Pecan Pie

I love pecans! They are by far one of my favorite nuts. And I truly love pecan pie! The problem with traditional pecan pie is that it is FULL of sugar. It is loads of sugar that make that delicious, sticky filling! But here is a recipe you can make that will not spike your blood sugar.

The reason this filling works is because of the homemade caramel sauce. Don’t be afraid! It is so simple to make! And it is heavenly! You are going to want to make extra to have on hand for other uses, trust me. I hope you enjoy!

Pecan Pie ~ THM S

Crust:

3/4 c. oat fiber

1/2 c baking blend

1/2 c. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces

1/8 c. xes sweetener or gentle sweet

1/4 tsp. mineral salt

1 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/2 c. ice water (more if needed)

Caramel Sauce:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup xes sweetener or gentle sweet (you cannot substitute sweet blend here as it will not caramelize without the xylitol.)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp glucomannan
1/4 tsp mineral salt
1/4 tsp caramel extract (optional)

Filling:

1 cup caramel sauce (see above)
2 large eggs
1/3 c. xes sweetener or gentle sweet
1/4 c. almond or cashew milk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp glucomannan
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans
1 cup halved pecans
*optional for chocolate pecan pie ~ 1/2 cup THM Chocolate Chips

Directions

For the crust

• Place oat fiber, baking blend and butter into freezer for 15 minutes before starting crust process.
• In a large food processor, pulse oat fiber, baking blend, Gentle Sweet, and salt until combined. Add butter and pulse until pea-sized and some slightly larger pieces form. With the machine running, add vinegar, then ice water into feed tube, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough starts to come together and is moist but not wet and sticky (test by squeezing some with your fingers). Mixture will be crumbly.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, form into a ball, and flatten into a disk (making sure there are no/minimal cracks).
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is very cold, at least 2 hours or up to overnight. (Allow me to come clean here…If you follow the refrigeration instructions in this part of the recipe it will result in a slightly flakier crust. This is because of the steam created from the cold dough in the hot oven. HOWEVER,  if you are short on time, or just lazy like me, you can skip all the refrigeration steps and go straight to rolling out and baking. You still get a delicious crust!)
• Preheat oven to 425º and lightly grease a 9”-x-1.5” pie dish with cooking spray.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 12” circle.Drape over pie dish and gently press to fit (don’t stretch). (I highly suggest rolling this out on parchment paper. That way you can turn it over onto the pie plate and peel off the paper. I did not do this and you can see my cracks. It is a forgiving dough however and I just pushed it back together!) Prick bottom with a fork. Remove any excess pie dough.
  
  

  

  
• Bake 10-12 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º.

While waiting on the crust, make the caramel sauce,

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and gentle sweet and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the heavy cream. (It will bubble up.)
• Sprinkle in glucomannan while whisking to prevent clumping. Add salt.
• Put the saucepan back over medium heat and cook for 2-3 more minutes, stirring often.
• Remove from heat. Add extract if using. The sauce will be thin at this point but it will thicken as it cools. Allow sauce to cool to lukewarm before making pie filling.
  
  

  

For the filling

• Beat the eggs, gentle sweet, nut milk and cinnamon and caramel sauce until well combined. Add the chopped pecans and stir to combine.
• Pour the filling into the crust evenly. Top with pecan halves. (This step can be as fancy as you want or not fancy at all. In fact, you could use all chopped pecans if you want, the difference is only in how your finished pie will look, not taste.)
  
  

  
• Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the middle of the pie is set (not super jiggly).

Be sure to keep checking back. I will be posting all of the recipes that I like to have on hand to keep me on track during the upcoming holiday season. I will eventually compile them all into a Holiday Menu post.