Sweet and gooey with hints of caramel this holiday pecan pie, made with dark chocolate chips, toasted pecans, brown sugar and agave syrup is decadent and delicious! It’s silky and crunchy and pure indulgence for a holiday dessert or even for breakfast! Sometimes you just need dessert for breakfast:) We love our Aunt Clara’s Flaky Crust and the recipe is below. If you have time, you can have some fun making your own fall leaves for a whimsical edge to the pie crust. But, if you don’t, then just make the crust with a traditional rolled edge or even use your favorite pre-made crust.
We always recommend toasting pecans whenever they’re called for in a recipe. It gives them that beautiful rich aroma and makes everything a little bit more special! Just toast them on a tray in a 350 F oven for about 6 minutes, but always keep your eye on them. Nuts burn really quickly and can ruin your plans for the day!
For this recipe, use agave or corn syrup, whichever you are most comfortable with for your own diet. In this pecan pie, we use agave syrup in place of the corn syrup and it works perfectly well … easily a 1:1 substitution. There are pros and cons for agave, and some claim that it’s not all that healthy, but for some reason, it seems healthier to us than corn syrup! We have yet to make a pecan pie with honey, but I’m sure it’s delicious, and you can also substitute maple syrup for the sweetener, but will have to add a thickening agent such as flour or cornstarch to the filling. Use 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch for each cup of maple syrup if you plan to substitute maple syrup for your agave or corn syrup.
Dark Chocolate Toasted Pecan Pie
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- 9-inch pie dish
- baking sheet
- 3 quart saucepan
Ingredients
Pecan Pie Filling
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 6 tbsp. butter, melted
- 1 cup light agave syrup (or corn syrup)
- 2 1/4 cups pecan halves, toasted
- 1 tsp. spiced rum (or vanilla)
- 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 2 tsp. powdered sugar for garnish
Aunt Clara’s Flaky Pie Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
- 2 tsp. cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup +/- ice cold water
- 1 egg white, beaten
Instructions
- Prepare and blind bake pie shell. Directions below.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Lay pecan halves out on a baking sheet and bake for 5-6 minutes, until starting to smell nice and toasty. Keep your eye on them. Remove from oven and cool. This step can be done several days ahead of time.
- Increase oven temp to 375° F
- In a mixing bowl blend melted butter, beaten eggs, brown sugar, salt, agave syrup, and spiced rum. Mix until well-integrated.
- Stir in toasted pecans and chocolate chips.
- Pour filling mixture into prepared pie shell (see pie crust direction below) and bake for 50 minutes +/-, or until it looks set when you give it a light shake. If it’s too jiggly, return to the oven for just 2 mintues at a time until the center is set. The filling will poof up a bit and may crack just a little bit, but no worries, it will all settle as it cools.
- Cool to at least room temp, so the pie filling settles into place. Serve cold or at room temp. You can also make this ahead of time and reheat in a low temp oven for a warm serving of pie.
- Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
Aunt Clara’s Flaky Pie Crust
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Fetch a 9-inch pie dish out of the cupboard. (Measure the pie dish across the top of the dish from the inside on one side to the inside on the opposite side.)
- Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter or cold fingertips, cut butter into the flour until well integrated. Sprinkle cider vinegar over mixture and stir in well with a fork. Add ice-cold water a little bit at a time and blend with a fork until the dough is moist enough to roll into a ball, but not too wet. Roll into one large ball for the pie crust and a smaller ball to use for the leaf cutouts for the edge of the crust.
- On a floured cloth or board, roll out pie dough to a circle about 14-15 inches in diameter. Fit the dough circle into a 9-inch pie shell. Line up the edge of the dough with the outer top edge of the pie shell. Trim off any excess dough that hangs over the outer edge.
- Roll out the second ball of dough and with a paring knife cut out leaf shapes about 1 1/2-inches by 1/2-inch. Indent a leaf vein pattern using the knife.
- Brush the flat top edge of the pie shell with beaten egg white to help the leaves adhere to the top.
- In alternating directions, lay leaves over each other all the way around the top edge of the pie shell. Gently press down to keep the leaves in place.
- Using a fork, poke holes in the bottom and sides of your crust before baking to prevent it from bubbling up.
- Fit a piece of foil or parchment into the bottom of the crust and cover it with baking weights or dried beans. This prevents the empty crust from bubbling up while baking.
- Prebake the pie shell for about 7 minutes or until just beginning to firm up a bit. Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes before adding pecan pie filling. Bake according to directions in the pecan pie recipe above.
