This Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie is rich and decadent! The addition of chocolate is phenomenal with the toasted pecans, and the salted caramel topping really sets it apart!
This Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie is rich and decadent! The addition of chocolate is phenomenal with the toasted pecans, and the salted caramel topping really sets it apart!
Have you seen the cover of this month’s Southern Living? Drool worthy. As a transplant Southerner, I feel that it is my prerogative to make as many Southern pies as possible. A Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie seemed to be an excellent place to start!
It should be said that I want to make every single pie in the November Southern Living, but the salted caramel pecan topping made me swoon. And rightfully so.
This pie was swoon-worthy. It’s rich and decadent - just as Southern cooking should be.
It was also shockingly easy to pull together (especially if you just use store bought caramel sauce!). Next time I will partially pre-bake the crust before adding the filling. The relatively low baking temperature doesn’t allow the crust to fully crisp, which is a serious offense in our household.
If you, like me, are starting to get heart palpitations about how much needs to be prepared on Thanksgiving Day, this pie is for you! You can make this Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie a couple days ahead of time and refrigerate to maintain freshness.
I would absolutely recommend serving it with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream or unsweetened whipped cream because it augments the flavor.
I might go so far as to say that ice cream is mandatory. But that would be unfair to the deliciousness that is this pie!
Recipe
Salted Caramel Chocolate Pecan Pie
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Filling:
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¾ cups butter melted
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup 100% cacao unsweetened cocoa (I used Hershey’s)
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup toasted chopped pecans
- 1 partially baked deep-dish pie crust
For the Salted Caramel Topping:
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ¼ teaspoons salt
- 2 cups toasted pecan halves
- Fleur de Sel for sprinkling
Instructions
Toast your Pecans:
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Spread pecan halves on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in pre-heated oven for 5-10 minutes until you can smell a nutty pecan fragrance and the outsides of the nuts are a darker brown. After 5 minutes watch them very carefully because they can burn in a matter of seconds!
For the Chocolate Pecan Pie:
- Preheat oven to 350° or just keep it on if you toasted your pecans. Stir together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add eggs, stirring until well blended. Fold in chopped pecans. Pour mixture into warm pie shell.
- Bake in pre-heated oven for 35 minutes. The filling will be loose but will set as it cools. Remove from oven to a wire rack.
Prepare the Topping:
- Bring sugar, lemon, and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir only until sugar dissolves.
- Boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar changes color to a dark amber. Watch it like a hawk because it can burn in an instant.
- Remove immediately from heat and add cream and butter, stirring or whisking constantly until completely incorporated and caramel is glossy. Stir in salt.
Finishing the Pie:
- Arrange the pecans on top of the chocolate pecan pie and then pour caramel over the top. Cool 15 minutes; sprinkle with sea salt or fleur de sel.
This recipe is FOOLPROOF!!!! I absolutely butchered it. I ran out of sugar and substituted 1/4c brown sugar, ran out of cocoa and omitted it altogether, ran out of vanilla, AND overbaked my pie crust. The filling was so perfect that after all that, it was STILL delicious!!!! Thank heavens there are recipes for people who procrastinate until the holiday when the stores are closed.
LOL! It is good to know that the pie is so versatile. I think I might try to make it with brown sugar next time. I bet that was delicious! xox
I just purchased the annual Southern Living Christmas Cookbook (Special edition presented by Dillard's) and this recipe is in it. I was contemplating making it for Christmas but fear mine would never turn out like the picture. How hard/time consuming is it to arrange the pecans on top? Yours looks just like the picture. Good job!
If you like sweet pies and love chocolate, then it is absolutely worth taking the effort to make it! I didn't think making the decorative pie top was too cumbersome. If you start at the outside and work your way in, gently placing them on top, then it will look just as pretty as the picture!
Can I use a bought pie crust? If so, how do I bake it in that?
