This gooey, chocolatey, decadent pecan pie is loaded with chocolate chips and sits on top of a flakey homemade crust. It’s simple to make and is an impressive addition to your Thanksgiving pie line up!
I used to not be so sure about pecan pie…and then I added chocolate chips. It adds an extra level of richness that compliments the sweet nutty flavor. You can use a store bought crust, or make your own using this simple homemade pie crust recipe.
5 Pie Crust Tips:
1. Use COLD ingredients. Then wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it chill in the fridge for an additional 30-60 minutes before rolling out. This isn’t mandatory, but makes it easier to roll out the dough, especially if your kitchen is warm.
2. Do NOT over work the dough. Handle as minimally as possible. Overworked dough and too much flour are two main culprits for having dough break apart on you.
3. Don’t be afraid to have a lot of dough on the top edges. Pie crusts naturally shrink in while baking, so having a generous amount there will help it keep its shape. To crimp, simply use your pointer finger in one hand to make an indentation, and use your thumb and pointer finger in another hand to pinch. There are lots of helpful YouTube videos on this as well.
4. To transfer the dough from your work surface to the pie dish, there are a few ways:
– Use a bench scraper to carefully lift off the work surface, using your hands and scraper to transfer.
– Use a rolling pin to peel one edge off of the work surface, letting it gently hang while transferring.
– Use a silicone mat as your work surface. Putting one hand on top of the dough, flip the silicone mat over the pie dish, using your hand on the dough to gently put the dough into place.
5. If some pieces of dough tear, it’s okay! Gently press the dough into place, adding patches of dough if necessary to fill any larger tears or holes. By the time you put a filling in, no one will know!
Happy baking!
Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 cup flour, + more for working
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 tsp vinegar
- About 3-4 TB ice water
- egg + dash of milk (for egg wash prior to baking)
Filling
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
- ½ cup pecan halves*
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup corn syrup or pure maple syrup
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup dark brown sugar (light brown sugar will work too)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Fill a glass with ice water. Set aside.
- Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the shortening. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut the shortening into the flour. You should be left with small clumps of shortening in the mixture. (See picture above)
- Add vinegar and then add the ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time. Mix it in with a fork. The mixture should resemble something like biscuit dough, but slightly more moist. It will be somewhat sticky, hold shape, but not stick TO you.
- Gently wrap your ball of dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.** This will make it easier to roll out.
- When the dough is chilled, gently roll it out on a floured work surface. I love using a silicone mat for this for easy transfer to the pie dish. Roll it out until the dough is about 1" larger than your pie dish. (Flip your pie dish over for easy measurement against the dough)
- Transfer (see pie transfer tips in notes above) to your 9" pie dish. Crimp the edges and place in the fridge until your filling is ready.
Filling & Baking
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together corn syrup/maple syrup, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, melted butter, salt, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the chocolate chips and chopped pecans.
- Brush an egg wash (whisked egg and a dash of milk) on the edges of the crust. Pour filling into the unbaked pie crust. Line the inside with the pecan halves as shown in the picture.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. The pie is done when it is no longer jiggly. Let is rest at room temperature for an hour, and then store in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!
My mom said “this is one of the best desserts you’ve ever made!!!” And I’ve made a heck of a lot of desserts! 5 Stars!
Wow! That’s such a kind compliment! I used to turn my nose up at pecan pie until this version! So glad your family loved it too! Thanks for sharing!