My classic homemade pecan pie is traditional in the best possible way. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty—after one taste, you’ll know why it’s a favorite!
Pecan pie is the classic sugary dessert without which no Thanksgiving is complete. It’s as traditional as pumpkin pie and as wonderfully rich as apple pie. Growing up, my family’s Thanksgiving dessert table always included (and will always include) my late grandmother’s homemade recipe. It’s a true honor to share her recipe in memory of her, and I know her recipe will live on for many years to come.
What Makes This My Best Pecan Pie Recipe
This is my favorite pecan pie recipe and here’s why:
- Simple: There are only 8 ingredients in this remarkably simple filling.
- Flaky pie crust: We’re talking mega flaky, mega buttery, and mega delicious. This is the one and only pie crust recipe I use. It’s been passed down through generations and stands the test of time. Here’s my recipe for all-butter pie crust if you’d like to try that instead. Both pie crust recipes yield enough dough for two 9-inch pies. You can freeze the second half of the dough, or make another one-crust pie such as this chocolate chess pie, turkey pot pie, or pumpkin pie.
- No pre-baking needed: The buttery pie crust has a wonderfully flaky texture, but still stays perfectly intact as the pie bakes and cools. Some recipes require you to pre-bake the pie crust before pouring in the filling, but I don’t find that necessary in this recipe.
- Incredible texture: The pecans on top get all toasty while the nuts underneath have a melt-in-your-mouth chewy texture. The pecans’ flavor and texture, paired with the flaky pie crust, the filling’s vanilla, butter, and cinnamon… it all just makes this my favorite pecan pie recipe. If you love this, try my pecan pie cheesecake next. Talk about a texture lover’s dream!
- It’s make-ahead friendly! This pie freezes and thaws well, so you can make it up to 3 months before you serve it.
Grab These Ingredients
- Pecans: Can’t make pecan pie without them!
- Eggs: Eggs bind the ingredients and hold the filling together.
- Corn Syrup: Sweetens, holds the filling together, and helps prevent crystallization while the pie bakes. I prefer dark corn syrup here for intensified flavor. See below if you’re interested in pie without corn syrup.
- Brown Sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar; dark has a little deeper flavor, with its higher molasses content.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: One of the key flavors.
- Butter: Melted butter makes for the best buttery flavor.
- Salt: A little salt balances the sweet, and is especially welcome in a pie made with nuts.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon adds an extra layer of flavor! I don’t see many pecan pies with cinnamon; so thank you, Grandma, for giving me the opportunity to present a slightly unique pecan pie on our Thanksgiving tables.
Since it’s made with few ingredients, it’s imperative to use high quality. I genuinely love Diamond of California pecans and if you have homemade vanilla extract, go ahead and use it here.
Here’s How to Make This Pecan Pie
As far as Thanksgiving pies go, this is one of the easiest. There’s no pre-baking the crust or pre-cooking the filling. Grandma truly knows what’s best! Here’s an overview of the process:
- Make the pie crust. As always, use my favorite homemade pie crust. This is the same crust you can use when making mini pecan pies too! It needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out, so I always make it the night before.
- Roll out the pie crust. You’re aiming for a pie dough circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish.
- Spread the pecans inside the pie crust.
- Whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over pecans.
- Bake. I like to place a pie crust shield on top of the pie edges to prevent them from browning too quickly. If you find the whole pie is browning too quickly, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the whole pie.
- Slice and serve. The pie is delicious warm or at room temperature. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.
How to Make Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup
FAQ: Can I make pecan pie without corn syrup? My answer was always: yes, but the filling won’t really set, and it won’t taste like pecan pie. So… no, you can’t. Until I tried maple pecan pie!
Corn syrup is the glue that holds this filling together. Thicker than other liquid sweeteners, corn syrup works with the eggs to help ensure your pecan pie filling will set. However, many bakers are looking for an unrefined substitution for the corn syrup. When creating my recipe for pecan pie without corn syrup, my goal was to find a solution to not only find a corn syrup substitute, but to guarantee the filling will still set and taste delicious.
