Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c unbleached all purpose flour 3/4 tsp salt 8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter, unsalted, cold, cubed 4-5 Tbsp ice cold water For the Filing 3 eggs 1 c brown sugar 1/4 c white sugar 4 Tbsp butter, unsalted, melted and cooled 1/4 c milk 3 Tbsp unbleached all purpose fl
Directions
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lace the flour, salt and butter in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse the mixture until it resembles evenly sized crumbs. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix in 2 Tbsp of ice cold water. Stir the mixture until the dough starts to clump together. If it does not want to clump together, continuing adding water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until it does. Once the dough starts to come together, knead it a few times with your hands to form a firm, but smooth, ball. Preheat your oven to 400F. Roll the crust into a circle, 12-13 inches in diameter on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the crust to a greased 9 inch pie dish. Trim the edges of the crust or tuck them under. Flute the edges as desired (a fork works well to create a nice design). Place the crust in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, until solid. Remove the crust form the freezer. Lightly butter a piece of parchment paper (or aluminum foil) and place it, buttered side down on top of your crust. Fill the parchment paper with pie weights, dry rice, or dry beans. Bake the crust for 20 min, until the edges are just starting to turn golden. For the Filling While the crust is baking, make the filling. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugars with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed, until the mixture becomes fluffy and starts to thicken, 3-4 min. Add the melted butter and milk. Continue beating on low speed to combine. Sift the flour and salt into the sugar mixture and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. Putting It All Together When the crust has finished baking, remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool slightly. Reduce your oven’s heat to 350F. Carefully remove the pie weights and parchment paper from the crust. (Let these cool on a plate. They can be stored and used for pie weights again later.) Distribute 1 ½ c chopped pecans evenly over the crust. Slowly pour the filling over the pecans. Gently, decorate the top of the custard mixture with pecan halves, if desired. Bake the pie for 30 min, tented loosely with aluminum foil. After 30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and continue to bake the pie for 13-17 min, until it firm to the center. (It should not jiggle when wiggled slightly.) Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.