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This is our family’s classic pecan pie recipe, inspired by my grandmother.
My Grandma Ebright was many things…
She was the faithful wife of a Kansas wheat farmer for sixty years, proud mother of five, and involved grandmother of thirteen.
She was a lover of singing, and insisted that anyone born or married in her family learn how to do so loudly, in four-part harmony, and with smiles, especially while caroling nursing homes together each Christmas.
She was a voracious reader, flying through nearly a book a day in her later years and then eagerly passing them along to her friends and family, although she prided herself on always reading the last page first.
She was a hard worker, graduating early and completing a degree so that she could teach in a 1-room rural schoolhouse, then picking up to help serve in WWII, then running a farm for decades while raising five kids on a shoestring budget, then later being a faithful caretaker for my grandpa with Alzheimer’s in the last years of his life.
She was a writer as well and officially published her first book in her eighties, although my favorite writings were the pages upon pages of handwritten letters that she faithfully mailed to each of her grandkids every few months.
She was sharp as a tack, and was a fierce believer in raising her family — especially the daughters and granddaughters — to appreciate and seek intelligence.
She was a matchmaker, and never passed up the opportunity to introduce herself to an attractive stranger in hopes that they might be the perfect match for one of her grandkids.
She was o-pin-ion-ated, for better and worse, and never resisted a moment to share her thoughts (even if whispering a little too loudly in church about a lady’s purple hair).
She was a firecracker. She was thoughtful. She was stubborn. She was giving. She was hilarious. She was creative. She was loyal. She was my grandma.
And she was an expert baker of pecan pie.
Update: If you are interested in a pecan pie recipe that is naturally sweetened with maple syrup (no corn syrup), here is my newest pecan pie recipe.
Actually, of the many things she was, my grandma would be the first to tell you that she did not consider herself a cook. She would much rather be spending time with people than “couped up” in the kitchen. So she was a big fan of treating our extended family to the local Pizza Hut or a round of chocolate-dipped cones at Dairy Queen.
But when we did all gather together to eat at home, she knew how to rock a huge batch of chicken and noodles, salty and butter sweet corn, “chip chocolate” cookies, and some good ol’ fashioned homemade pecan pie.
Her homemade pecan pies (pronounced peh-cahn, in Kansas) were classic — sweet, simple and overflowing with buttered pecans.
And they were always meant for sharing.
So it seemed only fitting that for my first week of really teaching myself how to bake pies, I begin with the first pie I ever knew — Grandma’s Pecan Pie.
I did brown the butter to give this version an extra nuttier, delicious flavor. And I’m pretty sure my grandma would have cracked up at me taking the extra time to line the top of the pecan pie with extra pecans. (Yes, I was the picky-eating granddaughter who used to always prefer playing with my food, rather than actually eating it.)
But I’m pretty sure she would have been proud, and even happier to know that this one was shared with a bunch of people I really love.
So Grandma, this one’s for you. Love you! :)
My grandma, cousins and me in 2009. Tiny lady. Big heart.
Blind bake the pie crust.Chill the unbaked pie crust for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator or freezer. Use parchment paper or aluminum foil to line the inside of the chilled crust, shaping it gently around the inner edges to form a mold of the crust. Fill the bottom of the crust with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pie pan from the oven, carefully lift out the foil/parchment and weights, and set them aside. Decrease the oven heat to 350°F.
Prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add eggs and whisk until smooth. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until the butter turns brown and fragrant. Slowly pour butter into the sugar mixture, and whisk to combine. Chop 2 cups of the pecans, then stir them into the butter and sugar mixture until combined.
Assemble.Pour the entire filling into the prepared pie crust. Line the top of the filling with the remaining pecans (about 2 cups, more or less).
Bake. Bake the pie for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. After the first 20 to 25 minutes of baking time, you are welcome to loosely tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the whole pie if the crust or pecans seem to be browning too quickly. The pie will be ready to go once the top has puffed up into a dome (which will sink to become flat again, once the pie has set and cooled). Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it rest until it reaches room temperature.
Serve. Slice and serve pie at room temperature (or you can refrigerate and chill the pie, if you prefer), garnished with a dollop of whipped cream if desired. Cover and store leftover pie at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Your grandma sound like an amazing lady!! This was such a sweet post, Ali!
I love pecan pie SO much. It is surely on of my favorite pies, especially since I not really a fruity pie person! This pie is gorgeous and come Thanksgiving I wild be making tons and tons of them! YUM!
First, I have to say that pecan pie is probably my absolutely FAVORITE pie. Sadly, it took me a while to first try it but I never looked back after that!
