Pecan Pie

Maple Pecan Pie (Without Corn Syrup)

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• Author: Sally
 
• Prep Time: 3 hours
 
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Total Time: 6 hours
 
• Yield: 8-10 servings

Maple syrup can replace corn syrup in this deliciously simple maple pecan pie recipe! Top with a little sea salt to balance out the flavors.

Ingredients

Crust

• Homemade Pie Crust or All Butter Pie Crust (my recipes both make 2 crusts; freeze the 2nd half for later use)
• optional egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk or water

Filling

• 2 and 1/2 cups (250g) shelled pecans (pecan halves)
• 5 Tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon (8g) all-purpose flour*
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup (240ml) pure maple syrup*
• flaky sea salt for sprinkling
• optional: Homemade Whipped Cream for topping

Instructions

1. The crust: Prepare the pie crust or butter pie crust through step 5.
2. After the pie crust has chilled, adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
3. Roll out the chilled pie dough and blind bake: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (you can freeze the 2nd for later use, see note). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish.* Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Flute or crimp the pie crust edges and brush with egg wash. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator or freezer. (Crust will shrink otherwise!) Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill with 2 sets of pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper/aluminum foil (with the weights) out of the pie.
4. The filling: Carefully spread pecans evenly inside warm pie crust. Set aside. Whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and flour together in a large bowl until combined and thick. Whisk in the vanilla extract, salt, eggs, and pure maple syrup until combined. Pour evenly over pecans.
5. Bake the pie for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, place a pie crust shield on top of the pie to prevent the edges from browning too quickly. You can also tent a piece of aluminum foil over the whole pie if the top is browning too quickly. Remove finished pie from the oven and sprinkle sea salt on top. Place on a wire rack to cool completely. The pie filling will set as it cools.
6. Slice and serve pie at room temperature. Top with whipped cream, if desired. (I used Wilton 8B Piping Tip.) Cover and store leftover pie at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Notes

1. Make Ahead Instructions – 1-5 Days Ahead: You can get started by combining all the filling ingredients (except the pecans) one day ahead of time. Keep it covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the pie. You can also make the pie dough 1-5 days in advance since it needs to chill. If you want to bake the pie 1 full day in advance, bake it as directed, allow it to completely cool, then cover tightly and keep at room temperature until ready to serve the next day.
2. Make Ahead Instructions – Freezing: The baked pie freezes well for up to 3 months, tightly wrapped in a couple layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. You can also freeze the pie after you pour the filling into the cooled blind-baked pie crust. Freeze for a couple hours to set the filling, then tightly wrap the entire pie in 2-3 layers of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then freeze for up to 1 month. When ready to bake, remove from the freezer, unwrap, and bake for about 20 minutes longer.
3. Special Tools (affiliate links): Rolling Pin | 9-inch Pie Dish | Pastry Brush | Pie Weights | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pie Crust Shield | Cooling Rack | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 8B Piping Tip | Flaky Sea Salt
4. Freezing Extra Pie Dough: You can freeze the 2nd pie dough for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

Zucchini Carrot Apple Bread

 Zucchini Carrot Apple Bread

Author: Willow at Will Cook For Friends

Serves: 1 loaf (recipe can easily be doubled)

 

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 1 tsp. Baking powder
• ¾ tsp. Kosher salt (I always use Himalayan salt and just a couple of dashes)
• ¾ tsp. Cinnamon
• ½ tsp. powdered ginger (or 1 tsp. Freshly grated ginger) I used powdered
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing the pan 
• 1 cup granulated sugar ( up to you I used a bit less then a cup and I used coconut sugar)
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I used organic from a bottle)
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1 cup grated apple (I used red)
• optional: 1 cup chopped nuts, minced candied ginger, dried fruit, or other add-ins (Didn’t do any add ones yet)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.. Grease a 8x4 inch baking dish (I used coconut oil, but you can use butter or a spray if you prefer), then line the bottom with parchment paper. Stash the pan in the fridge or freezer to chill while you make the batter.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until light and frothy. Add the coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice, and beat well for one minute. Grate the zucchini, carrots, and apple on the large side of a box grater, and add them to the wet ingredients. Stir to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and fold them in gently until just combined, with no dry patches. The batter will be quite thick, but that's how it should be -- a lot of the moisture is contained in the veggies and apple, and will come out during baking to keep the loaf moist. Do not over-mix.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 55-65 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
6. Let cool for at least 15-20 minutes before removing from the pan, then let cool completely. Serve immediately, or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature. Keeps beautifully for 3-4 days. I did freeze some. 

 Old Fashion Carrot Cake

Ingredients

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 cups sugar (I used less then 2 cups and used half white half coconut sugar. Next time will try all coconut).

1 cup canola oil (I don’t use junk oils. I used almond oil or avocado. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 to 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups grated carrots

FROSTING:

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons 2% milk

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional 

Optional: Orange and green food coloring

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar and oil. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; beat into egg mixture. Stir in carrots.

2. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. I use an oblong cake pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

3. For frosting, in another large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Add enough milk to achieve desired spreading consistency. Reserve 1/2 cup frosting for decorating if desired. If desired, stir walnuts into remaining frosting. 

4. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. If decorating the cake, tint 1/4 cup reserved frosting orange and 1/4 cup green. Cut a small hole in the corner of pastry or plastic bag; insert #7 round pastry tip. Fill the bag with orange frosting. Pipe 16 carrots on top of cake, so each piece will have a carrot. Using #67 leaf pastry tip and the green frosting, pipe a leaf at the top of each carrot. 

5. Store cake in the refrigerator.

Hamburger Gravy/Meat balls or loaf

 1lb ground beef - 1 tsp salt - 1 tsp pepper - 1/2 tsp garlic salt - 1 tsp minced onion - 4 Tbsp butter               1/4 cup flour - 2 cups milk 

Always prepare whatever your putting gravy over first. If you cook the gravy to long while waiting it gets to thick.

In a skillet, over medium high heat, season ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic salt and onion and cook until meat is done. 

Add butter and melt. Sprinkle flour over the top of beef and stir. Cook flour 1 to 2 minutes. 

Slowly pour in milk and whisk or stir to incorporate into the flour beef. Stir occasionally let it cook until it thickens. About 5 minutes or so. 

Serve immediately over mashed potatoes, toast, noodles or rice or meat balls. It was good. 

Meat loaf or Meat balls

1 pound ground beef, 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup milk, 1/4 cup onion diced, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, one egg, 1/4 cup parsley chopped, 1/4 cup Parmesan shredded, salt and pepper to taste. Mix and bake. I do 375 but it says you can do 400 18 to 20 minutes.

Kombuca

3 qts distilled water - 12 cups. Boil. Then add 1 cup sugar (Should be cheap sugar not organic) and continue to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from burner add 4 bags black tea and steep for 10 minutes then remove and stir. Marylin told me to use more tea bags. 

Cool tea for at least 45 minutes. Then pour into a gallon jar. Cool for another 2 hours. You want it room temperature before you add the scobby. After 2 hours check it. Sometimes I let mine go a bit longer.

After its room temperature in the gallon jar add almost a cup of liquid from the scobby container and place the scobby dark side down in the jar. Cover with a coffer filter and use a rubber band to keep it on. Sit on counter out of sunlight. Let sir 7-10 days.

Cooking Substitute

Self-rising flour is made by adding 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt to 1 cup all purpose flour.

I use healthy oils for baking. I also replace oil for butter. If you want though you can substitute oil by using: applesauce, fruit puree or yogurt. I have used applesauce. If you make brownies and add applesauce instead of oil your kids might complain, mine did.

If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own but adding 1 Tablespoon of either fresh lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk. I have made it using the vinegar.

Out of eggs? Use any of these substitutes in place of 1 egg: 1/4 cup applesauce or 1/4 cup vegetable oil or 1/4 cup mashed banana.

Cut a recipe in half: 

3/4 cup is 6 Tablespoons - 2/3 cup is 1/3 cup - 1/2 cup is 1/4 cup - 1/3 cup is 2 teaspoons plus 2 Tablespoons - 1/4 cup is 2 Tablespoons - 1 Tablespoon is 1 1/2 teaspoons - 1 teaspoon is 1/2 teaspoon - 1/2 teaspoon is 1/4 teaspoon. 

Heavy Cream Substitute 

If you need heavy cream for a recipe, make your own by combining 2/3 cup whole milk with 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter. This will give you 1 cup of heavy cream. (I normally don't use unsalted butter and recipes that call for it I just use salted butter.)

Maple syrup instead of corn syrup.

  

Chocolate Cake/Frosting's/Brownies

This is my husband's 1st favorite dessert. It's healthy the way I make it. Although its a pretty big cake for just the two of us to make. I normally make when we are having company. I nevered realize the things you can make using unsweetened cocoa.

Chocolate Cake

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (I use coconut sugar)
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon salt (I don't use that much)
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla (I don't use)
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda AND powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (right now I have always used avocado oil but sometime I will try almond oil)

Oven to 350 degree's. Grease and flour two nine inch or one oblong pan.
Mix all the ingredients together. Now add 1 cup boiling water. Pour into prepared pan or pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes.

Frosting

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

2 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tablespoons butter softened
5 Tablespoons evaporated (I use regular milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter then add the rest of ingredients. Frost and enjoy. Ann's note: When I compare the sugar between the chocolate cake and the brownies its more sensible to make the cake. 

Brownies
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teas salt
1/4 teas baking powder
1/2 cup walnuts

350 degree in 9x9 greased pan for 20-25 minutes.

Butter Frosting

1/3 cup butter softened
4 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat the butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the sugar. Beat well. Slowly beat in the milk, vanilla and remaining sugar. Beat well. Frost and eat.

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

2 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 Tablespoons butter softened
5 Tablespoons evaporated (I use regular milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter then add the rest of ingredients. Frost and enjoy.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8oz cream cheese

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla