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Mint Julep
Pableaux Johnson, Chris McMillian
590 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
590
5 minutes
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On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12-inch circle, and transfer to a 9-inch metal pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, crimping the edges. Transfer crust to the freezer for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
When ready to bake, place a rimmed baking sheet on the middle oven rack and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Heat a small saucepan and melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the foam subsides, the milk solids turn golden brown and the butter smells nutty and toasty, about 5 minutes. Add maple syrup to the pan and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and reduces slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk honey into the warm syrup mixture. Let cool at least 10 minutes.
While the syrup mixture cools, combine sugars, eggs, bourbon (if using), vanilla and salt in a large mixing bowl. Gradually pour syrup mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, then use a rubber spatula to scrape in all the brown bits at the bottom of the pot.
Remove pie crust from freezer and place pecans along the bottom of the crust. Carefully pour the filling over the pecans. Place pie plate on the hot sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake for another 35 to 45 minutes, until the center of the pie has puffed up and turned golden brown.
Transfer pie to a wire cooling rack, sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if you like, and allow to cool for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
She forgot the part where you wave a spatula over the pie and say to the pecans "wingardium leviosa!"
Step 5 tells you to put the pecans on the bottom of the crust. They will rise to the top on their own after you pour the filling in over them. No worries.
Note that starting cook temperature for filled pie in video is 400 degrees (not 425 degrees as specified in print version), then dropping to 350 after 10 minutes. For those who mentioned an over browned pie, this may be the culprit. As others have mentioned, watching the video in the story link is very helpful.
Add ground toasted pecans to the pie dough to really amp up the nut flavor. Mix it with the flour when you make the dough.
Finally, a pecan pie that it is not so sweet it makes your teeth hurt! A little maldon salt made it *chef's kiss* perfect. Melissa Clark's recipe's always win in our house!
Regarding maple sugar, you can always make your own. Bring at least a cup of maple syrup to a vigorous boil in a heavy sauce pan and obtain a temperature of 257-262 degrees (12-15 minutes). Then, either stir vigorously in pan with a wooden spoon, or pour into a KitchenAid, and mix until the hot liquid seemingly miraculously turns into dry sugar granules (scrape any stuck on bottom with metal spoon). If desired, pulse a few times in a spice grinder or food processor to break up any clumping.
This looks fantastic - and solves the problem of what I'll be bringing to the Thanksgiving feast. And we know it is an authentic Melissa Clark dessert because it includes (wait for it)...bourbon!
I have always toasted the nuts in the past, and doubling them seems to help the pie set up properly. I’m excited to try the honey-maple syrup this year. Although what am I supposed to do with the corn syrup in the back of my pantry now? ;)
Just did this exactly as instructed and oh my god it is delicious. The pecan nuts did rise to the top and it made for a beautiful pie. I recommend watching the video of Melissa Clark making the pie on the NYTC YouTube channel if you're worried about quantities or presentation
Good Evening: Discovered about a year ago that replacing the corn syrup with maple syrup and honey made for a *much* improved pecan pie. However, cooking the maple in butter improves it even more by concentrating the flavor. Oh yeah, this version goes into the repertoire.
For years I've used a pecan pie recipe from a farm journal cookbook, using 1 cup each both chopped pecans and pecan halves. The chopped pecans are stirred into the "goo," the pecan halves arranged in a pattern on top. Those extra chopped pecans really take it up a notch. One year, instead of using traditional corn syrup, I substituted Lyle's golden syrup, but did not care for the taste. Using Melissa Clark's maple syrup/honey combo with extra chopped pecans baked at 350 makes a great pie
I made this yesterday for my family and it was delicious. Only thing I would change is add pecans to the filling instead of just placing on the bottom. Needed more pecans to fill it out!
I think there's something in how the recipe is written. It says "place pecans along the bottom of the crust" which to me implies that you're sort of arranging them rather than throwing them in, meaning you could definitely make a pattern, put them all with the same side up, etc. Then it also says "Carefully pour filling over the pecans" which maybe also implies that you're doing it carefully enough not to destroy the pattern/arrangement you've made.
I made this pecan pie for a pot-luck friendsgiving. I am a novice baker but this recipe was very easy, however I did use a pre-made pie crust. It turned out great. Just make sure you do not add the syrup/honey/butter mix to the eggs and sugar too quickly like I did on the first try.
This was amazing. I started it at 425 and added extra pecans. So yummy!!!
Made exactly as set forth in the recipe, including the bourbon. Strongly recommend the helpful video. The pie looked beautiful and tasted superb. Giant hit with my husband.
Best ever pecan pie we've ever made! We were searching for a recipe that didn't require corn syrup as we never use it at Sanctuary Baking nonprofit. This ticked ALL the boxes and we especially loved the added flavor from the browned butter. Melissa Clark did it again!
Made this pie for the many-ith time yesterday, since I think it's the best pecan pie of all time. This time I made it for friends who are gluten-free, do not eat cane sugar or dairy. Used the crust recipe linked here but subbed Bob's Redmill GF flour + vegan butter. Omitted cane sugars, doubled the maple syrup, used vegan butter, added 1/2 tsp of cornstarch to syrup. I used 2 cups of pecans. Just better with more nuts. My friends WENT WILD! Couldn't really tell the difference in the filling.
If I freeze the crust a day before, do I need to remove it from the freezer to get to room temperature before baking, or just have to add the filling to the frozen crust and go straight to the oven?
I really can't believe how good this was! It simply doesn't get any better
My wife and I had begun making making our own vanilla extract with copious beans. (She used one label Bourbon, I tried another.) Substituting this 6mo old brew for 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbs bourbon took this to yet another level. As the bourbon flavor dissipated Ms. Clark’s recipe went from incredible to stellar. I also used Maple sugar. Melissa Clark is the Queen.
Truly a fantastic pecan pie.
Used clear pie plate (smaller) 1.5 cups chopped pecans .5 whole pecans to decorate the top 1 TBS of vanilla, no bourbon Shouldn’t do 425. Maybe 400. Maybe just straight to 350 Bake 10 @425. 25 @350. Pretty crisped crust
iSecond time making this pie I ran into trouble: my butter and maple syrup separated in the pan. I set it aside to cool and started over with a heavier saucepan. Luckily I had extra maple syrup and butter on hand. Will do this again!
Doubling the amount of pecans--what a great idea! This pie is overly sweet! I would reduce the amount of sugar by 1/3.
This has redeemed my once and now-again favorite pie. The browned butter with maple syrup and honey raise the pie to what it should be. One note: I added a LOT of pretty finely chopped pecans to the filling, and if you do that, then (duh!) the pecan halves will not be able to rise from the bottom of the crust through the (now too thick) goo. Will place on top from now on.
Outer crust was a little extra toasty. Also this did not fill up the pie dish, so could maybe increase volumes slightly
This was a huge hit! I adapted for our lactose intolerant and Celiac household with vegan butter (Earth Balance) in the filling instead of butter and a pre-made frozen gluten and dairy free crust. I still did the step with toasting the vegan butter even though chemically that does very little (no milk solids to brown), but felt it was needed for the overall ethos of the pie. This recipe is a keeper, it’s my husband’s new request for holidays and birthdays!
This pie is fantastic. I made it for Thanksgiving and now I am making it again for a dinner party tomorrow. Being kosher I made it with plant butter, and with a gluten free crust. It was the most delicious pecan pie I ever ate (and there have been, ahem.. a few). I am excited to try it in the future with the brown butter!
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