On my fourth day of Homemade Christmas I have a pie for you, a pecan pie!
How this recipe got on my list is a kind of interesting story. I have been married to my husband over 16 years. At this point in our lives we know pretty much all of our likes and dislikes or so I thought. Growing up I was never a big fan of pecan pie but now that i’m all grown up I am discovering that some things I disliked as a kid I now like. So for the last couple years i’ve been thinking about making a pecan pie because what type of southern woman would I be having never made a pecan pie. Well, I told my husband and he was over the moon because surprise, he loves pecan pie! 16+ years and I never knew! He was all about that pie and told me I needed to go to the store now to get the ingredients. So I made him his pie and he loved it. My boys loved it too.
For myself pecans play a part in my childhood. Every time we would go visit my great grandparents us kids were sent outside to pick up pecans from the beautiful and gigantic pecan trees that were in my great grandparents yard. We would pick up buckets of pecans. I was educated on the proper way to say pecan, it is puh-cahn if you are curious. A pee-can was a can you keep next to your bed to pee in. We would be sent home with pecans. Then we learned to crack them to eat them raw, my mom would add them to cookies and I came remember a pecan pie or two growing up. The one thing about pecans from my childhood is I did not like them. I hated them in cookies and would always pick them out. I developed a strong aversion to them.
I don’t know what has happened but now they are one of my favorite nuts. I love them any which way which led me to the idea of pecan pie. I had decided on my recipe a couple years before telling my husband about my idea to make one. It had been sitting in my Allrecipes recipe box just collecting virtual dust. The recipe is not your typical corn syrup laden pecan pie and I loved that idea! Don’t get me wrong the recipe is made with “healthy” amounts of brown and white sugar so it is plenty sweet, the corn syrup will not be missed.
My husband decided it was the best darn pecan pie he had ever had. My boys loved it too. The girl was not a fan, I think I gave her my childhood aversion to pecans but hey 4 out 5 likes is pretty good odds! The boys have been begging me to make it again for Christmas!
Try it yourself and let me know what you think!
Check out my 12 Days of Homemade Christmas for other great ideas!
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (or rice flour if making gluten free)
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 9inch pie crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (205 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
- Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until done.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com