Maple syrup can replace corn syrup in this deliciously simple maple pecan pie recipe! Top with a little sea salt to balance out the flavors.
The most common question about pecan pie is: can I make pecan pie without corn syrup? My answer was always: yes, but the filling won’t really set or it won’t taste like pecan pie. So… no, you can’t. But that’s changing today. Introducing Maple Pecan Pie.
Video Tutorial
How to Make Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup
Corn syrup is the glue that holds pecan pie filling together. Thicker than other liquid sweeteners, corn syrup works with the eggs to help ensure your pecan pie filling will set. The problem is that more and more modern bakers are looking for an unrefined substitution for the corn syrup. My goal was to find a solution to not only find a corn syrup substitute, but to guarantee the pecan pie filling will SET and TASTE DELICIOUS.
Taking a note from my pecan pie bars, I reached for pure maple syrup. This is a thinner liquid than corn syrup, but has the most remarkable flavor, as you know. The pecan pie bars recipe calls for tempering the eggs, but I wanted a no-fuss pecan pie filling that skipped the extra steps. Enter the magical ingredient:
- 1 tiny Tablespoon of flour
Maple Syrup + Flour Replaces Corn Syrup
Mixed with melted butter, 1 Tablespoon of flour thickens the pecan pie filling just as corn syrup would. The flour allows us to use a thinner liquid sweetener. Isn’t that incredible? So all you’ll need to prepare this maple pecan pie are eggs, pure maple syrup, flour, butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and pecans. Simple, delicious, pure flavors gives us a maple infused + buttery sweet + deliciously thick slice of pecan pie.
Don’t Make My Mistake
I ran into 1 problem during my recipe testing. The pecan pie filling seeped through the bottom pie crust, lifting the entire bottom pie crust up into the center of the pie. It was the strangest thing. Frustrated, I almost gave up completely. Since the maple pecan pie filling is a little thinner than my regular pecan pie filling, I decided that pre-baking the pie crust was necessary. I shared an entire in-depth tutorial on how to blind bake pie crust earlier this year, complete with a video and all my tricks. Use that to help you. You only need to blind bake the pie crust for about 15 minutes in this recipe. Easy.
You can use my new all butter pie crust recipe or old faithful, my buttery flaky pie crust which uses a combination of shortening and butter. For the pictured pie, I used my buttery flaky pie crust. Brush the edges with egg wash before baking. (And if you’re interested, my how to crimp and flute pie crust tutorial will be helpful for achieving a beautiful decorative pie crust edge!)
Tell me about the sea salt! To balance out the flavor of this notoriously sweet pie, sprinkle a little flaky sea salt on top prior to serving. I always recommend this! You’ll love the sweet and salty flavors, plus added crunch sea salt flecks are a nice bonus.
How to Freeze Pecan Pie
Before I leave you with the recipe, let me share my tips for freezing pecan pie. This is a wonderful dessert to make ahead of time to freeze for Thanksgiving. The baked pie freezes well for up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in a couple layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the pie after you pour the filling into the cooled blind-baked pie crust. Freeze for a couple hours to set the filling, then tightly wrap the entire pie in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, remove from the freezer, unwrap, and bake for about 20 minutes longer.
If you’re looking for more inspiration this fall season, here are all of our favorite Thanksgiving pies, including other classics like apple pie, pumpkin pie, and even mini pecan pies.
This recipe is part of Sally’s Pie Week, an annual tradition where I share a handful of new recipes that fit into the pie/crisp/tart category. Join the community below!
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Maple Pecan Pie (Without Corn Syrup)
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours
- Yield: 8-10 servings
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Maple syrup can replace corn syrup in this deliciously simple maple pecan pie recipe! Top with a little sea salt to balance out the flavors.
