What do you think of when you hear “pecan pie”? If you think of a delicious flaky crust, and a sweet, nutty, buttery filling, then this easy pecan pie recipe is for you. Not only is it the star of any holiday table its on, it’s also quicker and easier than your usual pecan pie recipe, thanks to the help of a little friend.
Hey bestie! Quick disclosure: This post is sponsored by Williams Sonoma. All opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog!
Pecan Pie is typically made at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Personally, I think it tastes great year-round. And Williams Sonoma’s Pecan Pie-In-A-Jar makes it easy for you to whip it up faster than usual.
Jump to:
What makes a perfect pecan pie
I’ll be honest with you, bestie. I was late to the game when it came to pecan pie. I didn’t try it once growing up. Not a single time. But trust me when I tell you that I’ve more than made up for it these past 7 years. And what have I learnt?
Well, the perfect pie is different for everyone. Some like it extra gooey, yum!
Some will not compromise on a flaky crust, I get the appeal.
Some prefer a less sweet version, nothing wrong with that.
…and some like raisins in their pecan pie. These people cannot be trusted.
Here’s what you’re going to get with this recipe. A sweet and gooey (but not runny) filling paired with a flaky, buttery crust.
How to make this easy pecan pie
Honestly, making pie is easier than you think. Here are the basic steps:
- Prepare the pie dough
- Roll out the dough
- Prepare the pecan filling
- Bake.
- Rest, slice, and serve!
A quicker homemade pie
I don’t make a lot of pies. And when I do make pies, I look for ways to speed up the process. There are three ways to do this for this pecan pie recipe:
Handmade vs machine-assisted dough
Handmade dough is a beautiful thing; literally, kneading shape and flavour into being. It also a thing that takes time and patience. It can also be a finicky thing…a finicky thing that I am not good at.
You might remember, I’m actually terrible at working with dough. (I was cursed by a fellow student while in grad school, because I wouldn’t give her the library book we both needed for our respective theses.)
Using a food processor helps me skip the fear of messing up my dough. It’s also quicker and easier. If you prefer working the dough by hand, you do you, bestie.
Using a store-bought crust
If you want to take almost all the real prep work out of this recipe, and have it in the oven in five minutes, you can use a store-bought crust. If you go for this method, make sure to follow the baking instructions on the packaging.
Using Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar
A premade filling saves you the work (and the time) of making a pecan pie filling at home. In fact, use a store-bought crust and Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar as your filling, and this becomes a perfect pie to let your kids make.
Tips for the perfect pecan pie
Keep the dough cool
As you’re working with cold butter and shortening, you’ll want to make sure not to cause any melting. Warm, melted butter will just be absorbed by the flour rather than coating it to create the tender, flaky crust you want!
For this reason, it’s also important not to skip the chilling step!
Use a pie shield
Ever had the problem where you’re crust is ready but your filling isn’t? So you bake it a little longer, so that the filling is perfect…but now you have a burnt crust? Simply fold a sheet of aluminium foil in half, and wrap it around the edge of your pie crust. It’ll protect your edges from burning, but it’s worth removing for the last 15 minutes of cooking (just to make sure your edges are fully cooked!).
Too much of a good thing
We all feel the tempted to overfill our pies with whatever delicious filling we’ve whipped up! However, if you overfill your pie (I don’t know any regular pie-bakers that hasn’t done this at least once!), there’s a good chance that it will overflow while baking, and make a mess of your oven.
Simply place a baking sheet under the pie dish to catch any overexcited pie filling – better safe than sorry! (I actually go as far as placing a baking sheet with parchment paper…because I don’t want to have to clean the baking sheet in case of spillage.)
Let it cool
Usually things taste best fresh out of the oven. However, bad things happen when you try to eat pecan pie before it’s had a chance to cool:
- The filling hasn’t had a chance to set so it’ll just run all over the place
- The filling will still be super hot. Like, burn your tongue hot. (Please don’t burn your tongue, bestie.)
