Faux Pecan Pie
This is a fun recipe to feed people. At first glance, it looks like a pecan pie and folks usually don’t take a second glance before digging in for a bite and telling you how good it is. My husband’s exact words were “That is the BEST pecan pie I’ve ever tasted!”. Then I got to tell him it didn’t have any pecans in it…
A similar situation happened at my kid’s school when I took a few of these up there. One of the teachers came into the office talking about how good the pecan pie was and the secretary said “You mean the pecan less pecan pie?” she replied “Oh no, I got the one that had pecans in it…” ~snickers~ Of course, I hadn’t taken anything with pecans in it to the school.
This is a fabulous pie for those with nut allergies but that isn’t why I developed it, I actually didn’t even think about that until someone asked for the recipe, stating that they had a friend with allergies who would be excited to get pecan pie again! I developed it as a way of saving money. Have you seen the cost of pecans lately?
Right about now, making this pie with my recipe instead of pecans will save anywhere from five to seven dollars, depending on where you shop. Most folks I know can cook an entire supper for that amount of money!
So I guess there is a double bonus involved, but in hindsight having a faux pecan pie for those with nut allergies is a much greater purpose.
I have seen some varying recipes for faux pecan pie around the web. The most common one utilizing pinto beans in place of pecans. I have that on my list to try someday and I’ll probably do it around about the time I try raw oysters, but I couldn’t bring myself to suggest you put pintos in your pie so I set about developing my own faux pecan pie.
I started with my Mother’s No Fail Pecan Pie recipe and then blended it a bit with that crust of my Strawberry Pretzel Salad (which is in my cookbook, but not on SouthernPlate.com). Everyone is always surprised that the crust isn’t made of pecans, so what a great inspiration to add to my pie! It took about seven pies to get the proportions and cooking time just right, because this pie really needs to be made as a deep dish but I’m finally ready to bring it to you today in it’s final form.
I’m gonna start this post out with a disclaimer that I’m sure is obvious to just about everyone reading this: Pecan pie is not a health food. It’s not supposed to be. A good pecan pie is gonna contain butter, sometimes lots of it. It will also have sugar in various forms, usually granulated and corn syrup. A good pecan pie is not for the faint of heart but it is the golden nugget of pies. Rich, buttery, delicious. Unlike any other. This Faux Pecan Pie lives up to all of those expectations.
If you’re on a diet, just have one or two bites and make sure you savor them, then be sure and make it again when you’re not on a diet anymore. If you have a family member or friend with a nut allergy, this would be a welcome treat for them at your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner! But I suggest not telling anyone it doesn’t have pecans until they eat it, mainly because it is fun seeing the look on their face 
.
You’ll need: A Deep Dish Pie Crust, Light Corn Syrup, Butter, Pretzels, Sugar, Eggs, and Vanilla.
I recommend unsalted, real butter in this recipe.
I also recommend not spelling “recommend” unless you have to because it is one of those annoying words to spell. I really think it needs two “c” ‘s but Websters never listens to me. ~sigh~
Note: If all you have is margarine or you just can’t afford butter, go for it. Trust me, I’ve been there! The pie will taste slightly different but t’ain’t nobody here gonna judge because we were raised better than that. ~Grin~
Following my recipe below, place the butter for the pie filling in a large bowl and microwave it until melted. Allow to cool.
You ever hear the saying “Do as I say, don’t do as I do?” Well that applies here. Normally you could just dump all of your other filling ingredients in and give them a stir but I don’t really have time to allow my butter to cool so I’m gonna stir in my sugar real good to cool it down a bit before I add everything else.
If I just dumped everything in with hot butter, it would cook my eggs a bit, leaving me with thin ribbons of cooked egg mixed in with the custard of my pie and that isn’t very fun!
So at this point you can add in all of your other ingredients and give it a good stir until well combined.
But if you’re impatient like me, add your sugar first and stir that up a bit until your butter is cooler.
Like this.
Now add all of the other filling ingredients and give it another good stir.
I’ve had a few questions about my flat whisk pictured here. I bought this when my friend Maralee McKee told me about it. It came from Williams Sonoma and is the only thing I have ever bought from that store, lol. I go in there from time to time just to look around and really enjoy it, but I find that specialized tools and pots aren’t a good use of my money when standard things I have around my kitchen will do just fine and I don’t have to find the storage space for them. I can just see my great grandmother staring at a wall of peculiar utensils and asking “Now what do ya need all them thangs for?”
