I love the idea of pecan pie because I love pecans and I love caramel and nuts and pie crust, so really, pecan pie should be delicious! But the problem is that it is not. It is generally too sugary and lacking in pecans/pecan flavor. So I think I have found a few simple solutions to make delicious pecan pie :)
In a saucepan combine the following ingredients:
1 cube butter (you can get away with 3/4 cube)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar and I mean brown sugar, not the off brand white sugar with molasses stuff that most of the public think is brown sugar-though that will work.
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
Melt butter and mix together until smooth. Remove from heat.
Whisk together
3 eggs
If the sugar/butter mixture is fairly hot, temper the eggs (whisk some sugar/butter mixture into the eggs so the eggs don't cook from the high heat of the sugar mixture) and then whisk into the butter/sugar mixture.
Mix in:
2-3 tsps vanilla
1/2-1 tsp salt
The above 2 ingredients are really to taste. The salt is one of the solutions to helping the pecan pie not be too sweet. Start with the smaller portion and taste. Then add more if you want.
Chop a ton of pecans! 3-4 large handfuls-about
2-3 cups pecans (before chopping).
This is the real solution-finely chopped pecans. If you want some large or whole pieces, that's fine, do that as well, but if you want a pecan pie, not a brown sugar pie, you will need to add finely chopped pecans.
Add pecans to raw pie crust. Pour butter/sugar mixture over the pecans. Cover the edge of the crust with strips of tinfoil otherwise it will burn. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes and then remove tinfoil edges. Then bake for 20-25 minutes more.
Enjoy your delicious pecan pie!