Pair it for perfection
One of my favourite things to do with a slice of warm pecan pie is to add a dollop of ice cream to it. The mixture of hot and cold textures is divine. (Honestly, this is one of those simple things that can elevate even a mediocre slice of pie to greatness!)
Flavour variations
- Chocolate – coat the bottom of your pie with chocolate chips, and pour the filling on top. Once baked, drizzle on a little more chocolate.
- Brown butter – pretty self-explanatory, use brown butter instead of regular melted butter for a richer more caramelised taste.
- Salted caramel – make some caramel, toss in a few flakes of sea salt, and drizzle on top of your pie!
- Cinnamon – mix a teaspoon of ground cinnamon into your pecan filling to create some warmer notes.
Storage instructions
Once cooled, cover the pie tightly using plastic wrap, and freeze for up to 2 months. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before you serve it.
The pie dough can be made up to 5 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
More dessert recipes to try
- Burnt Basque Cheesecake
- Lemon Curd Cake with White Chocolate Swiss Buttercream
- Kunafah
- Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding
Williams Sonoma
I love Williams Sonoma. The Williams Sonoma store in Toronto’s Eaton Centre is actually my happy place in the mall. It’s been one of my favourite stores for a long time, and I’m super excited to have partnered with them for this post. Here’s a list of the Williams Sonoma products you’re looking at:
- The Great San Saba River Pecan Company Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar
- Ceramic Pie Dish (with “Baked with Love” message)
- Fall Pie Punches – I used these to get those pretty shapes on the pie crust!
- Harvest Bloom Spatulas (these are so beautiful, I wave them around like they’re magic Autumnal wands in my kitchen)
Did you go nuts for this easy pecan pie recipe? Have you tried Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar? Let me know in the comments below. (Also, did you get my clever little joke? No? Ugh. My wordy wit is wasted yet again!)
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Print📖 Recipe
Easy Pecan Pie (with Williams Sonoma)
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 1 delicious pecan pie 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A delicious and easy pecan pie recipe, using Williams Sonoma’s Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar, that creates a sweet pecan pie with a flaky, buttery crust. Perfect for Thanksgiving!
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled with a knife
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled, sliced into small pieces
- 3 tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled, in 3 pieces
- 4 tbsp water, chilled
For the Pecan Filling
- ½ jar Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
Instructions
For the Pie Crust
- Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor (fitted with the metal blade). Combine using the pulse setting a few times. Add butter and shortening, pulse until coarse crumbs form (totally normal to see pieces of butter and shortening in the mix!). Add the water and pulse a few times to add moisture to the dough. At this point, the dough should still be quite crumbly. Remove from the bowl, and place on a floured worksurface.
- Work the dough into a ball, and press down to create a disc shape. Wrap it in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes.
- On a lightly floured work surface, work the dough into a smooth disc. Be careful not to overwork it, you don’t need perfection – just a smooth surface that’s easy to roll out. (No prizes for guessing the next step.)
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 12-13-inch circle. Without pushing in a crease, fold the dough in quarters, and transfer to your pie pan, being careful not to stretch it. Unfold the dough so that it’s centred in the pie pan. Trim the edges of excess dough (anything more than ½ inch hanging over the edge of the pie pan), and then press the edges of your dough gently into the rim of the pie pan. Place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cover the dough with a bit of parchment paper, and fill it up with baking beans. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, until the crust is partially cooked and pale in colour. Discard the parchment paper, and the baking beans, and set aside until the filling is prepared.
For the Filling
- Remove jar lid, and microwave Pecan Pie-in-a-Jar filling for 1 minute. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the eggs and butter; stir until well mixed.
Easy Pecan Pie, Assemble!
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Pour the prepared filling into the partially cooked pie shell. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until done. Remove from oven, and allow to cool overnight (or at least 4 hours).
- Dig in! (Ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or unsweetened whipped cream on the side.)
