This gooey and decadent pecan pie is sweetened with maple syrup and homemade salted caramel sauce. It’s finished off with flaky sea salt and is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving or Holiday dessert menu.
Why You’ll Love This Pecan Pie
To be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of traditional pecan pie. It’s a little too sweet for my tastes, and so you probably won’t find a traditional pecan pie recipe on my website lol. However, unconventional pecan pies are the complete opposite and I love them all through fall. In addition to chocolate bourbon pecan pie, this salted maple caramel pecan pie is one of my favorite fall pies for a variety of reasons:
- There is no corn syrup in this pecan pie. Instead, maple syrup and homemade salted caramel give this pie sweetness that has both a lot of richness and depth.
- The crust is extra flaky and easy to make. I use J. Kenji Alt-Lopez’s method where you don’t need to worry about mixing the butter and flour perfectly.
- Flaky sea salt on top adds an extra dimension to the flavor.
- It’s a great pie to add to your Thanksgiving table or serve for the Holidays.
Ingredients for Maple Caramel Pecan Pie
Ingredients for Pie Crust
- All-purpose flour: ideally measured with a food scale if you have one.
- Cold, unsalted butter: make sure the butter is very cold and cut into cubes.
- Ice water: similar to the butter, make sure that the water is very cold
- Granulated sugar and salt
Ingredients for cARAMEL mAPLE Pecan Filling
- Pecan halves: make sure they are unsalted, non-roasted pecans. I like to buy pecans in bulk at Costco for great quality at a great price.
- Homemade caramel sauce (or store bought): follow the instructions in the recipe card if you’d like to make your own homemade caramel! It’s super easy and so good in this pie. If you are using store bought caramel sauce, try to use one that comes in a jar (which is usually thicker) instead of a squeeze bottle.
- Pure Grade A maple syrup: you can use either light or dark maple syrup, but make sure it’s 100% pure maple syrup and not pancake syrup.
- Eggs, at room temperature: to quickly warm up the eggs, soak them in hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Brown sugar: either light or dark
- Vanilla extract: vanilla extract is secretly the MVP of pecan pie, and will add really great flavor to the filling (there’s literally an entire tablespoon of it in the pie). You can also substitute the vanilla for bourbon.
- Melted, unsalted butter
- Fine sea salt or kosher salt
How to Make Flaky Pie Crust
This pie crust recipe is my absolute favorite, tried and true recipe. It’s a little bit unconventional and I have to credit the method to J. Kenji Alt-Lopez and the Serious Eats team. You essentially blend some of the flour with butter to create a mass of fat, and then pulse the rest of the flour around it. After that, you use a rubber spatula to fold water in, creating layers.
Three things to keep in mind are:
- Keep your ingredients cold. You want to make sure the fat does not melt too much before baking. Make sure to chill your pie crust before rolling it out, and then freeze it after shaping.
- Weigh the flour. Pie crust is one of those things where accuracy is important, and nothing is more accurate than a scale when it comes to measuring ingredients. If you have a kitchen scale, use it to your advantage here!
- Blind bake the crust. This will ensure a crispy, flaky crust that isn’t soggy at the bottom.
How to Make Caramel Maple Pecan Pie
Step 1: Blind bake the crust. To do so you will need pie weights, or substitute dry rice or beans. Line the crust with foil or parchment, and then fill it with whatever weights you choose, making sure that it goes up the sides. Bake it for 12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to turn golden. Then, lift out the weights and continue baking the crust for another 5 minutes to help crust up the bottom.
Step 2: Toast the pecans in the oven for 10-12 minutes, then pour them into a blind-baked pie crust. This step is such a game changer as it makes the nuts crunchier and more flavorful.
Step 3: Make the filling. Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, caramel sauce, maple syrup, and salt together until smooth. Pour over the pecans. Brush the edges of the crust with some egg wash if desired.
Step 4: Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until pie is set around the edges and has just a slight jiggle in the middle. Pro tip: place your pie dish on a cookie sheet while baking to make it easier to take out and also catch any drippings from the pie.
Step 5: Let the pie cool completely before serving. Top with more caramel sauce, flaky sea salt, and whipped cream.
How Do I Know When Pecan Pie is Done?
To test if pecan pie is done you’ll want to give it a jiggle test. It’s really hard to know when the pie is done based on just sight alone. Give the pie a gentle shake and notice how it moves. What you’re looking for are the edges to be completely set and the middle few inches to be slightly jiggly (like Jell-O). If the filling flows freely like liquid, then the pie needs more time. Every oven is different, so make sure to judge the done-ness based on this test and use the baking time as a guideline.
The filling will continue to set while it cools, so for this reason it’s extremely important to let the pie cool completely before serving.
