My Lifelong Quest - The Perfect Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie is one our family favorite desserts for holidays or just anytime. I have been on a lifelong search for the perfect pecan pie. For years, I have used the recipe on the back of the Karo Syrup bottle. I find that it is fine and tastes good, but I want something a little more special. I have tried the chocolate pecan pie recipes, the cream cheese layer version, and even the pecan pie cake that Southern Living featured one Christmas. This year, I have settled on a recipe that uses brown sugar and dark Karo syrup. We had it at Thanksgiving and I thought that it was delicious. It is a version that I adapted from Taste of the South's magazine. 

Pecan Pie is not a new addition to our holiday meals. My grandparents had a small pecan orchard by the side of their home in South Georgia. Each year, my grandmother would gather the pecans and sell them at the local market. Her profit would be her Christmas money. Her instructions to my mother and her sisters would be to start at the base of the tree collecting the nuts. Then, the girls would work in a circle moving away from the center of the tree picking up the delicious pecans. 

Even after my grandmother has passed away, there was always a bowl of pecans in the TV room at my granddaddy's house with a nutcracker and pick. Pecans are a staple in South Georgia, They are stirred into almost all cakes and pies and eaten by the handful as snacks. They freeze wonderfully. When my mother was moving to Florida to live with us, we cleaned out her freezer and found pecans at least five years old. They tasted great and made many a pecan pie.

Southern Pecan Pie

1/2 package Pillsbury pie crust

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/2 cup butter melted- then cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla

dash salt 

2 cups pecan halves

In a medium bowl, stir together eggs, brown sugar, Karo syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. Gently stir in pecans. 

Pour mixture into unbaked prepared crust. 

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cover pie loosely with aluminum foil and bake another 20 minutes more, or until center is set. 

Cool completely on wire rack.

Serve with freshly whipped cream.