maple pecan pie

Maple Pecan Pie

This is the second pie I’ve baked and it turned out really well. Better than the first one, which was also very good but the crust turned out too tough. I think I slightly over-floured the first crust, and also i used shortening, so it was a little hard to cut into, but it tasted good. This crust I used butter instead and I added in like somewhere between 1 and 2 tablespoons of sugar so it had a good amount of sweetness to it as well (about as sweet as bread, which is good bc the maple pecan filling was really sweet)

You’ll need at least 1 mixing bowl (though I recommend 2), 1 fork, 1 knife, 1 whisk, a 9 inch pie tray, as well as measuring cups and spoons. A pastry cutter or stand mixer also helps but isn’t necessary. Also a rolling pin can help if you’re super concerned about the crust. Also you’ll need an oven, obviously.

Single Crust Pie Pastry

Store-bought is perfectly fine

I’m recalling from memory so i might get some of the details wrong.

Ingredients
- 1 & 1/4 cups Flour
- 1/4 teaspoons salt (if you don't have a 1/4 tsp, it's about half a chef's pinch, or like, a regular non-chef pinch)
- 1/3 cups butter (cold; you can use shortening instead but it's not as good)
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (I'm not sure the exact amount I used but I think it was more than - 1 tbsp and at most 2)
- 5 tablespoons water 

Directions
1. Mix flour, salt, and sugar (i forgot to add the sugar until after the butter but i don't think it matters)
2. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or just mix it if you don't have one. Mix until it's in pea-sized clumps (This will take time, and if you don't have a pastry cutter but do have a stand mixer, i recommend using that. Also I don't imagine it'd really hurt if the butter was room temperature, as long as it's not melted. Also I recommend cutting the butter into smaller pieces so it's easier to process)
3. With a fork, pour in a bit of the water one tablespoon at a time, and get the mixture wet. Try and pour the water on the dry bits only, by moving the wet bits off to the side. After the 5th teaspoon, everything should be nice and wet enough to roll into a ball. (Try anyways even if you don't think it's wet enough, you don't want to add too much water, but add more if necessary)
4. Let the dough sit for 20 minutes (this is a good time to start on the pie filling)
5. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to stretch the ball of dough into a ~12 inch circle. (it just needs to be big enough to comfortably fit in the pie tray. Also be careful, too much flour and too much working may worsen the crust. If you used butter and let it rest for 20 minutes, this should be easy)
6. Transfer the crust to the pan, being careful not to stretch it. (I roll it onto a rolling pin and then carefully unroll it onto the pan)
7. Trim the edges or fold them in so that everything is comfortably inside the pan. You can style them however you want, if you want to be fancy about it. 

Maple Pecan Pie Filling

I used this recipe pictured below:

1 hour cooling period is not optional. Pecan pie stores really well, as long as you cover it in the fridge. I personally baked mine I think a little too long, by like a few minutes. It was probably done at ~35 minutes at 375, but i let it go a little longer and some of the pecans on top got a little darker than I intended, but I honestly wasn’t mad at it in the end. Best served with whipped cream, I’d recommend something homemmade bc it’s easy (just mix heavy whipping cream and some sugar for a couple minutes) and you can get something a little less sweet than store bought whipped cream, that way it sorta balances out how sweet the pie filling is.

Making the crust is the harder of the two parts, but it can be very rewarding if you do it. Though, it’s made much much easier with less clean-up if you just use a store-bought pie crust, and maybe cheaper too depending on how often you bake, cause I’ve never seen flour sold in anything less than a big bag. I’m planning on making some variation of pecan pie for thanksgiving as well as a really good coffee cake recipe I found about a month back. Both of those keep really well so I think it’ll be ideal since I can make it the day before and then not have to worry about making anything day-of before heading out. Maybe if i become good enough at baking, my uncle will stop misgendering me.