Chocolate Pecan Pie Recipe

Pecan pie is truly an American classic. Gracing Thanksgiving dinner tables and diner counters across the country, this sticky-sweet, nutty dessert has the perfect balance of crunchy and gooey. If eating pecan pie gives you serious nostalgia, there may be a reason why. According to Eater, classic pecan pie recipes have remained largely unchanged since their humble beginnings in the late 19th century, when recipes for this treat first began to appear in Texas cookbooks. Plus, pecans are native to North America, making this pie about as American as it could possibly get.

If any of that inspires you to reach for your mixing bowl, then look no further! For this recipe, registered dietician and recipe developer Kristen Carli puts her own spin on this classic, amping up the flavor using chocolate chips. If you're feeling chocolatey but don't want to stray too far from tradition, then this chocolate pecan pie could be just the fix for you. 

Before you start making your chocolate pecan pie, you'll need to preheat your oven to 350° F and gather your ingredients. Go ahead collect 1 frozen deep-dish pie crust (which should come ready to go in a pan), 1/4 cup chocolate chips (Carli says the usual semi-sweet or dark will work well here), 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1 cup light corn syrup, 1 cup granulated sugar, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 cup chopped pecans.

 As far as kitchenware, you will need 2 small saucepans and a spatula for each pan, as well as a heat-safe glass bowl, a small mixing bowl, a whisk, a baking sheet, and some tin foil.

Next, you'll be using one of those small saucepans to melt the chocolate chips and 4 tablespoons of the unsalted butter. Rather than putting these ingredients directly in the saucepan to melt, first fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil. Next, place the chocolate chips and butter in a heat-safe glass bowl and set it on top of the boiling water. The goal is for the bowl to fit snugly on the saucepan without directly touching the water. If you can't find the right bowl and saucepan combo, a double boiler also works well. 

As chocolate is pretty heat sensitive, this boiling water bath allows the chocolate to melt without burning, all thanks to the indirect heat supplied by the water. This is also a good method for tempering chocolate, by the way. Stir frequently until the mixture is melted and there are no lumps, which should take about 10 minutes.

In your other small saucepan, melt the sugar, light corn syrup, and remaining butter. This time, all the ingredients can go directly into the saucepan, as none of them are particularly sensitive to direct heat. With your pan on a medium heat setting, stir the mixture frequently until the ingredients are melted, which will take about 10 minutes. The resulting mixture will give your chocolate pecan pie the sticky, gooey sweetness we all know and love. 

At this point, you've got almost all the components ready for your pie batter. All that's left is something to help it hold together. Cue the eggs! 

This means that it's time to whip out that small mixing bowl and beat the eggs inside until the whites and yolks are just combined. We're not looking for stiff peaks or anything (and that wouldn't happen anyway, since full egg yolks are involved) so this process should only take about one minute. Once the eggs have been beaten, add your vanilla extract to the mixture and stir to combine. Don't forget to take a whiff of the bottle before you put it away (there are few better smells in this world than some really nice vanilla extract)!

Now that all the ingredients have been prepared, you can finally start combining them into one cohesive mixture that will take you even closer to pecan pie greatness. 

First, pour the butter, sugar, and corn syrup mixture into the chocolate and butter mixture. Stir together until they are fully combined. Next, add the beaten egg and vanilla mixture and stir again until a cohesive batter has been formed. At this point, most of what makes up the pie is already sitting right in front of you. This means that the hard part is over and it's now time to pour the pie filling into its crust.

To assemble the pie, simply take your deep dish pie crust and line the bottom with the crushed pecans. This will add texture and ensure that each bite will have a good mixture of filling and pecan bits.

Then pour the wet batter you just make in the previous step over the pecans, filling up the pie crust. And if that crust is still frozen, don't worry. There's no need to defrost the pie crust before you fill or bake it. Once you take it out of the freezer, it will be ready to go!

Finally, the pie is ready to bake! Carefully place the filled crust onto a baking sheet that's been lined with aluminum foil. Once you've set the filled crust down, be sure to fold some tin foil scraps over the edges of the pie crust. This step will prevent the crust from over baking and potentially burning while your pie filling finishes cooking. 

Once you feel your crust is adequately protected, place the whole thing in the oven for 50-60 minutes. You will know it's done when the middle is mostly firmed up, but still jiggles slightly.