Notes
- If you’re using a store-bought crust, follow the instructions on the package. It will almost certainly be different to mine above.
- This pie takes at least 4 hours to cool, ideally overnight. It’s perfect to make one day ahead of serving.
- The type of pie pan you use can impact the baking time slightly. I used a 10-inch ceramic pie dish, which worked great, however there are some very heavy ceramic dishes that heat up slower than others, which can slow the baking process significantly (it won’t ruin the actual pie in any way, just mess with your timings a little). A Pyrex dish, on the other hand, may heat up even quicker than my ceramic pie dish, resulting in a slightly shorter baking time.
- That reminds me, once you’re done baking – the pie shouldn’t be super wobbly. If its jiggling like there’s no tomorrow, then it probably hasn’t set yet. Give it a few minutes in the oven and check it again.
- When your pecan pie is fresh out of the oven, it’ll look puffy and inflated. It’s normal for pie to shrink a little as it cools.
- When baking, it’s always prudent to place a baking tray lined with parchment paper underneath it. This isn’t there to fulfil any classical baking technique, it’s there in case you pie filling overflows! It’s easier to toss away parchment paper than it is to clean an oven.
When creating your pie crust
- When patting down your dough, you may see cracks form around the sides. Don’t worry, this is normal.
- Once you’ve let the dough sit in the refrigerator for 45 minutes and are ready to proceed: Depending on how tough it is to work with, you might consider letting it sit outside for 10 minutes until it’s soft enough to roll.
- It’s always good practice to maintain a slightly floured worksurface, as well as a little flour on your hands. This is to stop the dough sticking either to your fingers or your worksurface!
- When rolling dough, you can rotate the dough so that it rolls out evenly. And don’t forget to flour your rolling pin from time to time too! (You’ll only need a small pinch of flour to do this each time. Just remind yourself that you’re flouring the rolling pin, not breading it!)
- If, at any point, your dough tears, don’t worry. You can just patch it back together. Dough’s good like that.
- If you don’t have baking beans or any pie weights, you can substitute with uncooked rice or lentils.
While decorating your pie crust
- You’ll need a little extra dough. You can use the leftover/cutaway dough. But in order to have a lot of options (for how you want to decorate), your best option is to double the dough preparation stage.
- Life will be a lot easier if you have some pie punches (dough cutters). If you happen to have surgical precision…a detailing knife will work too. I’ll stick to using my pretty pie punches.
Regarding the filling
- About half a jar of Williams Sonoma’s Pecan Pie in a Jar filling is enough for a standard 9-inch pie dish. However, you may need a bit more or less depending on the size and depth of your pie dish.
- Before adding in the eggs, you may need to let your microwaved filling cool slightly. You don’t want to end up with cooked eggs, after all!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Easy Pecan Pie, Williams Sonoma Pecan Pie, Pecan Pie in a Jar,
Disclaimer: This recipe post has been sponsored by Williams Sonoma. All opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog!
Reem
I didn’t even know pecan filling in a jar was a thing! Thank you for sharing this! It’s definitely a must try!
And those fall leaves are the prettiest thing ever!
★★★★★
Riz
Hello! Glad I could help you discover something new!! 🙂
Rana
Sounds like a super easy and delicious recipe <3
★★★★★
Riz
It is! I hope you give it a try! 🙂
Vince
Wow pie-in-a-jar? I have to try that as I usually don’t have the patience to bake, yet it still looks really tasty. Then I have to try layering the bottom with chocolate chips, that’s almost too much goodness…. 😍
Riz
Mmm…chocolate chip layered pecan pie…can I get an invite?
Luna
My husband said you’d do a thanksgiving recipe this year! And I said you wouldn’t. I’m glad he won our a little bet!!!
★★★★★
Riz
Hahaha! That’s hilarious!! You’re right though…I usually don’t do a lot of occasion specific recipes, but I decided to mix things up this year! (Just wait till closer to the end of the year! 😉 )
Aileen
Pecan pie is very popular in the South especially here in Texas. The state tree is the pecan tree! This pecan pie in a jar looks like a wonderful shortcut.
