As you may have guessed, the secret ingredient in this Browned-Butter Pecan Pie is browned butter. Many a pecan-pie-hater has been converted by this recipe.
Do you ever have problems with your pecan pie sticking to the pie plate? Me, too. It can stick so bad that you think it will take a chisel to get it out.
Since this recipe was originally published in 2009, I went back to the drawing board. After borrowing some techniques from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book, I tested and retested. Think I’ve got it!!
If you’re like me, pecan pie is a once-a-year treat. So it better be fabulous. This recipe deserves the honors.
It is the lightest, most delicate pecan pie I have ever eaten in my entire life.
The secret is the browned butter.
It contributes a nutty, buttery, toffee-like flavor without taking over the show. It’s the magic ingredient in this pie! Add chocolate drizzles on top to dress it up, but that’s optional.
RELATED POST: Soft Cinnamon Cookies with Browned Butter Icing
Browning the butter:
The process of browning butter is simple. Knowing when the butter is brown enough without burning it is the tricky part. Don’t be afraid. I’ll hold your hand.
Please note that the amount of time this takes depends on three things:
- How much butter you are browning
- How high the heat is
- The cooking vessel you use
RELATED POST: How To Make Browned Butter in a Microwave
5 Tips for Preventing a Pecan Pie Crust from Sticking to the Pie Plate:
#1
Spray your pie plate with an oil/flour mixture like Baker’s Joy.
Do this before you place the pie crust dough into the pie dish.
#2
Make sure your crust is not too thin and has no cracks.
#3
Partially bake your pie crust before filling.
Cover well-chilled or frozen raw pie crust with two layers of aluminum foil. Press foil to fit the pie crust snugly, then fold edges over the crust to protect edges from over-browning.
Fill pie shell with pie weights, rice, pennies, or my personal favorite, a heavy chain (sold by the foot at hardware stores). Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. (The longer time is suggested for frozen crusts.)
Remove foil and let cool slightly. You want your crust to still be warm when you pour in the filling.
Kitchen Tip: To catch any buttery drips, place a cookie sheet topped with a silicone mat on the rack beneath your crust while baking. It’s much easier to throw the mat into your dishwasher than to scrub your oven after the drips burn on the bottom of your oven.
#4
Heat pie filling before pouring it into your pie crust.
Before adding the vanilla, lemon juice, and pecans, I cook the custard mixture in the microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds. You want it to reach 130 degrees F when measured with a quick-read thermometer.
#5
Fill the pie crust with filling while the crust is still warm.
As you might have figured out, this “no-leak” process requires a bit of timing.
This is my time schedule for making Browned Butter Pecan Pe:
- Prepare pie shell. Chill well or freeze.
- While pie shell pre-bakes, prepare the filling.
- Pour the hot pie filling into your warm pre-baked crust.
- BAKE!
Can I use a store-bought pie crust?
A store-bought crust is fine, or you can make your own. My personal favorite is my All-Butter Yogurt pie crust. It is so incredibly FLAKY!
RELATED POST: How To Make a Flaky Pie Crust with Greek Yogurt
I don’t recommend baking your pie in an aluminum foil pan. The cooking process tends to be uneven. If possible, place the foil pan inside of a larger glass pan. At the very least, place it onto a cookie sheet.
Pecans: Should I toast them?
YES! Toasting adds additional flavor to your pie.
Throw chopped pecans onto a paper plate and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir and cook for an additional minute.
RELATED POST: Using a Microwave To Toast Nuts or Coconut
Should I chop the pecans or leave them whole?
Chopping most of the pecans for your pie may not be as pretty, but your tasty pie will be much prettier when you go to slice it. Otherwise, cutting into unsliced pecans can squash the custard filling into a ragged mess.
My compromise is to hold out a few pecans to decorate the top of the pie. (See the pie without chocolate above.) I don’t toast them ahead of time. The oven will do that in the baking process.
Now that you’ve got everything ready, let’s assemble and bake!
Microwave on HIGH for 45 seconds to 1 minute until mixture comes to 130 degrees F. (Times will vary according to your microwave)
How to decorate your baked pie with melted chocolate:
- Place chocolate into a small plastic zippered bag.
- Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute, 15 seconds or until melted.
- Mash to make sure there are no unmelted lumps that might clog the small hole in step 5.
- Snip a small hole in one corner of the bag.
- Squeeze chocolate out of the hole to decorate. Go back and forth one way. Then turn the pie 90 degrees and go back and forth again.
Looking for a smaller recipe for a smaller pie?
Try this recipe for Browned-Butter Pecan Mini-Tarts. These are just as delicious but easier to serve and eat. Really nice for holidays and those people who “want one of everything.”
OR
Use a 7-inch pie plate and cut this recipe in half.
RELATED POST: Divide and Conquer–My Kitchen Secret for the Holidays
Pin the picture below to save for later.
If you make this and enjoy the recipe, it would help me and others if you would return to this post and leave a rating (on the recipe card itself underneath the picture). Although always appreciated, no comment is required. Thank you for visiting! Paula
Browned-Butter Pecan Pie
Pecan pie containing browned butter--the secret ingredient in this holiday pie.
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch partially-baked pie shell
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Dash of salt
- 3 large eggs, well-beaten
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped and toasted
Instructions
Pre-bake Pie Crust
- Cover well-chilled or frozen pie crust with two layers of aluminum foil. Press foil to fit the pie crust snugly, then fold edges over the crust to protect it.
- Fill pie shell with pie weights, rice, pennies, or my personal favorite, a heavy chain (sold by the foot at hardware stores).
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes. (The longer time is for a frozen crust.)
- Remove foil and let cool slightly. You want your crust to still be warm when you pour in the filling.
