- Is it pecan or pecan?

Either way, you can make this ultimate delicious southern classic.

Today we're making pecan pie.

(upbeat music) (icons popping) So a pie crust may seem daunting, but it's actually super-easy to make.

I've popped this into the freezer, so it's nice and cool.

So you're gonna need one and one fourth cups of all-purpose flour.

So to that I'm gonna add a half a teaspoon of salt and just really mix that up well.

Now we're gonna add one half cup of just vegetable shortening.

So I'm gonna use my pastry cutter, and if you don't have a pastry cutter, just simply use a fork.

And I'm gonna incorporate this shortening into our dry ingredients.

I'm gonna throw in just a little bit of allspice to this.

You can also use cinnamon, and I'm gonna add four tablespoons of cold ice water to our pie crust.

Now I'm gonna add that one at a time, and I'm kinda just gonna sprinkle it over our ingredients in the bowl.

And I'm gonna give that a stir, just a gentle toss every time.

And you can see that it's starting to make little balls, it kinda resembles a biscuit dough.

So flour your surface well.

I'm gonna put a little bit of flour on this and I'm gonna form it into a ball.

So you're basically just gently handling it, almost like an egg, and I'm gonna flatten that out into a disk.

So now that we've formed our dough into a disc, we're gonna take some Saran Wrap or a cotton cloth or a linen cloth, and we're gonna wrap this up, pop it in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 30 minutes.

(clock ticking) So our dough is out of the freezer, so let's unwrap and see what we're dealing with here, and it's perfectly chilled and cold.

I'm gonna place this on a well-floured board, and that's another key when you're making a pie crust, is you want everything to be perfectly floured so that you're not sticking to anything.

So I'm using my Aunt Estelle's handy dandy pie-rolling pin here, and I'm gonna start from the inside and work my way out and then transfer it to your pie crust.

And if it works, which this one may or may not, you can just like unfold it into your bowl.

And if you have any that kinda comes loose, don't worry about it, you can form it in your pie pan here.

So what I like to do is kind of center it and then I'll work it up the sides.

And so to easily crimp, just take your fingers just like this and just crimp that pie all around.

You can also use a pie crimper too if you want, but we're not that professional today.

So there's no need to put any holes in the bottom of this pie or anything.

All right, let's set our pie crust to the side and clean up.

(clicks fingers) (piano roll) Ta-da.

Now on to phase two of pecan pie and probably the most important part, which is the filling, and it's super, super-easy.

So I'm gonna take a cup of chopped pecans and I'm just gonna sprinkle that in my pie shell.

And you know what, I'm gonna add just a few more extra too, because you really can't have too many nuts in there.

Now you want to put that directly into your pie shell because you want your nuts to rise up through the filling as it bakes, and that's what really is gonna make it fluffy and all that ooey-gooey goodness that you really want in a pecan pie.

So in our bowl here, I am going to add three eggs.

Now we are gonna give those a little slight beat, (utensil tapping) (upbeat music) one's trying to swim away from us here, and I'm gonna add in a half-a-cup of sugar.

I'm just gonna mix those together really well too first.

Just really cream 'em up here, some really pretty yolks.

You know your pie's gonna be good when it's already bright and yellow and shiny and smiling.

I'm gonna add in a couple tablespoons of vanilla.

Vanilla's one of those things that I just love a lot of, so if it ever calls for a teaspoon, why not add more?

I'm gonna add in two tablespoons of melted butter, a little bit of pinch of salt there, and last but not least, our golden syrup.

That's what's really gonna make our pie nice and rich, rich, that southern flavor that you want.

Pecan pie's, one of my favorites, and pecan pie's one of those things that when you make it, the longer it sits, the better, that is if it sits at all, usually they disappear pretty quick.

So mix all of your ingredients up really well.

Disperse all of that golden syrup through our batter.

And you know, pecan pie is one of those things that you can make a chocolate pecan pie, you can add a little bit of bourbon.

Sometimes I add a little bit of raspberry liqueur.

So it really is one of those things that you can kind of add your own twist.

So now that our ingredients are sufficiently mixed up, we are going to pour them directly over our pecans in our pie shell.

And as you can see, the pecans are already starting to rise up and float to the top, and if you want to add a little bit of decoration to your pie, of course it's endless the amounts of decoration you can do, but I always like to keep a few whole pecans and I'll just do a little design.

I'll start in the middle and do four, and then I'll alternate out almost like a sunburst and boom.

All right, so our pie is ready to go in a 350 degree oven, for 55 to 60 minutes.

You're gonna know that your pie's ready when it is all risen to the top, ooey, gooey, bubbly, and then your pie crust is gonna have a nice golden hue.

And who am I kidding?

I can't wait that long, ding.

There you go.

Ready set, I just need a cutter.

(picture pinging) So once and for all from North Alabama, it has to be pecan.

Now I think you can get away with pecan if you're like from southern Alabama or from the place they say pecan.

So, but here it's pecan.

I actually don't know a single person that I grew up around or I'm friends with, or anybody from here that says pecan.

It's always pecan.

I think you would probably get ostracized if you like said pecan around here, you're like, "What are you trying to be high and mighty for?"

(laughs) (picture pinging) So let's cut into this pie here.

Pecan pie is one of those things too that just gets better as it sits to me but it don't ever sit for long, that's for sure, not around one of our holidays.

I'm just going in for it here.

I've never been the best pie cutter.

I'm not even gonna use a fork, I'm going right in.

Mm, that good, homemade, flaky crust.

It's just a perfect complement to like the gooey golden center and those good toasted pecans on top.

Mm, it makes me really think the holidays are the holidays because no matter what table I was at, there always was a couple of pecan pies and it really is that syrup that makes it.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) Anyway, I'm just gonna eat this pecan pie.

It's always pecan for me though.

Hmm.

Well, that's a wrap, I've ate the whole piece.

And whenever you're making something and you're cracking your eggs, rather than hitting them on the side of the counter, which can push like bacteria, whatever's on the outer shell, simply take 'em and just.

(egg bangs) Somebody's joking me here, they put the rubber egg.

(laughs) Unless your egg is rubber.

(crew laughs) It was so good.

(crew laughs) It was so good.

- [Crew Member] Got you.

- When did you do that?

- [Crew Member] Oh, well you were running around.

(crew laughs) - Oh, that is so, and it feels like real too.

(crew and Trace laugh) (gentle music)