Brown Butter Pecan Pie

How do you improve upon a classic? By browning the butter. It takes the awesomeness of butter and amps it up times ten. True story. I discovered what all the fuss about brown butter was quite by accident when making my most favorite Chicken and Dumpling Casserole. Best mistake I ever made in the kitchen. So, when my daughter wanted to make pecan pie for Thanksgiving, and she found a recipe using brown butter, I knew it would be a winner.

I was so right! I apologize for the less than stellar cell phone pics. Per usual, I had several things going on in the kitchen and the light...ugh. I do not like that it gets dark so early now! My mother declared this the best pecan pie she has ever eaten. And just in case you are not aware, my mom is always right. 

This one got a little overdone...it wasn't quite as full as the first. I would recommend using a deep dish pie crust, but we used two regular/standard crusts.

Brown Butter Pecan Pie

1 (9-inch) deep dish pie crust (we used store bought)

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

2 cups pecans, chopped (plus additional pecan halves for decorating tops if desired)

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium heat proof bowl, whisk together sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add eggs and whisk until combined. 
• In a small sauce pan, melt butter on medium heat, stirring frequently until butter turns brown and fragrant. This will take 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir brown butter a few tablespoons at a time into your sugar mixture (to avoid cooking the eggs). Once you have added about half the butter, you can slowly pour the remaining in, continuing to stir. 
• Stir in chopped pecans, and pour into pie crust. Decorate the top with additional pecans if desired. 
• Bake for approximately 50 minutes, then check to see if crust is getting too dark, if so, loosely cover with foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Check pie to see if the filling is set. The outer edges should be firm, with a slight jiggle in the middle. If it seems very "jiggly" or loose, continue to bake until set. *We like our pecan pie a little more on the done side, whereas some people like it very gooey and runny. So baking time is going to depend on personal preference. And if you are like us, just guessing and luck. I'm kidding. (Not really.)
• Once done, remove from oven and let cool for 3-4 hours before slicing. We like to make ours the day before.

Recipe Source: Gimme Some Oven

This was so good that I'm sure it will make another appearance at Christmas! (and to think I didn't used to like pecan pie!)

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