Chocolate Pecan Pie

Updated Nov. 14, 2024

Chocolate Pecan Pie
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
1½ hours, plus at least 1 hour chilling and 4 hours’ cooling
Rating
5(2,278)
Comments
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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

    For the Crust

    • cups 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

    For the Filling

    • cups 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
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

634 calories; 43 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 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.

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Preparation

  1. 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.

  2. Step 2

    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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Step 5

    Make the filling: In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth; cool.

  6. 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
2,278 user ratings
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Comments

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.

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.

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!

just made it, yummy

Have made this many times over the years. First thanks to Dinah Shore who included it in one of her cookbooks. Thanks secondly to Melissa Clark for formalizing what our creative team imagined long ago. That's okay - great minds think alike! :) Nice job, Melissa. It IS delicious.

This pie came together beautifully. I used dark chocolate and added some chopped pecan to the custard as some commenters recommended. The consistency was perfect. Tender but with a lovely bite. The bourbon came through too much for my taste but everyone else loved it so take that as you will!

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