By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus at least 1 hour chilling and 4 hours’ cooling
- Rating
- 5(2,138)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Here is a pie that might make Thanksgiving purists shake their heads. Chocolate and pecan? But bear with us. The bittersweet chocolate adds depth to what is traditionally an achingly sweet pie, and the bourbon gives it a grownup finish. For more delicious pie recipes, check out our collection of Thanksgiving pies.
Featured in: Essential Thanksgiving
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 1¼cups all-purpose flour (150 grams), plus more for dusting
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10tablespoons unsalted butter, preferably high-fat, European style, chilled and cubed
- 2 to 4tablespoons ice water, as needed
- 1½cups pecan halves (170 grams)
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (56 grams)
- ¾cup dark corn syrup
- 4large eggs
- ½cup packed light brown sugar (100 grams)
- 1tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (5 grams)
- 2tablespoons bourbon
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
For the Crust
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
634 calories; 43 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 58 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 41 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 237 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
Step
1
Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until the mixture forms chickpea-size pieces. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough just comes together. It should be moist but not wet. On a lightly floured surface, gather the dough into a ball. Flatten into a disk with the heel of your hand. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
Step
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On a lightly floured surface, after removing plastic wrap, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle. Transfer crust to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork. Chill crust for 30 minutes.
Step
3
While the dough chills, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line chilled crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until very pale golden, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
Step
4
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast nuts, shaking pan occasionally, until fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool.
Step
5
Make the filling: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth; cool.
Step
6
In a large bowl, whisk together cooled chocolate-butter mixture, corn syrup, eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, bourbon and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Arrange pecans over filling. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the filling is just set when the pan is jiggled, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Ratings
5
out of 5
2,138
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Chris
I made this for last year's thanksgiving. We've tried a lot of these pecan pie "twists" over the years. Our family thought that this version was just average -- the cocoa powder came across as a bit bland/dull and the bourbon wasn't noticeable. I've had much better pecan pies with chopped bittersweet chocolate folded in -- we've found that chocolate chunks have a more complex flavor and are texturally a better complement to the sweet, sticky filling.
European Style Butter
A plea to the NYT Cooking editors from those of us cooking and baking with metric volumes: since you are already including conversions to metric values for solids in a recipe such as this one, please can you also convert amounts of solid fats required (in this case, chilled butter) into grams? Thank you!
Pat Connolly
Overall delicious. Chopped half the half the pecans and added to the filling, arranging rest on top. This gives a better of distribution of pecan flavor and crunch throughout the
I also mixed in 1/2 cup of unmelted chocolate chips as well 1Tbsp. vanilla.
Nancy
Can this be made ahead and frozen?
Deena
This was stupendous. Really good.
I doubled the amount of chocolate, used 4 oz. Ghiradelli 60% chips. Very chocolatey, perfect sweetness quotient.
Used Mrs. Callendar crust. Very good.
I'm not sure toasting the pecans is a good idea. I think they taste better raw - and/or they will get toasted anyway while baking in the pie.
Sam
Chose to go with 2 parts pecan pieces and 1 part whole pecans. Folded the pieces into the mix and topped with whole pecans. Also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a handful of chocolate chips at the bottom. And maybe more bourbon...
Lilly
If you use enough tin foil when lining the crust to pre-bake so that it covers the edges they will not overcook later on. When you bake the pie itself, you can either cover the edges with some foil or not. Mine burn when I don't cover them, but that doesn't happen in my sister's oven.
AA
10 Tbs butter =142 grams
Kate
The crust shrinks quite a bit so make sure the side are high to start.
KR
Get a pie crust shield to put on the edge to protect it from overcooking.
Rabia Vine
I added an extra 2-3 ounces of melted chocolate and it turned out very well.
misplacedalmond
Skip the pre baking on shell if in a time crunch. Taste better with chocolate chunks or chips rather thank cocoa. Can use 5 eggs if eggs are undersized.
JoAnn A.