Second, and most importantly, thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories of your grandma!! She sounds like a truly wonderful woman and makes me miss mine. Beautifully written Ali!!
Seriously though, for “teaching yourself how to bake pies” that first pie is pretty ri-diculous! The extra pecans on the top make your pie a work of art!
This is gorgeous! My boyfriend claims he doesn’t like pecan pie, but I’m convinced I need to make him one and he’ll immediately change his mind because there’s just nothing quite like pecan pie!
Grandma was mom to me. Her pecan pies were good and I ate a few burnt ones through the years and even they were good. The crust was always homemade but I never saw such artfully arranged pecans as yours.
I loved reading this! My grandmas are very, very special to me too. My uncle’s girlfriend introduced me to pecan pie a couple years ago. I never thought I would like it, but now I am hooked!
I’ve only had pecan pie once in my life but I know when I want to bake it that this is the recipe I’ll turn to. I loved hearing about your grandmother too, she sounds so very special.
I was looking through Google for pecan pie recipes, I’ve never made one before and it’s what my mom requested for thanksgiving, I had found a few that sounded good and I was trying to decided which one seemed the best and then I found this; your little story about your grandma just melted my heart and it made me feel so happy, especially after I saw her picture! It made me wish she was my grandma haha. So, that was the deciding factor that I absolutely had to use this recipe! Thank you for this, it was so sweet and I can just tell how amazing your grandma was just from those few paragraphs. I will let you know how my pie comes out! I’m keeping my fingers crossed! Haha.
I thank you so mich for this wonderful recipe. I love pecan nits and was looking for a easy to prepare Pecannut Pie Recipe. I am going to bake this one For sure!
What a heartwarming post!! Makes me feel like I knew her!! thanks for sharing!! I will be trying this this year!! Here is Nebraska we say peh-cahn, too! :)
So many beautiful things in this post! Your love for your grandma, the beautiful words you tied together about her, and that amazing looking pecan pie! It’s my dad’s favorite and our little family is hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I’ll be sure to use your recipe, with the fun pecan embellishments! Thank you!
That is the best pecan pie and I got a lot compliment from other people who tasted it, even the people who normally do not like pecan pie that much. Thank you for posting the recipe!!
Absolutely gorgeous pie. I Googled ‘best pecan pie’ and yours came up. This will be the one we try for Thanksgiving, although mine will probably not do yours visual justice.
Thank you and your sweet grandma!
Great looking recipe. I’m about to dive in and try it. :) I have seen many recipes where the pecan pieces are placed on the crust and the sugar/syrup mixture poured over. Is there an advantage to stirring them in? Is it all the same? Thanks!
This pecan pie is so pretty hope I can pull it off for Thanksgiving. I figured since I am a Granny and another Grandmother made this, that it has to be good.
What a great looking pie! I’ve been looking for the perfect pecan pie recipe for a long time and have tried several with differing results. Just cam across this one today and immediately went out and bought all of the components not already on the shelf.
I have two of them in the oven right now! Based on my experience with the others, I don’t think I can miss with these.
Thank you very much for making this available to everyone.
Wow. This seems like it would be EXTREMELY sweet. Please don’t shun me but what would you recommend I use in place of corn syrup? Maple syrup? Agave? Thanks!
April —
I’m considering using maple syrup (I’m not a fan of cane sugar), but since it is actually sweeter than corn syrup or sugar, I plan to leave the granulated sugar out. We’ll see how it is consistency-wise.
While reading your story a tear ran down my face. Your family sounds like a family that my heart has always long for. Thanks for sharing not only a wonderful Pecan Pie recipe but a glimpse of what a real family is like. Keep cooking and cherishing those wonder family memories. Most important keep sharing your heart, to those of us that long for a peck inside a window, to get a view of what it would of been like to have a loving grandma Ebright. So this Thanksgiving make some more memories, eat some good food and thank God for your many blessings !
Every year at Thanksgiving I try and make a yummy pecan pie, since it is my husbands favorite. Every year I make a good pecan pie but this year I made a GREAT pecan pie thanks to finding your recipe. I didn’t like the idea of putting dry pecans on the top to decorate so I reserved a little of the filling in my bowl and added pecan halves to it and then decorated the top. Absolutely yummy and beautiful and the only pecan pie I will make for Thanksgiving from now on.
Joseph Bryant —
I dont think its really necessary to leave a comment about how you didnt like the particulars of their receipe, on someones page, especially when that someone is fondly rememebering a “RECEIPE” that they’re now deceased grandmother made them growing up! You could have simply left that part out and said what you added to the pie, not “I didnt like the dry pecans on top”… thats utterly ridicuoulsoly rude!