Taking a note from my brown butter 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 bars recipe calls for tempering the eggs, but I wanted a no-fuss filling that skipped the extra steps. Enter the magical ingredient: 1 tiny Tablespoon of flour. Simple, delicious, and pure flavors give us a maple-infused, buttery, sweet, deliciously thick slice of pie. So, I know you’ll love my maple pecan pie variation too.
Success Tip: How to Freeze Pecan Pie
Pecan pie is a wonderful dessert to make ahead of time. Simply bake the pie as directed, allow it to cool completely, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Place in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before slicing and serving with a big dollop of whipped cream.
I made about 3 or 4 of these pies the past couple of weeks to freeze for the upcoming holidays—they freeze and thaw beautifully! No one ever realizes they aren’t freshly baked.
More Thanksgiving Pie Recipes
- Caramel Pear Pie
- Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Pie with Chai Spices
- Sweet Potato Pie (like the dessert version of Sweet Potato Casserole!)
- Apple Pie
And make sure to check out my list of the 10 best tools for baking pies!
PrintMy Favorite Pecan Pie Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
My classic homemade pecan pie is traditional in the best possible way. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty—after one taste, you’ll know why it’s a favorite! No need to pre-bake the crust.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 unbaked Flaky Pie Crust (what I used) or All Butter Pie Crust*
- egg wash for pie crust: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk or heavy cream
Filling
- 2 and 1/2 cups (250g) shelled pecans (pecan halves)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) dark corn syrup*
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust through step 5.
- After the pie dough chills, adjust oven rack to the lower third position and preheat to 350°F (177°C).
- Roll out the chilled pie crust onto a lightly floured surface. Remember, when rolling out the pie dough, always use gentle force with your rolling pin. Start from the center and work your way out in all directions, rotating the dough with your hands as you go. Roll it out into a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough in a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it’s smooth. For a beautiful edge, as shown in the video tutorial, fold the overhanging dough back over the edge and use your hands to mold the edge into a nice thick rim around the pie. Crimp the edges with a fork or use your fingers to flute the edges. Again, you can see me do this in the video above or in my separate how to crimp and flute pie crust tutorial. Brush the edges with egg wash. (To help guarantee a beautiful edge, I always chill the shaped dough in the pie dish for 10 minutes in the refrigerator or freezer before filling.)
- The filling: Very roughly chop the pecans—some whole, some coarsely chopped is fine. Spread pecans evenly inside pie crust. Whisk the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, melted butter, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until combined. Pour over pecans.
- Bake the pie for 50–55 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I 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 it is browning too quickly. Remove finished pie from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. The pie filling will settle as it cools.
- Slice and serve pie warm or at room temperature. Top with whipped cream or ice cream.
- Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for 1–2 days or in the refrigerator for 4–5 days.
Notes
- Make-Ahead Instructions: Pecan pie is a wonderful dessert to make ahead of time. 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.
- Freezing Instructions: Bake the pie as directed, allow it to cool completely, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Place in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before slicing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Rolling Pin | 9-inch Pie Dish | Pastry Brush | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pie Crust Shield | Cooling Rack
- Pie Crust: Both linked pie crust recipes make 2 crusts. You only need 1 crust for this pie, so freeze the 2nd half for another use or another one-crust pie like pumpkin pie.
- Corn Syrup: You can use light corn syrup instead. I have no substitution suggestions yielding the same texture, moisture, and flavor. Corn syrup is a must in traditional pecan pie. For a variation without corn syrup, try my maple pecan pie.
Keywords: pecan pie
I just completed a trial run for Thanksgiving and the flavor of the pie is great—no notes. And as a self-confessed pie snob, the crust is so good. My only negative is that my crust seemed really underdone in the center of the pie. Edges and sides were fine, but pretty doughy in the middle. I took mine out at 50 min, so would another 5 min in the oven fix that?
★★★★
Hi Ashley! Yes, baking for longer will help. We like to use a glass pie dish so we can see when the crust looks done.
I saw an advertisement for the brand called Wholesome. They offer a light corn syrup that’s good for baking.
i love this it good
Huge hit! I took this to a party and everyone loved it. I used the homemade pie crust. It’s pretty forgiving – I don’t think I added enough water and I wasn’t able to get it to 12”. I pressed bits and pieces of the pie dough where it broke and it turned out fine. The edges were not as pretty as the picture but still tasted amazing. Filling was delicious. I’m eating the last remaining piece for dessert as I type this!