Browning the Butter
- Heat butter in a small saucepan or skillet over low heat. It will take several minutes. (Please don't substitute margarine for this delicate operation.) When the solids start to brown, it happens quickly. Be alert. It will smell indescribably fragrant and be a light caramel color when ready. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Browning butter can also be done in the microwave.
Filling
- In a separate microwave-safe bowl, combine browned butter, sugar, and salt.
- Whisk thoroughly beaten eggs and corn syrup into butter mixture.
- Place filling in the microwave for 45 seconds on HIGH. The temperature should read 130 degrees F on a quick-read thermometer.
- Add in lemon juice and vanilla. Stir in coarsely chopped and toasted nuts.
- Pour into partially baked pie shell. Bake at 275 degrees F for 55-60 minutes. When done, the filling may be somewhat softer in the middle, but it should not be jiggly.
- Allow the pie to cool before slicing so the filling will set properly.
- Apply chocolate drizzle while the pie is still warm.
- Pecan pie should be refrigerated after cooling for two to three hours.
Decorating with Chocolate (optional):
- Place 1/4 cup semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips into a small zippered plastic bag. Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute, 15 seconds or until melted. Snip off the tiniest corner of the bag. Squeeze chocolate out of the hole over the pie in the design of your choice. If you want to squirt the leftover chocolate in your mouth, go ahead. It's our secret.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. But don't worry. This doesn't change the price you pay.
- GDEALER Waterproof Digital Meat Thermometer with Bottle Opener Super Fast Instant Read Thermometer BBQ Thermometer with Calibration and Back-lit Function Cooking Thermometer for Meat Kitchen Candy
- HOME-X Pie Bakeware Set of 2, Glass Baking Accessories, 7” Dessert Pie Plates
- The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book
- Anchor Hocking 2 Quart Glass Batter Bowl With Lid (81106L11)
- Pyrex Glass Bakeware Pie Plate 9" x 1.2"
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 471 Total Fat: 25g Saturated Fat: 9g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 14g Cholesterol: 100mg Sodium: 106mg Carbohydrates: 63g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 55g Protein: 5g
KK
This pie made a pecan pie hater convert! Thanks for the recipe – loved it!
Tasha
OMG this was sooooooooo good. I am now in love with browned butter. It adds such a nice flavor to pecan pie. I was worried about it not setting properly or that it would be runny. I made it this Thanksgiving and It came out perfect. The flavor is so nice. Thank you for sharing this. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Paula
Hi Tasha,
So glad you liked it. I used my mini-tart crust recipe this year instead of a regular pie crust and it was fabulous too!
Karen
Hi, I made this yummy pie today. Had a slice for dinner while it was still warm… Fantastic! Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Natasha
Well I did make this for dessert at Christmas and it was absolutely delicious (my family loved it). Thank you so much for this beautiful recipe. All the amounts and instructions were spot on.
Natasha
I know it’s not traditional, but I’m making this for Christmas. Can’t wait to see how it turns out 🙂
Jenny
Do you foil wrap your crust then? I have tried everything – shields, wrapping, frozen, unfrozen, homemade – the crust gets crunchy – what am I doing wrong?
Romaine
Jenny, I do not generally use foil, but I occasionally use a metal piecrust shield. They are cheap and it’s way easier.
Are you baking the pie closer to the bottom of the oven?
Is your oven true to temperature? You can check with an inexpensive oven thermometer.
Sis
Just made this pie, and had surprisingly good results browning the butter. (Question, explain why you would use unsalted vs. salted butter) You may have mention this hint about browning sugar on another part of your blog, so overlook this if I am repeating. For years I was a failure at browning sugar like my southern mother-in-law did it. Thought the southern black iron skillet was essential. Just in recent years I realized that the black or dark color of a skillet makes it much harder to determine when the butter is the right color. Today I used a heavy small stainless steel sauce pan, and it worked like a charm.
Now the pie itself?? Well, I set the butter aside to cool, and you guessed it, I forgot to include it in the filling. Knowing it would NOT be pecan pie without the butter, I poured the batter out of the pie shell and put in the butter and returned it to the oven. Big mess! Sure, but can’t wait to taste it when it is finished cooking. Even the raw batter tasted good. I know – I know – raw eggs, etc. :+)
Myra
I made this for Thanksgiving this year and although I was sure I was going to mess up the browning the butter part it turned out very nicely. The pie was a huge hit with my husband. It may have to become a TG staple in our house.
Jill
This really looks delicious. I’m always looking at recipes with browned butter but I haven’t tried any yet. Love the chocolate on top…that seems mandatory rather than optional! 🙂
Jules
This is going on my list. I need to bake this one. Have you tried the Browned Butter Brown Sugar cookies from Deb at Smitten Kitchen? To die for.
Nina
Wow—does that look delicious. Thank you for posting the tip from CI on the pie crust!! I saw that on CI, but had not tried it! Your photos are terrific.
Staci
I will definitely be printing this off for the next time I get the urge to back (after all I’ve done this past week…it may be awhile! lol)
debby
Yummy, will have to try it.
BTW, you can see my granddaughter baking your oatmeal cookies at
http://www.myramoran.blogspot.com
mimi
I love brown butter too. Mr. Mimi’s says pecan is his favorite pie, but I ‘m beginning to think he says that about every pie he wants to eat.
Mimi
Sis
Have you already given the pie CRUST recipe in a former post? If not, I need that recipe too.
Debbie
Looks great and tastes great! I have had the chance to eat this before. Printed it off the “right way” and will be on my list for Thanksgiving foods to prepare!
Myra
I was just looking for a good pecan pie recipe! This looks so good! Can’t wait to try it this week!
Christine @ Fresh Local and Best
What a stunning and decadent treat! Romaine, how do you stay sooooo skinny?!
amanda
Ummm WOW? That looks awesome!!!