Pineapple Pecan Pie -- The Crust That Keeps Getting Better

Thanksgiving again. Third one out of the system. I know this number will eventually become too many to count and that is the goal: enough Thanksgivings that I stop counting. But for now I count.

I stayed with Gloria and James from Wednesday evening through Saturday morning this year. The cooking started Thursday at seven and by two in the afternoon the table had turkey and dressing and sweet potato casserole and green beans and cranberry sauce and the rolls I made, which rose perfectly, and the pecan pie I made, which was right again, the crust better than last year. James said: you are getting very dangerous in the kitchen. I said thank you. He said that is a compliment. I said I know.

Gloria arthritis has been visibly limiting her this week. She sat at the kitchen table more than she stood at the stove. I was the primary cook and she was the guide. This is not a role reversal so much as a progression. She knows everything. I am learning to execute. Together we make the same table she has always made.

Thursday evening after dinner James said grace, as always, simply and with conviction, and this year he said: we thank you for bringing Savannah to this table. He had never named me in the grace before. I looked at my plate and breathed through it. Gloria reached over and patted my hand once. That is how she does things that are too large for words.

James said I was getting dangerous in the kitchen, and I think he meant the pecan pie most of all. I’ve been making this Pineapple Pecan Pie for three years now at Gloria and James’s table, and each year something tightens up — the filling sets cleaner, the crust holds its edge, the sweetness lands right. The pineapple is what makes it different from any other pecan pie I’d ever tasted; Gloria pointed me toward it the first year, and it stuck. If you’re going to earn your place at a table, you might as well do it with a pie that surprises people.

Pineapple Pecan Pie

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Place the unbaked pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate, crimp the edges, and set aside.
2. Mix the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, and salt until smooth and fully combined.
3. Add pineapple and pecans. Fold the well-drained crushed pineapple into the filling mixture, then stir in the pecan halves until evenly distributed.
4. Fill the crust. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust, spreading the pecans evenly across the surface.
5. Bake. Place the pie on the center rack and bake for 50–55 minutes, until the filling is set and only slightly jiggly in the very center. If the crust edges brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil after 30 minutes.
6. Cool completely. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and allow it to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing. The filling continues to set as it cools.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Carbs: 61g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 180mg