Chocolate Pecan Pie — Angela St. Cyr

This is probably my families favourite dessert! Toasting the pecans prior to baking the pie adds such richness and depth while helping to cut the sweetness of the chocolate. My daughter used to HATE pecan pie because she didn't like the jelly-like filling that formed around the pecans. The chocolate cuts down on that immensely, so now she loves Pecan Pie...well mine at least lol. If you try only one pie recipe in your life, this should be it!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For the crust:

1c flour

1/4tsp salt

1/3c cold butter or shortening cut into cubes

2-4tbsp ice cold water

TIP- If you use half butter and half shortening you'll get the perfect flakiness while still being tender and full of buttery flavour. It's a little more work but it's worth the effort in my opinion.

Pop everything except the water into the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until the butter pieces are the size of small peas.

Now add 2tbsp of the cold water over the flour mixture and turn the mixer on low speed for a second. If all the flour is moistened and the pastry leaves the side of the bowl then you are finished. It's very important not to over-mix at this point or your crust will be tough. If your pastry isn't coming together yet add another tablespoon or so of water to the mixture and give it another stir. Take a bit of the pastry out and squeeze it. ...if it holds together it's ready, if not add a tiny bit more water and give it a gentle stir.

Remove the dough from the mixer, knead it a couple of times and shape it into a flattened round and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow it to chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This will make it easier to work with.

Remove the dough from the fridge and unwrap it. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin roll the pastry into a circle that's about 2" larger than your pie plate.

Fold the pastry into fourths and place in the pie plate. Unfold the dough and shift into place. Trim any excess pastry so it's 1" bigger than the rim of the pie plate.

Fold and roll the edge of the pastry under and flute the edges simply by pinching with your fingers. Prick the crust all over with a fork, it will help the steam escape while baking.

Set aside until the filling is ready.

Filling:

2/3c sugar

1/3c butter (melted)

1c Rogers Golden syrup or corn syrup

2tbsp vanilla

1/2tsp salt

3 eggs

1 1/2c pecan halves (toasted)

1c dark chocolate chips

Pop everything except the pecans and the chocolate chips into a large bowl and give it a good whisk. Now stir in the toasted pecans and the chocolate chips.

Pour the filling into your prepared pie crust and cover the edge with a 3" strip of foil to prevent excess browning.

Bake for approximately one hour minutes, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes. You'll know it's ready when it looks all puffy and no longer seems liquid when you give the pan a wiggle. Remove from oven and let it cool for at least an hour before serving.

I like to serve this with a dollop of vanilla whipped cream. Enjoy!

TIP- I toast my pecans in the oven as soon as it's preheated... just until they become fragrant. It usually takes about 10 minutes or so.