Ingredients
Crust
- Homemade Pie Crust or All Butter Pie Crust (my recipes both make 2 crusts; freeze the 2nd half for later use)
- optional egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk or water
Filling
- 2 and 1/2 cups (250g) shelled pecans (pecan halves)
- 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (8g) all-purpose flour*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) pure maple syrup*
- flaky sea salt for sprinkling
- optional: Homemade Whipped Cream for topping
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare the pie crust or butter pie crust through step 5.
- After the pie crust has chilled, adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough and blind bake: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (you can freeze the 2nd for later use, see note). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish.* Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Flute or crimp the pie crust edges and brush with egg wash. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator or freezer. (Crust will shrink otherwise!) Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill with 2 sets of pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper/aluminum foil (with the weights) out of the pie.
- The filling: Carefully spread pecans evenly inside warm pie crust. Set aside. Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and flour together in a large bowl until combined and thick. Whisk in the vanilla extract, salt, eggs, and pure maple syrup until combined. Pour evenly over pecans.
- Bake the pie for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, place a pie crust shield on top of the pie to prevent the edges from browning too quickly. You can also tent a piece of aluminum foil over the whole pie if the top is browning too quickly. Remove finished pie from the oven and sprinkle sea salt on top. Place on a wire rack to cool completely. The pie filling will set as it cools.
- Slice and serve pie at room temperature. Top with whipped cream, if desired. (I used Wilton 8B Piping Tip.) Cover and store leftover pie at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions – 1-5 Days Ahead: You can get started by combining all the filling ingredients (except the pecans) one day ahead of time. Keep it covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the pie. You can also make the pie dough 1-5 days in advance since it needs to chill. If you want to bake the pie 1 full day in advance, bake it as directed, allow it to completely cool, then cover tightly and keep at room temperature until ready to serve the next day.
- Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: The baked pie freezes well for up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in a couple layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the pie after you pour the filling into the cooled blind-baked pie crust. Freeze for a couple hours to set the filling, then tightly wrap the entire pie in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, remove from the freezer, unwrap, and bake for about 20 minutes longer.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Rolling Pin | 9-inch Pie Dish | Pastry Brush | Pie Weights | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pie Crust Shield | Cooling Rack | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 8B Piping Tip | Flaky Sea Salt
- Freezing Extra Pie Dough: You can freeze the 2nd pie dough for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Optional Egg Wash: For a golden brown sheen on the pie crust edges, feel free to brush with egg wash as noted in step 3.
- Cornstarch: 2 teaspoons of cornstarch work as a substitute for 1 Tablespoon of flour. Make sure the cornstarch is completely mixed in with the melted butter and brown sugar.
- Pure Maple Syrup: Use pure maple syrup, not breakfast syrup. Any variety of pure maple syrup is great, from golden to dark amber. Use what you love best.
- Pie Dish: I strongly recommend a glass pie dish so you can see when the crust on the sides is browning, which signals that the pie is finished.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure you use room temperature eggs. Cold eggs will solidify the butter and you’ll be left with random chunks of butter in your filling.
- Try Adding Bourbon: Pie is delicious with a little bourbon. I recommend adding 2 Tablespoons, but make sure you reduce 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup from the recipe. (Use 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of maple syrup.) Whisk 2 Tbsp of bourbon in with the maple syrup.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Not only the most expensive pecan pie I have ever made it was the most unliked. It held together fine but the texture was way off, too may pecans and the syrup was way overpowering, I had 5 of my family request that I never try that again.
Sally can this recipe be used to make tarts in place of a pie
Hi Maria, you can absolutely make these as tarts. Let us know how it goes!
I am 13 years old and this recipe is super easy to make! My dad an entire family loved it!
Made for thanksgiving & topped with dark chocolate chips… was best pecan pie ever! Highly recommend, great consistency even without the corn syrup.
I’m making my first pecan pie today—so glad you have a recipe without corn syrup. I live at 7000 feet. Any suggestions for high altitude baking?