★★★★★
Taste was good but the pecans all floated to the top and I got sort of two “layers” instead of the beautiful consistency I see in the picture. I have used other recipes and had the same problem. Any tips?
Hi Johnny, this can happen as the filling is quite dense and the pecans are pretty light. I’m glad you enjoyed the taste. Thank you for reporting back!
Way too many pecans!!!!!
★★★
I am having difficulty finding dark corn syrup. Should I make my own with light corn syrup and molasses or just use the light corn syrup as is? I dont want to go the maple syrup route.
Hi Jodi, you can use light corn syrup instead of dark.
Delicious! And even successfully made the crust My filling wasn’t as smooth as I thought it should be though – any idea why? I don’t think it was the sugar as it wasn’t small granules which made it not smooth so can’t pinpoint what might have made it that way??
★★★★★
It’s not supposed to be a smooth filling; it will be thick and gooey, though. I wonder if yours was over-baked and the filling thickened too much though?
I am not a big fan of pecan pie. But my husband wanted one. Of course I turned to my favorite site and found this one. Maybe I have just not had a good pecan pie as this one was amazing! I didn’t change anything. Thank you, Sally and team!
★★★★★
I followed the recipe but had some issue with the pie setting properly. It ended up just a bit runny. I don’t have a pie shield so did create a foil tent. I’m not sure if that would impact it but any ideas on how to get it to set properly?
Hi Alex, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Did you make any changes to the filling? Did you use dark corn syrup and allow it to fully cool before cutting? It will set as it cools. Creating an aluminum foil tent is fine, but you may want to extend the bake time by just a few minutes. Alternatively, you can just create a pie crust shield with foil instead of a full tent. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Hi Sally! I am such a huge fan, but I’m feeling skeptical about this recipe being delicious after freezing? I have kids for whom Thanksgiving would not be complete without your pecan pie…but I do 90% of the cooking and am having an extra full house this year (which means many, many desserts). Baking this on the day of just adds to my stress. You mention freezing for up to 3 months, but please be honest…what do you give up?
Hi Sharon, I find the texture of the pecan filling isn’t as ooey-gooey, and the crust isn’t as flaky. Pecan pie is a great dessert to make 1 day ahead of time, though. Bake and cool, then cover and keep at room temperature for a day until serving.
This is the best pecan pie I have ever had. Do not swap the dark brown sugar and dark corn syrup for light – you totally CAN, but you definitely SHOULDN’T! These are the game changer in this pie. Paired with Sally’s pie crust recipe… *chef’s kiss*
★★★★★
I can hardly wait to try this for Thanksgiving. I’ve always been afraid to try. But Sally makes it sound easy. I’ll let y’all know how it turns out!
★★★★★
Sally, we can always count on your recipes being fantastic from your strawberry cake to the chocolate sugar cookies. This year we tried decorating with the royal icing. My granddaughter was very proud of herself. The results are amazing and delicious, The recipes are easy to follow, and we appreciate the extra tips and and amount of information you provide. This Thanksgiving we are going to try the Maple Pecan Pie. Thanks again.
Hi Laurie, thank you so much for your kind words! We’re so glad that you (and your granddaughter!) have been enjoying our recipes. Thank you for trusting them 🙂
Can you use this recipe for tarts? How does the baking time differ if at all?
Hi Jennifer, here is our recipe for mini pecan pie tarts–hope you enjoy them!
AMAZING !!!! Since we are in Canada, I added some good Canadian Whisky. Game changer !
FYI for the Brits, golden syrup replaces corn syrup just fine. Made this pie last night and it was perfect. I tell everyone about Sallys Baking Addiction – aside from just phenomenal recipes, I LOVE the extra tips below the recipe and for an American site, to see measurements in grams as well is brilliant.
Thank you so much for sharing and for the kind feedback, Steff–we’re so glad you’ve had success with our recipes!
Any way to add a little Bourbon to this delicious pecan pie?
Hi Dene! You absolutely can add bourbon to this pecan pie recipe. We recommend reducing the corn syrup by 2 Tablespoons (so 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons) then add 2 Tablespoons your favorite bourbon. Whisk it with the other filling ingredients.