Andrew Adere —
Considering that this recipe comes up near the top of a google search for “Pecan Pie Recipe”, one would think some discussion of the recipes particulars would be welcome.
Or should we all pretend the recipe is fine and dandy as is even if it is not just because the poster included a personal story above? The post is entitled “Best Pecan Pie Recipe” – I think it was rude for the poster to waste my time making me scroll past such a story to get to what I came for – a damn fine pecan pie recipe.
Is it really necessary to stunt useful discussion just because your heartstrings got pulled on?
Thank you for sharing your beautiful story of your grandmother. It made me warm and nostalgic thinking of all the wonderful times I spent with my Mom who instilled a love of cooking and baking. I will be trying your cherished recipe soon.
This is so pretty!!
What a beautiful pie! My grandma makes pretty good pecan pie too!
The picture with your cousins and your grandma is priceless! <3
I’ve never made a pecan pie. You’ve inspired me to try. Beautiful pictures!
Your grandma sound like an amazing lady!! This was such a sweet post, Ali!
I love pecan pie SO much. It is surely on of my favorite pies, especially since I not really a fruity pie person! This pie is gorgeous and come Thanksgiving I wild be making tons and tons of them! YUM!
Such a sweet post! Grandmas rock! And so does pieeeee!
What a great post about your grandmother. That pecan pie looks amazing and I’m sure it tastes just as great.
Such a great post!! Makes me think of my granny..and her peach cobbler. Where would we be without these ladies!
Loved this post for your grandmother and pecan pie! Pecan pie is one of my ultimate favorite desserts!
Sweet post about pecan pie and even sweeter about your grandma, Ali! Your pecan pie is beautiful!
First, I have to say that pecan pie is probably my absolutely FAVORITE pie. Sadly, it took me a while to first try it but I never looked back after that!
Second, and most importantly, thank you for sharing your thoughts and memories of your grandma!! She sounds like a truly wonderful woman and makes me miss mine. Beautifully written Ali!!
Ahh what a gorgeous pecan pie, looks perfect! :)
Beautiful post. Beautiful pie. Your grandmother sounds like she was a wonderful lady!
This pecan pie sounds absolutely PERFECT! Love the crust, the filling, and the pretty pecans on top!
What a beautiful post, Ali! I bet your grandmother is grinning from ear to ear. And I seriously can’t wait to make this pecan pie!
Pecan pie is one of my FAVORITES. This makes me want fall!
Such a sweet post and I love this pie – yes please to the brown butter!
Just gorgeous! I could die in a slice of that pie right there. Loved the back story, too. Your grandma sounds like a special lady.
I have a funny story about pecan pie I have to tell you the next time I see ya! This looks gorgeous!!
Awwww … your grandma sounds lovely! And your pie is beautiful!!
Seriously gorgeous pie, Ali, and such a sweet story about your grandmother. She sounds like an amazing woman!
A beautiful pie for a beautifully touching story!
Seriously though, for “teaching yourself how to bake pies” that first pie is pretty ri-diculous! The extra pecans on the top make your pie a work of art!
so beautiful ali!!! and sweet story of your grandmother. i will always associate boston creme pie and pound cake with my grandma…. :)
Pecan pie is my absolute favorite. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe and an even sweeter story! :)
What a sweet Grandma! I love her pecan pie, looks so pretty! Can’t wait to try it!
This is gorgeous! My boyfriend claims he doesn’t like pecan pie, but I’m convinced I need to make him one and he’ll immediately change his mind because there’s just nothing quite like pecan pie!
PECAN PIE MEEEEE.
what a precious picture…and this is honestly the most gorgeous pecan pie i’ve ever seen!
Grandma was mom to me. Her pecan pies were good and I ate a few burnt ones through the years and even they were good. The crust was always homemade but I never saw such artfully arranged pecans as yours.
I loved your grandmother. Bright, articulate, not afraid to ask questions and challenge assumptions. She was the best!
I loved reading this! My grandmas are very, very special to me too. My uncle’s girlfriend introduced me to pecan pie a couple years ago. I never thought I would like it, but now I am hooked!
I’ve only had pecan pie once in my life but I know when I want to bake it that this is the recipe I’ll turn to. I loved hearing about your grandmother too, she sounds so very special.
This pie is so beautiful! I can already taste it :) Aren’t grandma recipes just the best!
