Southern Belle Chocolate Praline Pecan Pie

Georgia Girl's Note:

This is an unusual pecan pie because it uses only brown sugar--no corn syrup. This gives it a wonderful consistentcy, and this is my most requested dessert of all time. I always have to take 2 extras to family gatherings so everyone can take some home. I got the original recipe from my aunt, but I have added the cocoa, more pecans, more eggs, the alcohol and changed other ingredient amounts over the years, so I consider it my creation now.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 3 pies

• 3 9-inch pie shells
• 3/4 cup butter
• 6 large eggs
• 2 (16 ounce) boxes light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Kahlua or 2 tablespoons Tia Maria or 2 tablespoons Amaretto
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 18 pecan halves, for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Melt the butter and set aside.
3. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl.
4. Sift the brown sugar into the eggs (yes, sift) and mix well.
5. Add the remaining ingredients except for the pecan halves and mix thoroughly.
6. NOTE: If you don't want to add the 2 Tablespoons of alcohol, then increase the vanilla extract amount to 1 Tablespoon.
7. Distribute the pie filling evenly between the 3 pie crusts, and decorate the tops of each pie with 6 pecan halves in a pinwheel pattern.
8. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35 minutes.

Reviews

[LorenLou]

A terrific addition to my Thanksgiving repertoire! The chocolate flavor is very subtle and the amaretto and very soft (I didn't sift) brown sugar gave it a wonderful smoothness. I bought a 2 lb. bag of sugar, made sure it was very soft, with no lumps and just dumped it in instead of sifting. Turned out perfect in taste, although a bit brown so will probably bake just for only 30 min. next time - a definite keeper!

[Linda B]

I took this delicious pie to a friend's for Thanksgiving. My pie plate measured about 9.5 inches so I made 1/3 of the recipe plus a little bit more. The math become a little complicated, but it turned out well. I did overcook it a bit so the texture was fudgy, but it really tasted good. My husband gave this a big thumbs up!

[Sonata]

I've made this twice now but didn't review it the first time because I goofed and left the melted butter in the microwave until abut 15 minutes into the baking time. I belatedly mixed it in, but then wasn't sure how much longer to cook it. It was yummy, but the consistency was a little weird. The second time I came perilously close to forgetting the butter again. It might be helpful if in step 5 you listed the remaining ingredients. I only made one pie each time, using 2 1/4 cups of brown sugar since I had a large bag of brown sugar rather than the conveniently labeled 16 oz box. The Kahlua and chocolate combination is scrumptious and I'll defineitly make this pie again.