Riz
I had no idea! Thanks for the factoid, Aileen!
Yasmin
Wow this looks so tempting , will definitely try it for next dinner party and surprise my friends !! Thanks for sharing chocolates and Chai
Riz
Thank you!! I hope you and your friends enjoy it!
Fahmida Hussain Lubna
Very good recipe, I love Williams Sonoma
★★★★★
Riz
Thank you! I love Williams Sonoma too, I was super excited to be able to work with them on this recipe.
Khadijay
5 stars for innovative and fun details for Pecan Pie recipe!!
I haven’t tried making it as yet but absolutely love Pecan Pie so am going to enjoy making this (together with all your little jokes!).
★★★★★
Riz
Thank you! I hope love the recipe!
Farzana Karim
Looks delicious…..and easy to follow the recipe…… will make it soon …. thanks
★★★★★
Riz
Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Andrea Howe
My family loves pecan pie and asks for it every Thanksgiving but this is so easy I don’t mind making it for them anymore! So delicious too!
★★★★★
Riz
Hope you all have a happy pecan pie-filled thanksgiving!
Nadia Wahhab
Looks tempting..I will definitely try to follow it soon
Riz
Enjoy! 🙂
Jacqueline Debono
I so need to try that ready made pecan pie filling. This pie looks fabulous and I love the idea that using a ready made pastry dough and pie filling means it’s super easy and quick to make!
★★★★★
Riz
Thanks Jacqueline, I hope you like it!
Chef Dennis
I made this today for dessert and my family loved it! Thanks for such an easy to follow and delicious pecan pie recipe!
★★★★★
Riz
Thanks so much, Chef! I’m so happy to hear you and the family enjoyed it!
Beth
I’ve always loved pecan pie but I eat so little sugar these days that it would probably be too sweet. Thank goodness I don’t have my heart set on raisins in it. I’m certainly going to check out that pie-in-a-jar.
★★★★★
Riz
Hi Beth, I totally get it…and I’ll be honest with you, this pecan pie is definitely on the sweet side (I think most pecan pie recipes tend to be very sweet!). But if that’s not a dealbreaker, I think you will find a lot to enjoy here 🙂
Karyl Henry
I had no idea that filling in a jar was a thing! Now this will be a huge time-saver at the holidays. And because I never make pie crusts, this just made the job even easier.
★★★★★
Riz
Right?? Pecan Pie in a jar is a gamechanger over the holidays!
Neha Khanuja
Love that flaky crust! This one looks like a perfect pie recipe to me! I am totally going to try this one out.
Riz
Thanks Neha! I hope you enjoy it!!
Candice
So happy about how few ingredients are in this recipe! had to try t, and it came out great. Definitely a pie we will be making again!
★★★★★
Riz
Ahhh!! So happy to hear it, Candice! Thank you for letting me know!
Chandice Probst
I love pecan pie! It’s my absolute favorite and I love that this recipe really is soooo EASY!
★★★★★
Riz
Thanks so much, Candice!!! I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Natalie
Beautiful Fall-inspired recipe. Looks amazing and so delicious. I will definitely make this soon. My family loves pies and I love baking for them. Thanks for lovely recipe.
★★★★★
Riz
Hope you enjoy it, Natalie! Thanks for commenting!
Rebecca Blackwell
I am not generally a huge fan of Pecan Pie. But it’s my mom’s favorite dessert in the whole world and so I made this for her this week. To my surprise, I think I might have enjoyed it as much as she did. Love this recipe!
★★★★★
Riz
Hi Rebecca!! That’s amazing! I’m so happy to hear you BOTH enjoyed it!
H B
I ordered this online and will let you know what i think. I am excited for a late thanksgiving pie!
Riz
Hope you enjoy it!