And what when so we add the cinnamon! I so want to make this :)
I was looking through Google for pecan pie recipes, I’ve never made one before and it’s what my mom requested for thanksgiving, I had found a few that sounded good and I was trying to decided which one seemed the best and then I found this; your little story about your grandma just melted my heart and it made me feel so happy, especially after I saw her picture! It made me wish she was my grandma haha. So, that was the deciding factor that I absolutely had to use this recipe! Thank you for this, it was so sweet and I can just tell how amazing your grandma was just from those few paragraphs. I will let you know how my pie comes out! I’m keeping my fingers crossed! Haha.
I thank you so mich for this wonderful recipe. I love pecan nits and was looking for a easy to prepare Pecannut Pie Recipe. I am going to bake this one For sure!
What a heartwarming post!! Makes me feel like I knew her!! thanks for sharing!! I will be trying this this year!! Here is Nebraska we say peh-cahn, too! :)
So many beautiful things in this post! Your love for your grandma, the beautiful words you tied together about her, and that amazing looking pecan pie! It’s my dad’s favorite and our little family is hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I’ll be sure to use your recipe, with the fun pecan embellishments! Thank you!
That is the best pecan pie and I got a lot compliment from other people who tasted it, even the people who normally do not like pecan pie that much. Thank you for posting the recipe!!
Absolutely gorgeous pie. I Googled ‘best pecan pie’ and yours came up. This will be the one we try for Thanksgiving, although mine will probably not do yours visual justice.
Thank you and your sweet grandma!
Great looking recipe. I’m about to dive in and try it. :) I have seen many recipes where the pecan pieces are placed on the crust and the sugar/syrup mixture poured over. Is there an advantage to stirring them in? Is it all the same? Thanks!
This pecan pie is so pretty hope I can pull it off for Thanksgiving. I figured since I am a Granny and another Grandmother made this, that it has to be good.
With a tear, I pick this great recipe because of the lovely story! Thank you for sharing! Happy Thanksgiving!
What a great looking pie! I’ve been looking for the perfect pecan pie recipe for a long time and have tried several with differing results. Just cam across this one today and immediately went out and bought all of the components not already on the shelf.
I have two of them in the oven right now! Based on my experience with the others, I don’t think I can miss with these.
Thank you very much for making this available to everyone.
Wow. This seems like it would be EXTREMELY sweet. Please don’t shun me but what would you recommend I use in place of corn syrup? Maple syrup? Agave? Thanks!
I’m considering using maple syrup (I’m not a fan of cane sugar), but since it is actually sweeter than corn syrup or sugar, I plan to leave the granulated sugar out. We’ll see how it is consistency-wise.
Thank you for sharing! I love the story too :)
While reading your story a tear ran down my face. Your family sounds like a family that my heart has always long for. Thanks for sharing not only a wonderful Pecan Pie recipe but a glimpse of what a real family is like. Keep cooking and cherishing those wonder family memories. Most important keep sharing your heart, to those of us that long for a peck inside a window, to get a view of what it would of been like to have a loving grandma Ebright. So this Thanksgiving make some more memories, eat some good food and thank God for your many blessings !
I just finished baking this– exactly as the recipe called for— and I cannot get it to set up! It’s runny! What did I do wrong? :-(
I ended up cooking mine a little longer since I had it on a cookie sheet and it worked out perfectly.
i tried making this pie today, but the middle got all puffed up on me :( anyone got any helpful tips?
Every year at Thanksgiving I try and make a yummy pecan pie, since it is my husbands favorite. Every year I make a good pecan pie but this year I made a GREAT pecan pie thanks to finding your recipe. I didn’t like the idea of putting dry pecans on the top to decorate so I reserved a little of the filling in my bowl and added pecan halves to it and then decorated the top. Absolutely yummy and beautiful and the only pecan pie I will make for Thanksgiving from now on.
I dont think its really necessary to leave a comment about how you didnt like the particulars of their receipe, on someones page, especially when that someone is fondly rememebering a “RECEIPE” that they’re now deceased grandmother made them growing up! You could have simply left that part out and said what you added to the pie, not “I didnt like the dry pecans on top”… thats utterly ridicuoulsoly rude!
Considering that this recipe comes up near the top of a google search for “Pecan Pie Recipe”, one would think some discussion of the recipes particulars would be welcome.
Or should we all pretend the recipe is fine and dandy as is even if it is not just because the poster included a personal story above? The post is entitled “Best Pecan Pie Recipe” – I think it was rude for the poster to waste my time making me scroll past such a story to get to what I came for – a damn fine pecan pie recipe.
Is it really necessary to stunt useful discussion just because your heartstrings got pulled on?
Thank you for sharing your beautiful story of your grandmother. It made me warm and nostalgic thinking of all the wonderful times I spent with my Mom who instilled a love of cooking and baking. I will be trying your cherished recipe soon.