You can also find these whisks on Amazon by searching for “flat whisk”. They really do work well and I prefer it over a traditional whisk.
Here is our pie filling all mixed up. Ready for an action shot now?
Isn’t that pretty? I’ve learned how to do a lot of things left handed since having to venture into the wonderful world of food photography.
Whoops, I was being a bit sarcastic there when I said “wonderful”. Food photography is actually the one thing I don’t really enjoy that much about blogging. Food is very uncooperative. I have yet to ask any item of food to pose pretty and not been met with a blank and vacant stare.
It doesn’t help that I’m not one to be more impressed with a piece of say, banana bread, just because it is encased in a soft focus vignette. I find banana bread on an old corelle plate, presented as is, has more heart. ~sighs~ I know, but I have to at least attempt pretty food pictures. I put a wee bit of my heart into it from time to time.
But if you ever think some of my food isn’t pretty, just imagine a sweet granny standing behind it, handing it to you with a loving expression.
That is how I picture all of my food, and it makes it quite beautiful. Tricks of the camera or photo shop can’t add an effect like that.
Oops, got sidetracked. Okay so here is your filling in the crust.
I know it looks yellow now but it will be that beautiful golden color once baked.
Now we need to crush our pretzels.
I’m using my heirloom rolling pin that my great grandmother bought for my mother with green stamps when Mama was just thirteen years old.
At thirteen, her parents divorced and she went to live with her father to take care of him. She cooked all of the meals and kept house until he remarried a few years later.
At thirteen, I was listening to bad eighties music, hanging out at the mall, and spending my spare time becoming proficient with aqua net hair styling techniques.
Never hurts to contrast your life with others in order to see how good you got it.
Place your pretzels in a gallon zipper bag and crush those puppies. They don’t have to be pulverized, just broke up kinda good.
I took this rollin pin with me when I went to film at Paula Deen’s house and we used it on the show. I told her all about it and we talked green stamps for quite a while. That show airs this Saturday for the first time. November 5, 2011. Check the Food Network for times in your area and click here to rsvp on my Facebook page if you plan on watching and read a few behind the scenes stories I’ve posted.
Melt your butter for the topping (see recipe) and add in your tiny amount of sugar.
Add in pretzels and stir until coated well.
Sprinkle evenly over the top of your pie.
I know it will seem like a lot of pretzels but they sink down a bit as we cook, which is why I made this a deep dish pie. The first pie I tried wasn’t deep dish and it seemed like there was hardly any filling when the pretzels sunk down a little bit. This will come out in perfect proportions to the top crust and the filling.
Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for one hour, covering with foil after the first thirty minutes to prevent over browning.
Allow to cool completely before serving.
This is a piece of pie posing on a Jewel Tea, Autumn Leaf plate.
This is a closer shot that shows the filling a little better (because I couldn’t pick which one I liked the most)
This post is dedicated to my sweet friend, Alyssa, who has a nut allergy.
I got to meet her yesterday when I had a book signing at a local elementary to support their book fair.
I mentioned today’s post and she was so excited for a nut free pecan pie!
Special thanks to everyone who invited me and were so kind yesterday.
I enjoyed getting to meet you all and what an honor it was to see a table filled with food from my cookbook!
Notice one piece of the pie is unaccounted for. ~looks innocent~
I hope you get to make this soon and enjoy your faux pecan pie!
Don’t forget to add this pie to your holiday menu!
If you’re coming to my Holiday Cooking Show on November 10th (see poster below this recipe), this is one of the many recipes I’ll be serving the entire audience!
Advance ticket purchase is recommended but you can also pay at the door.
Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 1-1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Deep Dish Pie Shell, unbaked
- 1-1/2 cups crushed pretzels
- 3 T butter, melted
- 2 T sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- For Filling:Place first five ingredients in large mixing bowl and mix with wire whisk until well combined.
- Pour into pie shell.
- Combine all topping ingredients in medium bowl and stir well with a spoon to coat pretzels.
- Sprinkle topping evenly over pie.
- Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour, covering with foil after 30 minutes to prevent over browning.
- Allow to cool completely before serving. Can be made a day or two ahead of time and stored in refrigerator.
