Have you ever found yourself smack dab in the middle of a cliché? Say, for example, you’ve been rolling your eyes for years about that whole “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” thing, then you realize there’s an exact correlation between your son’s favorite foods and dinnertime declarations of love.
Well then, you’ll totally understand this.
A few weeks ago, my oldest son started asking me to bake him a “purcan pie” for Thanksgiving dinner. Although I have a favorite pumpkin pie recipe, I hadn’t yet found a recipe that recreated the smooth texture of the pecan filling without using corn syrup.
And that’s just sad, because pecan pie is my favorite pie ever. And my son’s, apparently.
So I got to baking . . .
. . . and baking . . . and then I started begging people to take my pie failures home.
As it turned out, getting the filling right was harder that I thought it would be. You see, where I grew up you absolutely do not put nuts in the filling, and it’s tricky to get it firm enough without turning it into a custard.
Fortunately, it was also completely worth it. The filling is exactly what I remember from my childhood – only without the corn syrup – and I can’t wait to share it with my mom in just a couple of weeks.
Sure, I can only eat a small slice because it’s pretty sweet, but that just means there’s more to share. I hope your family loves it as much as we do.
Also, don’t forget to pick up a pie crust protector before baking day. 🙂
Pecan Pie Recipe (Gluten-free, Grain-free, Paleo)
Equipment
- 9 inch pie pan
- pie crust protector
Ingredients
- 9 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups sucanat (aka rapadura sugar)
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (or make your own vanilla extract)
- 1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups pecan halves
- 1 homemade gluten-free pie crust
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place butter, rapadura sugar, maple syrup and salt in a sauce pan and melt over medium heat.
- Bring mixture to a simmer, then stir for two minutes. Set pan aside and allow to cool for 10 minutes.(If you're doubling the recipe, wait 20 minutes because the mixture will take longer to cool.)
- After the mixture has cooled, whisk the eggs, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla together and then slowly pour them in the sugar mixture, whisking as you go. Pour filling in your prepared pie crust and place pecans on top.
- Place pie crust protector around the edge and bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes, or until the center is firm but still jiggly. (Jiggly is a technical term, right?)
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Mention @mommypotamus or tag #mommypotamus!
Elise Barnes
This recipe looks delicious. I’m always looking for gluten-free and paleo recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth. Ill definitely have to try this one out, hopefully for Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing great recipes. Feel free to check out thenaturalwaytowellness.com
sheryl
Do you think that flax/ chia eggs would work in place of the eggs?
Grace
Probably not, since they’re in the filling… Flax eggs are funny that way.
tori
Haha! I don’t know what it is about pecan pie. This reminds me of one night a couple years ago when my husband brought home a piece of pecan pie that someone at work had made for him. I can’t eat gluten and it really doesn’t usually bother me much at all. For some reason I took one look at that slice of pie and I literally could not stop the tears from coming out of my eyes! I felt so ridiculous.
Needless to say, I have since learned to make a fabulous dairy/gluten free pecan pie. (And I also have a son that loves me more for it:)).
Amy
Can you share your recipe? I would like one that is dairy free as well as gluten free.
tori
2 c. maple syrup
3 eggs
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 t. salt
3 T. coconut oil, semi melted
1 t. vanilla
2 c. pecan halves
Boil syrup for 10 minutes, until it is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups. Let cool. Combine eggs, coconut oil, sugar, salt, and vanilla, and then stir in syrup. Add pecans, stir, and pour into whatever crust you normally use for pie. Bake 30 minutes at 350.
I hope you try it!
Marie-Eve
I tried your recipe tonight for our Christmas desert and it was absolutely delicious!!
The texture was a little bit softer than a regular pecan pie and I baked it an extra 15 min. Hands down the best I’ve ever had!
Thank you for sharing this dairy free recipe 🙂
Jules
Thank you for this recipe! I thought I would never be able to indulge in pecan pie again!This recipe was fantastic!!!
Martha Carlson
Thanks for posting this. I will be doing it for this holidays!!!!
Martha Carlson
Thank you!!!!
Christina
Can I just use Brown sugar? How is this rapadura sugar different? Thanks in advance.
Denise
What can a person use instead of apple cider vinegar? I am allergic to apples but would love to make this. Thanks
Ana
Can I use honey instead of rapadura? Or just more maple syrup?
Eden
Do you bake the pie crust prior to filling it?
Heather
Yes, if you use the recipe I link to it calls for baking the crust for 10 minute before filling it.
Eden
Thank you! I can’t wait to try it!
Angie
Hi! So excited to try this recipe out Wednesday and have it on Thanksgiving. It has been years since I was able to have pecan pie! One question; would it be okay to use coconut palm sugar for the sugar? Thanks a lot!!!
Heather
I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure, sorry!
Elvia
This has been so far the best Paleo Pecan Pie! It comes the closest to the “regular” pie I used to make. I just love it!
Pam
I didn’t think can sugar was paleo? Can I sub coconut sugar and it will still be okay?
Also need a dairy free replacement for the butter? Coconut oil work?
Christina W.
Hands down the best pecan pie ever!
Julie
This pecan pie is delicious! I made it for Thanksgiving and my husband is begging me to make one for his work’s Christmas dinner.
Kyleene
Hi Heather, along with gluten, my daughter can’t have vinegar. Is there anything that could be substituted for the cider vinegar? Pecan pie is her favorite!!!
Heather
I’m not sure what would make a good substitute, unfortunately. 🙁
Theresa
Hi, I really want to make this pie but how many grams is a ‘cup’? I live in another country, that’s why I’m asking. Ps, Google gives different answers).
Many thanks!
Heather
Unfortunately a gram is a measurement of weight and a cup is a measurement of volume so I’m not sure, sorry.
Daryl Ann Jones
How far in advance can I make this pie? I don’t want the crust to be soggy.
Alex walker
Thank you Heather!
I made this pecan pie with the paleo crust recipe as a gift for my son celebrating his B-day. He absolutely loved this pie. A big compliment, him being a pie guy. In taste, feel and presentation, this was the best pecan pie we have ever eaten.
For budget reasons, I did some minor alterations to the recipe, but not enough to dramatically change the flavor. For the crust, arrowroot became tapioca flour. Almond flour was cut with coconut flour. Sorgum was added because I was making a larger than normal crust. All of this was thrown into a stand mixer with paddle attachment where upon extra melted butter was added, (2 TBSP), and approx. 3 TBSP cold water until dough started to clump together. I did rub Crisco on the pie plate before forming the crust, and pre-baked the pie shell for about 15.
For the filling, because I was using an xtra large pie plate,I enlarged the quantity of each ingredient by a 1/3, (12 TBSP butter, 2 C. sugar, 1 C. syrup, etc.), and used brown sugar instead of fancy stuff. I baked the pie for about 55 minutes, and let cool for 3 hours before serving. Heaven.
Maite
Hi!
How big is the baking pan you are using?
Also, would you pre toast the pecans first?
Thanks
1
Jenn K
Hi! I am wanting small portions for “sampling” with many servings. Do you think this and your pie crust recipe would work in mini muffin tins for tarlets? Or best to leave whole and just cut smaller?