Recipe: Texas Thanksgiving Pecan Pie

By Vianney Rodriguez, Sweetlifebake

No Texan’s Thanksgiving table is complete without a pecan pie. Our state tree, a source of pride we Texans love our pecans. My husband’s family is from Hondo, Texas where they are known for quality pecans. His childhood was spent picking, sorting and shelling pecans. They are a sweet memory of his youth, a part of his family heritage and a source of pride in his home state. Every year as we head out to my mother’s home for Thanksgiving his only concern is “will there be a pecan pie?”

A Pecan Pie from Texas Monthly’s The Manual

Dough

5 cups white flour

2 cups minus 3 tablespoons Crisco

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

1/3 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

4 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups pecan halves

1. “The key to a great pie is great crust,” says Royer. Dissolve the salt in the water. Set aside. Using two forks, your hands, or, if you’re a kitchen gadget fanatic, a dough blender, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture is crumbly. Add the salt water and mix until the dough pulls cleanly away from your hands (if needed, add a tablespoon or two of flour). This recipe makes three 10-inch crusts; leave out your working dough and put the other two in the freezer for later use.

2. Clear some counter space and lightly dust the surface, a rolling pin, the dough, and your hands with flour. Applying even pressure, roll out the dough with a back-and-forth motion. Give it a half turn, and repeat the process until it’s roughly 1/8 inch thick. Dust the dough, and fold it in half twice, so it forms a wedge. Place the crust in a 10-inch pie pan, and unfold it.

3. Some people crimp the crust using fork tines, but Royer simply pinches the dough between his fingers. “This is homemade, which means it doesn’t have to be perfect,” he says. “Life’s too short to make decorative leaves out of dough.”

4. Melt the butter, and combine it with the sugar, corn syrup, eggs, salt, and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Place the pecan halves on top. (“It’s important to use the halves,” says Royer. “They taste better than the pieces.”) Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. It’s ready when you stick a knife into the pie and it comes out clean.

This article was first published in Sweetlifebake.

Vianney Rodriguez is a proud Texan and blessed to be Hispanic.  Currently, she is happily raising her two wonderful daughters, attending college and living life to the fullest with her handsome hubby in Edinburg, Texas. At Sweet Life, she focuses on her eternal love for Texas, but includes her passion for introducing her daughters to their heritage.