Print This Recipe
Sara submitted a great quote on our Give A Penny Page that I think really puts you in the right frame of mind for dealing with life sometimes. We can’t just go out meekly with a weak smile and hope for a good day, we have to do it with Gusto!
“Tackle the world with a smile, and the world will tackle you back with more than one.”
Thank you Sara! Submit your quote by clicking here.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Nov 2 2011. Filed under Dessert, Holiday Favorites!, Holidays, Pie.
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I’m so excited to try this recipe Christy! Not because anyone I know has a nut allergy, but because both my mom and one of my sons cannot eat nuts and seeds due to diverticulosis. Of course, they both LOVE pecan pie! This holiday season they’ll both be so very happy to be able to enjoy one of their favorites thanks to you!
Christy, What a wonderful pie idea you’ve created !! I haven’t made a Pecan Pie in years, so many family members can’t eat nuts for different reasons, I gave up. But I do love Pecan Pie, so I hope to be making this soon . I will be watching you on Paula Deens show . Two of my Favorite Southern Ladies , on the same show tooo much, I love it. !! ((( HUGS ))) God Bless You : )
I need to find my recipe for pecan pie made with pinto beans instead of pecans. I will send it to you when I find it. And I must try this one!!
I have that same recipe using pinto beans instead of pecans which I made a lot when lived in Ohio and and most everyone that tried it liked it.
Christy,
Thank you so very much for this recipe for pecan pie THE PRICE IS RIGHT !!
I enjoy so much reading your site… thank you for sharing . I’ve tried several of the recipes and have enjoyed them.
Oh, I can’t wait to try this. My daughter has a severe pecan allergy and this recipe sounds like a wonderful substitution. I’m also working on the thanksgiving luncheon comittee at her school and will be bringing this pie for the teachers.
Oh Christy it sounds so good. I have a couple grandkids allergic to nuts so I never do pecan pie and husband and I love it. I most defintley will have to give this a try but will have to be for just us.
I love love love the plate your pie is on. I have so over the years wanted a set of dishes like that. My grandmother had a whole set plus serving dishes when I was a little girl. I have never found a complete set but may be someday I will. Just brings back so many special memories of such a special lady.
Karan
I make pecan pie cheesecakes for Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to substitute the pretzels! You rock gurrrrrrl!
:)
Can’t wait to try it! Pecans are expensive…pretzels are cheap!
Dear Christy, thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. For a reason I don’t know I can’t see any of the pics, but your instructions are so easy I think I won’t have any problem.
Can’t wait to try it! But I have a question–salted or unsalted pretzels? Pecans are not salty, so the unsalted ones?
Christy, Thank you for sharing this recipe. Pecans are so expensive that I rarely bake anything that requires them in the recipe. Wondering if pretzels would work well in other recipes that call for pecans. Love your cookbook and looking forward to the next one!!! God Bless!
So, do you suppose the price of pretzels will go up now because of this recipe? Hummmmmm…………
I will have to try this….and I love the Jewel Tea plates. I just started collecting the set…
Chrissty, thank you so much! My Mom’s most favorite pie is Pecan. She has not been able to have it in years because of diverticulosis. This Thanksgiving, she will have her pie….Thanks to you!
I love this! Any salty/sweet combo is always a huge hit in our house. I made a peanut butter pie with a pretzel crust last year (Southern Living, of course) that was absolutely delicious, so I’m really excited to try this one.
WHAT IN THE WORLD????? I can hardly wait to try this one, Christy!
I’m wondering the same thing as Jean. Salted or Unsalted pretzels.
Salted. Goes great with the sweet!
And then there’s that apple pie recipe that uses no apples…instead, it uses Ritz crackers.
This recipe looks great!!
I just got a recipe from my uncle for “apple pie” that uses extremely large zucchini instead of apples. I would be happy to email it to anyone who requests.
I would love to have the recipe, sounds interesting…I’ve heard of using crackers for the apple pie but not the zucchini, know thety make great muffins. jo.autrey@yahoo.com is where I can be reached. Thanks!
You are using these lovely pyrex mixing bowls!!! Are these the ones with the maple leaves??? My mama had a set of these bowls and I got them when she died. (i broke the last one several years ago) Last year I seen a set on ebay…probably pd too much but I HAD to have them! They are the best bowls for mixing and baking!
