Boog’s Pecan Pie and the Lake

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing 4th of July weekend. We stayed the weekend at Tony and Paula’s lake house and of course, that always means LOTS OF DESSERTS!!

We had my Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies, blueberry cake donuts from Texarkana, a white cake topped with strawberries, Paula’s creamy coconut cake, Boog’s chocolate chip cake, last but not least Boog’s pecan pie (recipe below). We weren’t short of sweets by any means!

What’s crazy is nearly all of those desserts were gone by Sunday afternoon as we were leaving to go home!

As you can see below, lots of fun was had on the jet ski, and unfortunately I was a bystander since I’m 23 weeks pregnant and it’s not exactly safe for me to be riding on one.

What’s really upsetting is the jet ski has not been ridden in over a year and a half! The lake levels were so low that we we were unable to pull the boat or the jet ski out of the boat dock in 2013, and now that 2014 is here, I’m pregnant and can’t ride it. How ironic! 🙂

Matt and his sister Leah, and her kids had a blast though. Leah’s kids are at that age where they are getting old enough to start having a little fun. 🙂 Both kids had a great time riding with Matt and Leah on the jet ski, and I’m glad they got to enjoy it.

Back to Boog’s pecan pie. Boog is Matt’s grandmother, and every time we go to the lake she makes either a pecan pie or a chocolate chip cake or in this case, BOTH!

Her pie recipe is super simple to make, and extremely delicious. When Matt was younger, Boog once made this pie and Matt ate the WHOLE PIE in one day (one sitting actually). Haha.

His appetite has changed a bit, but Boog’s pecan pie was gone in less than 2 days!

Enjoy!!

Boog’s Pecan Pie

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 unbaked pie shell
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the eggs with a fork. Add the sugar, syrup, then the salt and vanilla. Lastly, pour in the melted butter.
Place the chopped pecans in the bottom of an unbaked pie shell. Pour the filling over the pecans, and bake for 45-50 minutes. The nuts will rise to the top of the filling and form a nice, crusty layer

Happy National Pecan Pie Day!

Happy National Pecan Pie Day! I don’t know who makes up these “holidays”, but they’re fun to celebrate, especially when you can make this Toffee Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie recipe that my Aunt Robin made for Thanksgiving a few years ago. The pie is to die for, so get to your kitchen and start baking!

As you all can probably figure, I’m from Texas, and sometimes people say us Texans talk funny. So, I want to ask you…which nut pronunciation do you use for “pecan”? Is it National Peh-Kahn, Pih-Can, Pee-Can or Pee-Kahn Day?

I say peh-kahn, but my extremely Southern, East Texas, country and twangy mother-in-law (Paula) would probably say pee-can!! (Oops, I was wrong…I just talked to Paula and she pronounces it peh-kahn.)

Anyways, I want to hear from you! How do you say “pecan”? Leave a comment in the section below!

P.S. You’ve got to try this Toffee Chocolate Pecan Pie!

Overnight Pecan Pie

This is definitely not your normal “Pecan Pie” with the gooey filling you would expect. I would consider this Overnight Pecan Pie a lot healthier because of the egg-whites and graham cracker crumbs. In addition, there is NO butter and NO corn syrup in the ingredients.

If you want a quick and easy pecan pie where you do not have to make a crust, then this is the pie for you! There are only six ingredients in the entire pie, and the crust is naturally created as it is baked. The egg-whites form the thin, yet hard crust on the top that cracks beautifully as you cut into it. Top this pecan pie with a dollop of Cool Whip or Reddi-wip.

My father-in-law loved this pie and ate it for breakfast four days in a row! 🙂 Enjoy!

Overnight Pecan Pie
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped pecans
3 egg whites
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter pie plate bottom and sides well.
2. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and baking powder, gradually while beating. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla, fold in cracker crumbs and chopped pecans. Pile into pie plate just as though you were filling a pie shell with filling.
3. Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly brown and firm to the touch. Chill overnight or several hours. Top with whipped cream, Cool Whip, or Reddi-wip.

Yield: 8 servings

Toffee Chocolate Pecan Pie

This is the most delicious Pecan Pie I have ever tasted! I visited relatives in Houston, Texas this weekend, and tried my cousin’s homemade Toffee Chocolate Pecan Pie that she made for Thanksgiving dessert and I fell in love with it. This pie is different than your typical Chocolate Pecan Pie because of the wonderful addition of toffee pieces throughout. It makes for an extremely rich, sweet, and gooey pie that is irresistable.

I highly recommend you make this! It comes out of the Houston Junior League Cookbook, which I need to buy myself. Enjoy and you’ll have to try it!

Toffee Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

4 ounces chocolate-covered toffee bars, chopped (3 bars) (Optional: Heath toffee chips)

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup light corn syrup

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup pecans, coarsely, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cover bottom of a 9-inch pie crush with chopped chocolate-covered toffee bars.

3. Combine eggs, corn syrup, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.

4. Pour mixture over broken chocolate-covered toffee bars in pie crust.

5. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until done.

Yield: 8 servings

Stop and Smell the Rosemary: Recipes and Traditions to Remember – A Cookbook by the Junior League of Houston, Inc.