My husband took a slice of this pie before we sat down for our Thanksgiving meal, worried that one of the other 33 guests would beat him to it. I took a bite, too, and now I’m convinced that eating pie before turkey will be a new tradition.
Chocolate Pecan Pie with Orange Scented Crust
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie
Ingredients
For the Crust
1-1/4 cups flour
Zest of 1 orange
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick butter, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup chilled Crisco, cut into small chunks
2 to 3 tablespoons ice water
For the Filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
6 ounces chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate
2 cups pecan halves
Method
1. Whisk flour, zest, sugar and salt together. Cut in butter and Crisco until mixture is crumbly (do in a food processor to speed up process and avoid over working the dough.)
2. Add just enough water to gather the dough into a ball. Flatten dough into a round disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least an hour and you can make it 1 day in advance.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle and center over a 9-inch glass pie pan. Fold edges under and crimp. Line with foil, and add pie weights or dried beans. Bake until crust turns slightly golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil and pie weights. Cool crust.
4. Whisk melted butter with cocoa and espresso powders until smooth. Whisk in corn syrup, sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
5. Line the bottom (outside edge only) of the baked pie crust with pecan halves. Take the remaining pecans and coarsely chop. Mix the chopped pecans with the chocolate filling and pour over pie crust (the pecans will float to the top during baking.)
6. Bake the pie until crust is deep golden brown and pie is mostly set (it will jiggle slightly in the center), about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cover the crust with foil if it gets too brown. (I had to cover my crust after 40 minutes of baking.)
7. Remove and cool to room temperature. Pie can sit out at room temperature overnight, so you can make this pie a day ahead.
8. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
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