked on it - other than that, turned out great
★★★★★
Hi! Ahhhh so glad you enjoyed! Sorry that was in there - I didn't end up using it in the final pie and still included it in the instructions which was a bit sneaky of me!
So delicious! The filling is divine and so much better than any corn syrup pecan pie I’ve ever had. I made the golden syrup from scratch, so worth it. I did have some issues with a soggy bottom and filling seeping into the crust, but I blame that on my terrible pie-making skills (only my second ever pie!) and not the recipe.
★★★★★
Yayyy I am so glad you enjoyed! xx