Spiced Pecan Pie Crust Recipes

PECAN NUT CRUST

Steps:

• Stir together ground nuts, cinnamon, and sugar. Mix in melted butter.
• Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch, deep-dish style, pie pan. Chill the unbaked crust in the refrigerator for about 30 to 45 minutes.
• Place pie crust on a cookie sheet, and position on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. WATCH it carefully, as nut crusts burn easily; they DON'T have to turn black to taste burnt! Cool completely before filling.

PECAN PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Place pecans in food processor; grind until fine.
• Add melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla and water.
• Continue processing till mixture begins falling off sides of bowl.
• Press into 9-inch pie pan.
• Bake at 325° for 20 minutes or microwave at full power for 6 minutes.

SPICED PECAN PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray. Reserve.
• Place the spices, pecans, graham cracker crumbs and sugars in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
• Slowly add the butter and vanilla until mixture is moist. Note: all of the butter may not be needed.
• Press the mixture into and up the sides of the prepared pie plate.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

SPICED PECAN PIE

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out pastry dough into a 17-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Fit dough into a 10-inch glass pie plate (1 1/2 quarts), and crimp edge decoratively. Chill shell, covered, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In an electric coffee/spice grinder finely grind anise seeds. In a dry heavy saucepan cook 1/2 cup sugar over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork (to help sugar melt evenly), until melted and pale golden. Cook caramel, without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden. Add corn syrup and simmer, stirring occasionally, until caramel is dissolved (caramel will harden before dissolving).
• In a bowl whisk together remaining 3/4 cup sugar, eggs, spices, and salt. Remove pan from heat and cool caramel mixture until it stops bubbling. In a slow stream carefully whisk caramel mixture into egg mixture. Spread pecans in shell and pour in filling, tapping down pecans to coat thoroughly.
• Bake pie in middle of oven until crust is pale golden, 40 to 45 minutes (filling will not be set), and transfer to a rack to cool completely (filling will continue to set as pie cools).
• Serve pie with ice cream.

SOUTHERN PECAN PIE WITH SPICE CRUST

Steps:

• To make the filling, combine corn syrup and sugar in saucepan and stir to mix. Place over low heat and bring to a boil, without stirring. Remove from heat, add butter and allow butter to melt. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs until liquid and whisk in salt and Bourbon. Whisk in syrup and butter mixture, being careful not to over mix. Allow to cool while rolling and forming the bottom crust.
• Set a rack at the lowest level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
• Arrange pecans in crust. Skim foam from top of filling (or the top will have an unattractively mottled surface) and pour over pecans. With the back of a fork, press the pecans down into the filling so that they are covered.
• Bake the pie for about 45 minutes, until the crust is baked through and the filling is set and well puffed in the center. Cool the pie on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
• To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of butter. Then using your hands or a pastry blender, break the butter into tiny pieces and pinch and squeeze it into the dry ingredients. Occasionally reach down to the bottom of the bowl and mix all the ingredients evenly together. Continue rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible. Beat the egg(s) in a small bowl and pour over the flour and butter mixture. Stir in with a fork until the dough begins to hold together, but still appears somewhat dry. Scatter a teaspoon of flour on the work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth and uniform.
• To mix the dough in the food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second intervals to mix. Cut butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl. Process, pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is fine and powdery, resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter remain visible, about 15 pulses in all. Add the egg(s) to the work bowl and pulse ten times or so, until the dough forms a ball. Scatter a teaspoon of flour on the work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Press and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth and uniform. Press the dough into a disk (two equal disks for the larger amount of dough). Sandwich the disk(s) of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it into a 6-inch circle. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are ready to use it, at least 1 hour.
• Storage: Keep the dough in the refrigerator up to two days, or freeze it double-wrapped in plastic. Because the dough is thin, it will defrost quickly at room temperature when you intend to use it.

PUMPKIN PIE WITH SPICED CRUST

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice in a food processor to combine. Add the butter; pulse several times until it looks like coarse meal. Add the vinegar and 1/4 cup ice water; pulse a few more times until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; press into a disk and wrap. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Roll out the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing the dough into the bottom and up the side. Fold the overhanging dough under itself and crimp with your fingers or a fork. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
• Put a baking sheet on the middle oven rack and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line the crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Transfer to the hot baking sheet and bake until lightly golden around the edge, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until the crust is golden all over, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely; leave the baking sheet in the oven.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk the pumpkin puree, eggs, heavy cream, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice and salt in a medium bowl until well combined. Pour into the cooled crust and return to the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake until set around the edge but the center still jiggles slightly, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to the rack and let cool completely.
• Make the whipped cream: Beat the heavy cream, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve the pie with the whipped cream.

BOURBON PECAN PIE

Steps:

• To make the crust: Chill the butter in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Pulse the pecans 6 to 7 times in a food processor or until finely ground. Add the flour and salt, and pulse an additional 4 to 5 times. Add the butter and pulse 6 to 7 times, until the texture looks mealy. Remove the lid of the food processor, add the water and bourbon, and pulse 5 to 6 times until the mixture holds together when squeezed and feels like dough. Transfer the dough to a gallon-sized zip-top bag, squeeze together until it forms a ball, then press into a rounded disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• To assemble and bake the pie: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Whisk the eggs, sugar, golden syrup, butter, bourbon, vanilla and salt together until combined. Set aside.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Cut along two sides of the zip-top bag, open the bag to expose the dough and sprinkle both sides very lightly with flour. Cover with the bag and roll out with a rolling pin to an 11-inch circle. Open the bag again, and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Place the dough into a 9 1/2 to 10-inch tart pan that is 2 inches deep. Gently press the dough into the sides of the pan, crimping and trimming the edges as necessary.
• Evenly sprinkle the 6 ounces of chopped pecans in the crust and pour the filling on top. Bake for 20 minutes. Place the remaining 2 ounces of whole pecans in a border on the edge of the filling. Bake 10 minutes, until the center of the pie should reach 200 degrees F, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack to room temperature before serving, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
• Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• Mix the salt, cumin, cayenne, cinnamon and orange peel together in a small bowl and set aside.
• Place the nuts in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes until they just start to brown and smell toasted. Add the butter and stir until it melts. Add the spice mixture and stir to combine. Once combined, add both sugars and water, stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the nuts, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer the nuts to the prepared sheet pan and separate them with a fork or spatula. Allow the nuts to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container for storage. Can be stored for up to 3 weeks. Yield: 1 pound.