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Brown Butter Pecan Pie. Traditional pecan pie with the added warmth and nuttiness of brown butter. This recipe includes a homemade butter pie crust. Perfect for Thanksgiving and beyond! #pecanpie #pie #classicpie #recipe #thanksgiving #holidays #fallbaking
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Brown Butter Pecan Pie

Traditional pecan pie with the added warmth and nuttiness of brown butter. This recipe includes a homemade butter pie crust. Perfect for Thanksgiving and beyond!
Yield: 9-inch pie
Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 slices
Calories: 639kcal

Ingredients

All Butter Pie Dough:

  • 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cold
  • 2 large egg yolks, cold
  • 5 Tablespoons ice cold water

Brown Butter Pecan Filling:

  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 ½ cup pecan halves
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • ½ cup light corn syrup
  • 4 large eggs, room temp
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Pie Dough:

  • Pulse together flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor. Add cold butter one tablespoon at a time with the food processor running. Stop the machine once mixture is crumbly and like coarse sand in texture.
  • Add yolks and water. Pulse for a few seconds until dough begins to come together. Remove shaggy dough from food processor bowl. Dump onto lightly floured surface and finish kneading together by hand.
  • Divide dough into two equal parts. Flatten into discs or rectangles. Wrap in plastic wrap. Cill in the fridge for 20 minutes or freezer for 10 minutes. Alternatively, store in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Assembly and Filling:

  • Brown Butter: In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, continue to cook. Swirl pan occasionally to ensure even heating. Mixture will bubble and foam as it cooks. The bubbling will be vigorous at the beginning but it will subside. Continue to cook until butter smells nutty. The mild solids in the butter will turn rich brown in color. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Be sure to scrape out as much of the browned milk solids bits. Set aside.
  • Pie Crust: Remove one portion of pie dough from the fridge. Place out on a lightly floured work surface. Roll dough to about 10 inches in diameter and ¼-inch in thickness. (Place pie plate upside over rolled dough to ensure it is correct size.)
  • Move dough into the pie plate and firmly press into the bottom and up the sides of pie plate. Trim the excess dough, leaving about ½-inch overhang all around. Crimp, flute, or decorate the edges of the pie as desired. Cover with plastic wrap and let pie dough chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes while oven preheats.
  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove chilled pie from the fridge. Remove plastic wrap. Line pie with a parchment paper and fill with pie weights (or beans). Partially blind bake pie crust for 10 minutes. Remove parchment and weights. Return pie crust to oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow pie crust to cool as you prepare filling.
    *NOTES: see blog post for pie dough troubleshooting.
  • Filling: Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
  • Roughly chop 1 cup pecans. Scatter on the bottom of pie dough. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, eggs, salt, vanilla, and melted brown butter until smooth and well combined. Pour over pecans.
  • Arrange remaining ½ cup pecan halves over filling.
  • Bake pie for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, place a pie curst shield to prevent crust from burning or browning too fast. (see notes) Return to oven and back for another 15-20 minutes until pecan topping is nicely toasted. Place on wire rack to cool.
  • Cool pie to room temperature before slicing and serving.

Notes

  • Pie dough recipe makes enough for two pies or 1 double crust pie. Other half of pie dough can be stored in the fridge for 2 days or kept in the freezer for one month. Defrost in the fridge overnight and use immediately. 
  • Use a store-bought pie crust shield to protect pie crust from over-browning or burning. Or, create a shield out of aluminum foil. 

Nutrition

Calories: 639kcal, Carbohydrates: 68g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 39g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 14g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 178mg, Sodium: 398mg, Potassium: 153mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 45g, Vitamin A: 943IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 54mg, Iron: 2mg