Sally-Having access to wonderful Vermont maple syrup, I tried your suggestion of adding flour to it to sub for corn syrup. I must say that it was, by far, the BEST pecan pie I’ve ever made; it was perfect in every way and the recipe was spot on from start to finish. THANKS!!!
★★★★★
Hi, Sally. I’m making about 20-30 mini pies. That are 4 inch pies. Not the bite size ones. I know you have a mini pie recipe. Would I just use that for them?
★★★★★
Hi Maddy, with our mini pecan pie recipe, you’ll have enough filling for 10 of your 4 inch pies.
This is my favorite pecan pie. I need to bake about 70 mini pies. Any tricks or concerns to converting this to minis? I know you have a mini pie recipe but I love the brown sugar in this one. It really adds depth to the flavor. Thanks!
★★★★★
The mini pecan pie recipe also calls for brown sugar!
This is my favorite pecan pie recipe. Can I make minis baked in premade phyllo cups out of this recipe? I know you have a separate mini pecan pie recipe but the brown sugar in this recipe makes it warm and wonderful. Any idea how many this recipe would make? I need >75!
★★★★★
Excellent recipe with very easy and informative instructions..tks Sally..
★★★★★
This was a really yummy recipe. The first time I made it, the filling turned out watery, much like what many others have commented. However, I discovered that mine turned out watery because I ignored Sally’s advice to move the oven rack to the lower third of the oven. I just kept mine in the middle. Second time I baked this recipe, I moved the rack to the lower third of my oven, kept the pie in for about 55 minutes, and it turned out perfectly. Perhaps a little dark on the top, but that wouldn’t have been a problem if I had covered the pie completely with foil instead of just the crust.
What size pie plate should I use for this pie?
Hi Amy, 9×2 inch.
This was my first time making a pecan pie and I absolutely loved it and I had everyone try it (about 12 people) which everyone had good things to say about it! Will definitely have to bake it again!
★★★★★
OH MY GOODNESS. I’m not even of fan of pecans and this is amazing. I used the cinnamon sugar coated pecans but turned out great either way. Everyone always loves when I bring your recipes to events! yum! thank you!
★★★★★
First time making pecan pie. When I search for a dessert recipe that I’m new at I look to Sally first bc I have made some of her other recipes with success. This came out delicious. I used a store bought crust. The crust was golden and there was no jiggle at around 44-45 minutes so I took it out earlier than recipe suggests
★★★★★
This was my first time making pie, ever. I followed the recipe for the crust & the pie. I was intimidated, but for no reason because it was SO easy and turned out absolutely amazing. This is my go-to recipe now! And I don’t even like pecans or any nuts typically, but this is the best pie I’ve ever had.
Thank you!!
★★★★★
Long time listener, first time caller.
I’d like to think I’m fairly critical and non-hyperbolic of what I bake. I’ve baked plenty of “that’s good for a home cook”, or “oh, I’m sorry you ate that”. I’d classify this as “if I ate this in a restaurant, I’d say I need to go back to that restaurant, if just to get that dessert again” (yeah, we all know those desserts). This was delicious. I made it with the all butter crust, and it came out as good as I could’ve hoped.
As for the complaints I read: I didn’t find the cinnamon at all overpowering, nor did anyone I serve it to even remark that there was cinnamon in it. It is “nutty”, and definitely not for people who want just the gooey filling…though I bet if you processed up the nuts, you’d get something closer to that? Maybe? There’s also some remarks about it undercooking, but I think this comes down to knowing that wiggle. For me it was around 53ish min, but like, that’s not gonna be the case for everyone. Go with your eyes. And if you don’t know what you’re looking for, just keep trying at it, and being observant (I kept a word doc of notes on recipes I’d made when I was first learning to cook and bake, so that I could learn from my mistakes). So long as you’re not burning your house down or accidentally brewing mustard gas, basically any wrong you make can be righted by a compost bin and trying the thing again.
★★★★★
Haven’t tried this recipe yet (I’m a former pro baker and don’t anticipate any issues based on the ingredients/instructions) but I just wanted to say your comment and suggestions are excellent and also made me laugh. Happy baking!