Double Chocolate Pecan Pie

As the story goes, pecan pie was a favorite of my grandfather's, whom we called "Papa."  My mother supposedly made him one each week when he came home from a long week away from the family at work.  Someone else that is very close to me has been off working for a week, so I thought this would be a nice welcome home dessert for dinner.

In addition to the nostalgia of this dessert, this particular pie has a little something extra with the addition of chocolate - glorious chocolate! 

Click for Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
2 1/2 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:
Let's break this into segments:

1. prepare the crust
2. prepare the filling
3. bake

1.  The crust

Okay, so it's no secret that I am intimidated by making pastry.  (hush, Mom!)  I'm not the biggest fan of preformed pie shells, either.  My go-to pie crust is the Pillbury roll-out pie crust in the box.  ALWAYS comes out great, and I don't have to stress.  

To assuage my guilt over not making the crust from scratch, I try to do a little something extra to it to pretend that I actually did something.  Today, I'm making a braid for the edge.   

Roll out the crust on a lightly floured surface.

 Cut the pastry into strips of 1/8" - 1/4" wide.  This is the hardest part of the whole dang recipe!

 

Braid them together, gently.  Having long'ish fingernails is not your friend today.

 Brush the edge of the pastry in the pie plate with water to "glue" on the braid.

Stick it on to the crust with gentle pressure.  Wet the edges of the braids together to bond them to each other.  It took me about 3 1/2 braids worth to go around the 9" pie plate.

2.  The filling

Combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.  Let cool slightly.  

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup.  Tip - if you spray the measuring cup with nonstick spray first, the syrup will just slide right out.

Stir constantly over low heat until the sugar is all dissolved.  

Remove from heat and let it cool a bit.

 Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and salt. 

SLOWLY temper the eggs by adding small  amounts of warm syrup to them, whisking like crazy as you do.  This will bring the egg temperature up slowly enough that you won't end up with scrambled eggs.  I think a ladle is very handy to do this.

 Mix well!

3.  Fill and Bake 

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell.

Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips, half of pecans, another 1/4 cup chocolate chips, the rest of the pecans, then the last 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 - 55 minutes (covering the edges with foil after the first 30 minutes).

Here's the foil square...

 Fold into quarters...

Cut arc into the foil...

Voila!  A circle!

The circle cut-out allows the pie to cook and brown while protecting the edges from over browning.  Remove for the last 5 - 10 minutes.

Allow the pie to cool to at least room temperature or colder before serving.

As you can see here, I used a pie plate that does NOT have a flat rim, so it looks like my pretty little braid slipped down into the abyss of the pie.  Maybe Santa will bring me a new one!

Garnish with a dollop of sweetened cream and some chocolate shavings.

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Written Method:

1.  The crust

Okay, so it's no secret that I am intimidated by making pastry.  (hush, Mom!)  I'm not the biggest fan of preformed pie shells, either.  My go-to pie crust is the Pillbury roll-out pie crust in the box.  ALWAYS comes out great, and I don't have to stress.  To assuage my guilt over not making the crust from scratch, I try to do a little something extra to it to pretend that I actually did something.  Today, I'm making a braid for the edge.   

• Roll out the crust on a lightly floured surface.  Cut the pastry into strips of 1/8" - 1/4" wide.  This is the hardest part of the whole dang recipe! Braid them together, gently.  Having long'ish fingernails is not your friend today.  Brush the edge of the pastry in the pie plate with water to "glue" on the braid.  Stick it on to the crust with gentle pressure.  Wet the edges of the braids together to bond them to each other.  It took me about 3 1/2 braids worth to go around the 9" pie plate.

2.  The filling

Combine butter, sugar, and corn syrup; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.  Let cool slightly.  

• 1/2 cup butter.  1 cup sugar.  1 cup light corn syrup.  Tip - if you spray the measuring cup with nonstick spray first, the syrup will just slide right out.  Stir constantly over low heat until the sugar is all dissolved.   Remove from heat and let it cool a bit.  Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and salt.  SLOWLY temper the eggs by adding small  amounts of warm syrup to them, whisking like crazy as you do.  This will bring the egg temperature up slowly enough that you won't end up with scrambled eggs.  I think a ladle is very handy to do this.   Mix well!

3.  Fill and Bake 

• Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell.  Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips, half of pecans, another 1/4 cup chocolate chips, the rest of the pecans, then the last 1/4 cup of chocolate chips.
  Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 - 55 minutes (covering the edges with foil after the first 30 minutes). 

Allow the pie to cool to at least room temperature or colder before serving.  Garnish with a dollop of sweetened cream and some chocolate shavings.