Corina's foraged pecan pie
It thrills me every fall—trees throughout our neighborhood rain food, covering bits of yard and sidewalk with ready-to-eat pecans. Nourishment is right here, in abundant clusters underfoot and dangling in clusters from trees.
It’s such a wonder that we wrote a blog about it! Check out The nourishment of pecans and then gather your own small harvest for our corn-syrup-free version of a classic pecan pie. We also chose a gluten free crust for the wheat sensitive among us.
Gather your ingredients
1 pie crust of your choice—we use a store-bought gluten-free crust, but you can sub in your favorite recipe or store-bought crust
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp of sea salt
2 cups pecan halves
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Make your pie!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place pecans on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Set aside to cool.
Once cool, roughly chop half of the pecans. (This step is optional, but we like the texture of some smaller and some larger pecans in the pie.)
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add brown sugar and maple syrup, whisking until smooth and combined. Bring to a low simmer, then remove from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, and vanilla extract. Gradually add the cooled syrup mixture to the egg mixture, whisking continuously to combine.
Stir in the chopped pecans.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. If you check and see the crust getting too brown, you can loosely tent the pie with foil before it finishes cooking.
Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. The filling will continue to set as it cools.
Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before serving.
Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.