Homemade Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is one of our favorite American pies, but it seemed utterly difficult to make. After some research on some old cooking books from the public library we came out with our own interpretation of pecan pie recipe. After tasting this pie you will not want store-bought pecan pie anymore. It is addictive!

Ingredients for the crust:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 stick of butter (room temperature)
• a pinch of salt

Directions for crust:

Sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Place the stick of butter on top and cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter (we use two knives and slash away). Slash away until the texture is like coarse sand. Continue working it with your hands until you can pat the dough into a ball. Put the ball of dough into the refrigerator to chill for 60-30 minutes. Press it into an 10 inch pie pan with your fingers until it is even and fairly smooth.

Ingredients for filling:

• 2 cups of roasted pecans (put one cup at a time in the microwave for 1 minute; they will taste just like they were roasted)
• 1 cup of white corn syrup (we use corn syrup substitute: see recipe below)
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/3 a cup of melted butter
• 3 eggs

Directions for the filling:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup substitute, butter, and salt until well blended. Pour the filling into the pie crust. Top it with the roasted pecans. Bake for 50-55 minutes.

Light corn syrup substitute:

• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice
• a dash of sea salt

In a saucepan combine all ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer ad put cover on it for 3 minutes to get sugar crystals off the sides of the pan. Uncover and cook for  more a few minutes (it should look like store-bought corn syrup). Stir often.

Makes almost 2 cups. You can store the remainder in a cover container at room temperature. It will keep for about 1 month.