Cooking Class: Perfect Pecan Pie

The homemade flaky crust, combined with an easy stir-together filling, make this pie shine. Keep scrolling for our helpful how-to.

Pecan Pie
 
Since most of the flavor in this pie comes from the pecans, it’s worth buying good-quality, fresh local nuts.
Yields: 1 (9-Inch) Pie
Ingredients
Crust
  • 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup cold unsalted butter, diced
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Filling
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • ¾ cup light corn syrup
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cups pecan halves
Instructions
For crust:
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in cold butter until pieces are the size of peas. Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork until a shaggy dough forms and holds together when squeezed. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape into disk. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350°. Position a rack in bottom third of oven.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a ⅛-inch-thick, 12-inch-wide circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, pressing into bottom and up sides. Fold edges under, and crimp as desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For filling:
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, vanilla, and salt. Gently stir in pecans. Pour into prepared crust.
  2. Bake in bottom third of oven for 40 minutes. Loosely cover with foil and continue baking until filling is slighty jiggly in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes more. Let cool completely on wire rack.