I wonder if you overcooked? I've made it twice now, and always quite gooey. This second one has taken a week to finish eating, and it's still gooey. Altho, perhaps your gooey is different from my gooey?
J Andrew McTyre
A great take off from the "Derby Pie" of Kerns Kitchen. One note: The quality of the bourbon makes a difference! Don't skimp.
Patty
We're not fond of bourbon so we use Mexican orange liqueur which is less expensive than the French variety and tastes just the same. Sometimes I add the zest of a Texas orange which is small and provides just enough zest to give the pie an extra kick!
Rich from Philly
I wouldn't roast the pecans first. There is a risk or burning and bitterness.
Anette
The pie crust in this recipe is not the best. Find a better one. Preferable one with shortening. I agree with the chocolate chunks to make a richer taste. Would not recommend toasting the pecans. They get toasted enough when baking the pie. I also switch the bourbon with cognac. This pie holds well for several days
Elegantly Damaged, Teenage Wasteland, Hoosier State
I noticed that despite the 5-star reviews, several cooks seemed critical of the recipe. I’ve tried twice, and even though this calls for 4 eggs, which should make the filling set like concrete, I’ve ended up with liquid insides and burned crust. I think that 3/4 cup of pecans is fine as well.
GF
80 g brown sugar
Maine Baker
Love this recipe.Recommendations for cooking in a pan without a crust? My last attempt was a disaster (with a different recipe) because it stuck to the pan despite having buttered it and I ended up ditching it all. Thanks!
Deborah
I make this especially for my daughter Genny.
Jonathan
Made this pie for Thanksgiving this year and everyone raved about it. I used another recipe, however, for the crust because it's the one I always use and have "nailed it" for flakiness. I'm probably the odd man out in this forum regarding pies in that I think the crust is really the heart of the pie with the filling a topping.
Sophie
The haters had me nervous about making this pie, but it is incredibly good! If you find pecan pie to be too sweet, the slight bitterness of the chocolate is a great balance. I chopped up some of the nuts into the filling, but I actually think it would be better as written, with nuts on top. I can’t speak to the crust because I used a different recipe.
miles
I would give this 900 stars if I could
Karen S
This pie really exceeded expectations and was a huge hit at thanksgiving. I made some adjustments based on the other comments: chopped a few of the nuts into the main mixture, added a tbsp of vanilla, stirred in some semisweet mini chocolate chips, and increased the bourbon. I doubled the bourbon and it was definitely a strong flavor so maybe go easier on that than I did unless you love bourbon flavor. DELICIOUS. Flavor and texture were superb.
Melanie
I tried the recipe as written and then again based on the notes. My family did not like the bite of the two Tbsp bourbon so in the second effort, I used one Tbsp bourbon, one vanilla. As suggested by others, I doubled the bittersweet chocolate (used Guittard 60% cacao chips), left out the cocoa powder, used 2 c toasted walnuts, chopping 1 1/2 c and mixing them in, dotted the bottom of the crust with chocolate before adding the batter, and scattered whole walnuts on top. A rousing success!
Sharanya
Subbed vanilla for bourbon and the 1:1 was a mistake - came out tasting pretty boozy and there wasn’t even booze in it lol. Besides that it was fine I guess? I accidentally put 6 additional tbsp of butter in the crust so it tasted great lol and I chopped half the pecans to add to the filling for additional pecan taste.
Nishka
Add some vanilla
Micah
Yes, I agree with a few others: this is not pecan pie. Blindfolded, you would not know it was even trying to be a pecan pie. It is a chocolate pie, almost like a brownie, with nuts on top and an irrationally strong taste of bourbon. There must be other versions of chocolate pecan pie that do not kill the pecan pie. I will look for them. It is the strangest sensation to put a fork full of this pie in your mouth thinking pecan pie; tasting a brownie.
Rich from Philly
Two notes: Don't bother toasting the pecans before. You risk them burning during the cooking process. Second: add an extra egg white for loft. The pie will be much less likely to "de-soufflee" while cooling.
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