How to Store Leftover Pecan Pie
Since pecan pie has a custard filling (aka lots of eggs), it needs to be refrigerated. You can store leftover pecan pie covered and in the fridge for up to 4 days. With this, if you’re preparing pie ahead of time, make sure to keep it in the fridge until it’s time to serve! I actually like to transfer the pie to the fridge 2-3 hours after it comes out of the oven. This both ensures that it cools down
Pin & Save for Later
Want to make this caramel maple pecan pie but not ready to bake yet? Hover over (or tap on mobile) any image in this post to save it to Pinterest. Happy baking!
Salted Maple Caramel Pecan Pie (No Corn Syrup)
This no-corn-syrup pecan pie is sweetened with maple syrup and homemade salted caramel sauce. It's a wonderfully gooey and decadent dessert that I hope you'll love!
Ingredients
Equipment
- One 9" round pie dish
- Food processor
- Heavy-bottomed saucepan
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp salted or unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into slices
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream, warmed
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Homemade Flaky Pie Crust
- 1¼ cup (150g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 8 tbsp (113) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 3 tbsp ice water
- 1 egg, beaten (for an egg wash)
Pecan Filling
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 4 tbsp butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- ⅔ cup (140g) light brown sugar, packed
- ⅔ cup grade A maple syrup
- ⅓ cup caramel sauce
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
Make Caramel Sauce
- Start by making the caramel sauce so that it has time to cool. You can also make it in advance and store in the fridge until ready to use.
- Place the sugar and water into a nonstick pan or small pot over medium heat. Start melting the sugar. It will begin to clump up as the water evaporates. Pick up the pan every once in a while and give it a few shakes. As the sugar melts, it will turn an amber color. Use a spatula to start stirring once the sugar has almost completely melted.
- Reduce heat and add the butter, whisking it in until fully combined.
- Pour in the heavy cream, continuing to whisk until it is combined. Make sure the heavy cream is at room temperature. Continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes to start thickening the caramel.
- Remove from heat and pour into a heatproof bowl or container. Stir in the salt and the let the caramel cool down completely before using.
Prepare & Blind Bake Pie Crust
- In a food processor, pulse ¾ cup of the flour, sugar, and salt together a few times until combined. Add the cubed butter and continuing pulsing until flour and butter are completely mixed, and the dough begins to collect in large clumps (it may look like a paste or cookie dough).
- Add the remaining ½ cup of flour, and pulse 6-10 times until the mixture is crumbly with pea-sized chunks.
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and drizzle the 3 tbsp of ice water on top. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the water into the dough. You will have end up with a moistened, slightly crumbly dough that sticks when you press it together.
- Form the dough into a disk, wrap it tightly, and let it chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- After chilling the crust, place the dough on a well floured surface and roll it into approximately a 12-inch circle. It should be large enough to hang over your pie dish by and inch.
- Lift the dough into the pie dish, and use scissors to trim around the edges until you have a ½-inch overhang. Tuck the overhang in under itself, and use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges.
- Transfer the pie crust into the freezer to chill for 15 minutes (or 30 minutes in the fridge). In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Blind bake the crust (and toast pecans if you wish, jump down the next section for details). Line the crust with parchment paper or foil on the bottom and up the sides. Fill with pie weights, uncooked beans, or uncooked rice. Make sure to fill up the sides as well to prevent slouching.
- Place the pie dish on a baking pan, and then bake for 15 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden. Then remove the pie and use the parchment/foil to lift the weights out. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Gently poke a few holes on the bottom of a crust with a fork, and continue baking for 5 minutes.
Pecan Pie Filling
- Place the pecans in an even layer on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven at 425°F for 8 minutes. You can do this the same time you are blind baking the crust.
- Whisk the melted butter, eggs, egg yolk, and brown sugar together until smooth. Then add the maple syrup, caramel sauce (the one you homemade or use store bought), vanilla extract, and salt and continue whisking until fully combined.
- Transfer the toasted pecans into the blind-baked pie crust and then pour the syrup mixture on top. Brush the egg wash around the edges of the crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the pie is set and the middle is a little jiggly (like Jell-O). The bake time can vary widely depending on your oven, so keep checking in. It may take more or less time as well. If the crust is browning too quickly, you can cover the edges with foil.
- Let the pie cool completely before serving. Drizzle more caramel and some flaky sea salt on top.
Notes
- To save on time, you can use both store-bought pie crust or store-bought caramel sauce (ideally one from a jar that's a little thicker) to make this pie.
- Make sure to let the pie cool down completely before serving.
- If you have leftover caramel sauce, you can use it as an ice cream topping, stir it into your lattes, or try any other recipe on this website that uses caramel sauce!
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