Saw this earlier and didn;t read it thinking ” I’d not make a pecan pie without pecans…how dumb!” But now after following you through and see the whole thing, it proves a picture is worth a thousand words! Might make a practice run before Thanksgiving and tell no one! Keep up this great sharing of your wondrful recipes!
Guess what? Just downsized into smaller home, with bigger kitchen, and… there are two pecan trees and two black walnuts. Wanna pick out black walnuts? I am fighting the squirrels for the pecans but noticed where they were burying them and dug them up. They don’t like me and tell me off when I go out to get “their” nuts. Sorry guys… it is my money!
This is SO funny, can just see you watching the poor things and then stealing their nuts:) We have a tree by our front door and think the SSquirrel family living there actually throw acors at us, there’s nuts all around the door and steps, drives our dogs crazy!
LOVE IT!
‘Recommend’ should certainly be spelled with another “c” I am right there with you on that one. My hubby is allergic to walnuts & pecans so this pie is perfect. Although, i have to say, I miss the nuts, the one good for you item in the whole pie, well, I guess eggs count. Anyway, fantastic! Thanks! 
what a great idea. i’m going to have to try this one.
Can’t wait to try this recipe..
From Facebook:
Wanda R – I made the faux pecan pie last night. Hub didn’t know the difference!
Michelle T – Already made one today,the whole family loved it!
I had to have this so purchased the ingredients today! I have pecan pie lovers from generations past and can’t wait to spring this on them….wonder if they’ll notice? Will they write Santa to have him check me off his list??
Thanks, Christy, for all the great recipes and look forward to another great cook book from you!
Let me know what they think Jo, I think they will keep you on the good list though!!
What a brilliant idea! I love this!
I got 2 of these puppies in the oven as I type. Cant wait to surprise my sister and her family with this “new pecan pie recipe”. LOL….it will be our lil secret…..
I can’t wait to hear what they think Martha!!
I have made this pie for years, but also with Pinto Beans, rinse a can of pinto beans and mashed them before adding leave them a little chunky….instead of the pretzels.
Thank so much for this recipe. My daughter is the pecan pie maker in our house. She will be glad to find a less expensive way to make it. Pecans are (as is everything) expensive. I will be watching tomorrow on Paula.
I am sitting here at my desk eating a piece of this heavenly concoction as I type. It is absolutely delicious. Awesome share and creation, Christy! I am planning on making one of these for our Thanksgiving dinner, and am not going to say a word about what’s in it, LOL! With the price of groceries these days, what a wonderful find this is. By the way.. I love the new Aldi grocery store in Huntsville. Christy, they have eggs for 49 cents a dozen and gallons of milk for 1.99. God bless and keep you and yours,
Pokey
Gurley Alabama
Oh boy! This pie will allow my 15 year old son, Gabriel, to have a slice of “pecan” pie for the first time in his life. He is allergic to pecans & walnuts. Thank you so much!
You are a genius! I love pecan pie and my allergic son has kept it off our Thanksgiving table for a few years now. No more, thanks to this great recipe! You have made my day.
I’ll definitely have to try this! When I was a kid I knew my grandfather didn’t like pecans but his favorite pie was pecan pie. I didn’t like pecans either and his love of pecan pie really confused me until I finally tried a piece. Then I got it
Still don’t care for pecans in desserts (though I like them plain) but love pecan pie anyway.
Oh goodness sakes alive,
(That’s an old saying ha)
I can hardly wait to make several of these for Thanksgiving, I may not be able to wait that long I may have to make myself & hubby one before then.
Thanks so much Christy, I have and adore your Cookbooks and I have made so many of your recipes I would be hard pressed to say which is my favorite.
Personally, I’m a nut for nuts. Unfortunately, the majority of my family suffer from both acute and chronic diverticulitis and can’t have nuts. Thank you, Christy, for giving us pecan pies again! May you and your family have a blessed Thanksgiving!
I made two of these yesterday and took one to work, they loved it! I think i’ll go have a piece now…..tomorrow I think im going to make a yellow cake with peanut butter frosting…..YUM
Hi! We don’t have corn syrup or any other similar stuff, where I live. The only liquid sweetener we have is honey or agave syrup (and very expensive rice syrup). What can I use to substitute corn syrup with?
