One bite of my Old-Fashioned Southern Pecan Pie made without corn syrup, and your taste buds will be swooning with crunchy, sweet, caramelly goodness. Classic and simple, it's a holiday tradition, and it's also one of the easiest homemade pecan custard pies you will ever make!
1frozen unbaked deep-dish 9-inch pie shell,thawed, or 2 frozen regular unbaked 9-inch pie shells
Optional: Whipped cream, whipped topping or vanilla ice cream for serving
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 300 °F.
Combine the melted butter, flour, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and milk in a large bowl and mix well.
Pour the pecans into the pie shell and spread out evenly.
Pour the custard mixture evenly over the pecans. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 60 minutes or until the filling is set.
Cool completely and serve.
Notes
To roast pecan halves, spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast them in a 350 °F oven for eight to ten minutes. If you roast pecan pieces, it will not take as much time, so watch them carefully. Also, freshly harvested pecans will take a little longer to roast because they have a higher moisture content.
As written, this recipe makes one deep dish pie or two regular pies. If you use a deep-dish shell, you will have a small amount of custard left over. If you use two regular shells, divide the pecans evenly between the crusts and divide the custard evenly.
The number of servings and nutrition information shown is for one pie made in a deep-dish crust.
Always bake your pies on a rimmed baking sheet. It will make them much easier to remove from the oven, especially if you use purchased crusts in aluminum pans. It also keeps your oven clean in case your filling bubbles up and overflows.
A friend of mine who is a professional cook told me she always uses Publix's frozen deep-dish crust for a frozen pie crust. However, for a rolled crust, she likes Trader Joe's brand. I have followed both of her recommendations, and I agree.
To make a gluten-free pecan pie, substitute one-for-one gluten-free flour for the all-purpose flour in the filling, and purchase a frozen gluten-free crust instead of a regular crust.