Hi Lisa, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.htm
My husband loves pecan pie and I decided to make this. I couldn’t get the filling mixed up properly and I don’t know if I should even serve it. 🙂
This came out of the oven looking amazing! I had to make it 48 hours in advance – would you recommend keeping it at room temp, fridge or freezing it for a day?
This looks delicious! Would I need to change anything to use the filling for tartlets? (Cream cheese crusts)
Hi KCI, you should be able to make mini pies/tarts from this recipe without any changes. Here’s our mini pecan pies recipe for reference.
If I wanted to make a Bourbon version of this recipe how much bourbon would I add and how much of the other liquid would I offset to the filling?
Hi Neri, see recipe Notes: Pie is delicious with a little bourbon. I recommend adding 2 Tablespoons, but make sure you reduce 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup from the recipe. (Use 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of maple syrup.) Whisk 2 Tbsp of bourbon in with the maple syrup.
Oh my goodness, I completely missed that note! Thank you so much!
Hi Sally,
I’ve made this reciepe twice now – both times it tastes amazing (with your all butter pastry recipe). However, I’ve found it’s usually falls apart quite easily, do you have any idea why this would be? Or what I could do to give it more structural integrity. Thanks
Hi Samuel, Is it the crust that is falling apart or the pie itself as you cut into it? Did you give it enough time to cool – it may not have fully set if it was still warm. Next time a few extra minutes in the oven (with a pie shield so the crust doesn’t burn) will help, or you can try reducing the maple syrup in the filling. 1-2 Tablespoons of flour or 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch would help, too.
Hi, Sally.
Can dark coconut sugar be used in place of brown sugar?
Hi Gayle, I’m sure you can, but I haven’t personally tested it!
Hi, can you add chocolate to this? Like cocoa powder or chopped chocolate melted?
Hi Julie, you can add chocolate chips to this pie. Sprinkle 1 cup of chocolate chips evenly on top of the pecans before pouring over the filling. Same bake time.
Would this make the filling chocolate or more it would have chocolate chips in it? Was hoping to have the entire base be chocolate.
Hi Sally. I want to try making this for a Friendsgiving event but it’s hard to come by pure maple syrup where I’m from (I live outside the US but I’m American so I’ve brought Thanksgiving with me haha). Would it be ok to use golden syrup or honey instead?
Hi Elli! If you don’t have maple syrup, we would use our traditional pecan pie recipe instead (using corn syrup).
I’ve made pecan pie with golden syrup before (in place of corn syrup) and it’s delicious!
I never use corn syrup. i use cane syrup. Bakes beautifully and no need to blind bake crust.
Any way to make this gluten free?
Hi Jane, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do give it a try.
I’ve made this recipe several times in a gluten free crust. I use Bob’s Red Mill gf flour (in the blue bag, not the red/brown bag!) and a good pie recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. I wouldn’t do it with an almond or coconut crust unless they also have another flour… a cassava flour crust recipe is usually pretty easy and works very well for these types of pies (liquids), too.
I’ll add that I also use the Bob’s or cassava flour as that thickener, too.
I see in the comments how to make this gluten-free but is there a way to make it dairy free for the 5T of butter? Could you use a butter substitute like coconut oil, ghee, plant based spread or would you recommend something like pumpkin puree? I’ve been asked to bring a dessert for Thanksgiving where gluten and dairy are allergies. Thank you, in advance, for any advice.
Hi Annemarie, although we haven’t tested it, we’d start with the plant-based butter as a substitute. Let us know how it goes for you!
Your metric measurements are all wrong. 2 1/2 cups of pecans is 625g. 1 cup equals 250g.
Half a cup of sugar would be 125 grams. Trust me, I’m Canadian.
Hi Mysty, thank you. Some ingredients do weigh 250g per U.S. cup, but some do not. Ingredients weigh different amounts. For example, 1 U.S. cup of chopped nuts weighs less than 1 U.S. cup of sugar. 1 cup of spooned and leveled flour (125g) weighs less than 1 cup of peanut butter (250g). Hope this helps.