Thank you so much for bringing lovely aromas and hearty meals into my home
Hey Maja! So nice to have you here!
There are a couple of things you can use. First choice would be “golden syrup”. I’m told it is commonly available in Europe and make a seamless substitute. If you can’t find that, honey will work as well but may be a touch sweeter so I’d cut down a few tablespoons.
Hope this helps!
Gratefully
Christy
I have this one in the oven right now!! can’t wait to try it!!
Hope you like it Anne!!!
[...] Attendees will receive a program which includes all recipes I cook during the show and I can’t wait for you to taste my Faux Pecan Pie! [...]
Christy, I made this, this weekend for my family, and they could not believe this wasn’t pecan pie! Even my grand mother in law was able to eat a piece as she can’t eat nuts, and she was thrilled to be able to eat to a pecan pie! Thank you Christy!
Christy, I made your faux pecan pie last week for my husband. He never thought it was anything but a pecan pie!!!! I never told him differently and casually asked how he liked the pie and he said it was very good! And he is one of those people who if he had known it had pretzels in it he would NOT have tried it for the world!! I thought it was excellent too!!! Thank you so much for sharing. My sister-in-law couldn’t wait to get the recipe as she hates paying the high prices for pecans too. I am thrilled that I found your site and I loved you on Paula’s show. Two southern women can NOT be beat when it comes to cooking, girlfriend! (I’m an Arkansas gal myself).
Well, I substituted syrup for honey, but added a bit of water. Have it in the oven right now and it looks and smells fabulous! One more question though. Whenever I read “cup” recipes (we usually weigh out our ingredients) and see that it calls for melted butter, I wonder. Do you melt the butter and then measure it out or you measure out the butter whil still unmelted? Also for pretzels I hesitated, do I measure them out crushed or whole? I went for crushed…Hope that was right!
Have a nice day!
Maja
Okay, okay- so I’m soooo excited to announce that this pie is AH-MA-ZING! I was picking off pieces of the top (I know, shame on me) after it came out of the oven…and oh my word it tasted just like pecans! Even had the same chewy texture that pecans have after they’ve been baked and are still warm. Also- I couldn’t wait, I had to have a slice before bed. So I did a lot of blowing, and some tongue burning- but it was worth it! Now I have a yummy pie to eat after dinner, and I think I’mma take some of my whipping cream and make some whipped cream to go with it!
Hey Maja–
Measure the butter unmelted- then melt it. Really it’s gonna be the same either way, it’s just easier this way. And I crushed my pretzels and then measured them. If you were to measure out a cup and a half when they’re whole it wouldn’t yield quite the same amount. And as for the weight, well I’m just gonna have to go buy a scale. In my attempt to be helpful, I realized that I really have no idea how to tell you how much 12 oz is by weight when it comes to pretzels. But I do know that the butter should have been 138 g (for the filling) if you were working with Metric, and 42 g for the topping!
Random side note- can I just send you some measuring cups
? Hope this helps!
Thank you Jessica for your comment!
But I really was in doubt with butter-its hard to pack cold butter in a measuring cup. And when I melted my “cup” of butter and put it in the cup again, the amount was less than a cup. Its really easy to measure out things like milk, flour, sugar, oil, but butter got me wondering.
I do have measuring cups-purchased them on ebay the moment I started reading cooking blogs
Anyhow, the pie was indeed wonderful
I can’t wait to try this. I was wondering if you can substitute pretzels for the pecan topping on sweet potato casserole. I’m going to try that, too!
Ohhh, great idea Lisa, I bet you can!!
This is the most ridiculously AMAZING pie!!! You have NO idea how thankful I am that you shared this recipe. My daughter is allergic to peanuts, which rules out all nuts because of possible cross contamination during processing. This was so easy to make too! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
I am so glad to hear you liked it and that your daughter is able to eat it!! Nut allergies can be so hard to deal with and I am so glad that this recipes open up a little bit for those facing those allergies! Because everyone should be able to eat Pecan Pie, even if it is a faux one!!
You are a flippin’ genius! Thank you for this great recipe!
I just made this faux pecan pie, and it is better than my pecan recipe. Hubby wanted to know what the crunchy topping was I sain Pretzels, when he finished eating his piece of pie, he commented that it was good and I agree. Thanks Christy for sharing.