I made this with unsalted mixed nuts for a Thanksgiving dinner. Rave reviews! The flaked salt made it really special.
So glad to read this! Thank you Heather.
What do you recommend for making the mixture gluten free?
Hi Martha, 2 teaspoons of cornstarch work as a substitute for 1 Tablespoon of flour. Make sure the cornstarch is completely mixed in with the melted butter and brown sugar. Be sure to also check the packaging, as some cornstarch brands may not be considered gluten free if made in a factory with other gluten products.
I love all of your recipes! I was wondering if there is a way to reduce the sugar and/or maple syrup in this recipe, and get the proper consistency of the filling?
Hi Liz, we don’t recommend reducing the sugar or maple syrup—as you mention, it may cause the pie to not set properly.
I had the same question! I reduced roughly 25% for both the sugar and maple syrup, I still liked how it turned out. Worth a try!
Disaster..all the liquid seeped out. Your instructions contradict themselves. I pierced the blind baked shell although you did not restate this in the actual recipe..you had emphasised it previously. I went with that..big mistake. There is a big puddle in my oven ..let’s see if anything salvageable. I doubt it !
Hi Val, the instructions in this recipe do not instruct to dock the par-baked crust with a fork. Because the filling will seep out, as you experienced. When I blin bake pie crusts for pies with thicker fillings, I usually do that. But here, it is not recommended.
Really delicious recipe. Did it with the All butter pie crust, 10/10, great taste, great texture
Hi Sally! Would this filling work with a Graham Crust instead?
Hi Su, You can use a graham cracker crust but the pie slices won’t be very neat– we just don’t think the crust will be sturdy enough to yield nice uniform slices. If you try it, make sure you let the pie cool completely before slicing. No need to pre-bake the graham cracker crust. If you want to avoid pie crust you may wish to try these Pecan Pie Bars which have an easier shortbread crust!
Wow! This was so delicious. The maple with the salt was incredible, I’ll be dreaming about it tonight. It did still turn out a little runnier than I would have liked, so we ate it with spoons. Maybe I could try a little more flour next time?
Made this for Christmas Eve dinner. Had assorted Indian food dishes for the main meal. The pie was just right after the spicy curries. Thanks Sally! You are my go to baking Wonder Woman!!!
This is the best pecan pie I’ve ever made! Thank you!!!
Hi, this sounds great but I’m GF, so can I substitute GF flour to make this recipe work? Thank you!
Hi Christina, we haven’t tested a GF version of this pie but let us know if you do!
I just finished baking my pie and it looks great! However it did rise a little bit in the center. I followed your instructions for parbaking the crust in this recipe but then I went to your par/blind baking post and read that with par baking we ought to bake the crust a little bit more without the weights. I didn’t do that since it wasn’t in this recipe’s instructions. Do you think that was this issue? Also, the crimping of my crust edges came out after par baking, is that because I used the egg wash? I usual don’t do the egg wash, and I’ve never had this happen before. Thanks so much for all your recipes and knowledge that you share! I so appreciate learning the why behind all the steps!
Hi Christa! We’re doing a very quick par bake here, not the whole process. Did the finished pie (with filling) rise in the center? This can indicate that it has been a little over-baked. Egg wash just adds shine and color to the crust. If you lost your fluting, we would try chilling the shaped crust in the fridge before baking – the colder it is, the more likely it is to hold its shape. Hope these tips help!
I believe the rising of the crust from underneath the pecan mixture might be caused by the application of butter on the crust. It probably made it too soggy. I bake lots of pies and don’t butter the crust before baking.
Hi Sally, can i substitute golden syrup for dark Corn syrup or maple syrup+ flour
Hi Barbara, this recipe does not call for corn syrup (our regular pecan pie recipe does, though). For this recipe, use pure maple syrup, not breakfast syrup. Any variety of pure maple syrup is great, from golden to dark amber. Use what you love best.
In France we make a pie like this with walnuts, butter and *honey* for the filling. 🙂