You absolutely can use store bought pie crust. Follow the recipe as written but you will need to partially pre bake the crust. Score some holes in the bottom with a fork, carefully cover the whole crust with crumpled parchment paper or foil, curling it over the edges, dump some pie weights or dried beans in the crust to weight down the foil or parchment and bake it for 15-20 minutes, or until it begins to brown, in an oven preheated to 425 degrees F. You can see a more detailed description in this post. Hope that helps!
I made this last year and everyone loved it. I'm making it again tomorrow. I've shared this recipe with several friends as well. I don't know why anyone would buy store bought caramel sauce though when it's so easy to make from scratch.
Is it really only one (1) tablespoon of corn syrup? That's all??
Hi Natalie! Yup - only one tablespoon of light corn syrup! I just double checked the original recipe in the magazine too, so I am 100% sure. 🙂 Happy baking!
oh my gawd, this pie!!!! Trying this!
haha! I need to make this one again...the only problem is that I ate the whole thing myself because my husband isn't a huge fan of chocolate pecan pies <-- I know! Who is this man I married!?!
My pie didn't set. I baked it for 35 min but it fell to a runny consistency almost the same as before it was cooked.
I'm so sorry to hear that, Kelli. I felt this pie definitely benefitted from some time in the refrigerator but I wouldn't describe it as runny before refrigeration. To ensure a more set pie, I like to use the press-test, which is when you press the middle of the pecan pie it should feel like Jell-o. Southern Living's baking instructions worked for me but I'll update it based on your feedback! Thanks so much for stopping by!
I was fearful of making Southern Living's recipe after reading the mixed reviews. Then I found you and your recipe. I followed yours and got rave reviews:) Thanks for sharing. Are you going to do Southern Living' s Red Velvet Cheesecake? I hope so. Happy holidays.
Hi Debbie! I'm so glad it was a crowd pleaser! I'll have to add the Southern Living's Red Velvet Cheesecake to my list! I want to make their Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart with Honey Swiss Meringue!! So many delicious recipes to choose from.
Pecan Pie is my husbands favorite and he's obsessed with everything Salted Caramel. When I saw this on Pinterest this morning and told him he insisted that I make it today. Off to the store I went first thing this morning. It's cooking in the oven now and we can't wait to have it this evening when celebrating with family.
Nothing like a last minute pecan pie!! I wouldn't have gone to the store today if someone paid me! I hope you and your husband enjoyed it!
I've never liked Pecan Pie because I detest corn syrup and most recipes have so much of it! But my husband loves it so last year we used golden syrup in place of corn syrup and it was a lot better (I thought). This year my husband made one using cane syrup to see if that would be good. I think this recipe looks delicious and would definitely like to give it a try, I love chocolate and salted caramel! Of course, the husband doesn't like chocolate, but I think I'll make it anyways!
I am not a huge fan of corn syrup either but the pecan pies that I have tried without it don't set up as nicely as those with it. How was the cane syrup?
I hope you make it and enjoy each and every indulgent bite! I made a more traditional pecan pie today and it was delicious! I'll have to share it soon!
The cane syrup definitely did not set up as well! I also didn't really love the flavor, although it wasn't bad. The golden syrup last year was much better, but I don't remember how that one set up. I'll have to make it again and see! I will say, it didn't help that the recipe only called for 1 cup of pecans and my husband added an entire 4 cup bag! He seems to have zero concept of ingredients being in balance when baking. Trying to tell him was like talking to a wall...although I did get a "maybe you're right" after the fact! lol We both love pecans but it was way too much.
I am glad I'm not the only one who has a stubborn husband! Not that I can complain because I'm stubborn in the kitchen too! 4 cup is definitely excessive in my book. 2 1/2 is really my limit in pecan pie. I'll definitely need to try the cane syrup. I also found some pecan pie recipes in my heritage books that do not include corn syrup that I want to try!
WOW - I was just debating if I should make a Pecan Pie this year or not... I don't think I have a choice anymore!
LOL! Inconceivable that pecan pie could be optional!!! I hope you do make it - you won't be disappointed!
I love what that arrangement of the pecans would do for the texture of the pie, not to mention the dramatic appearance. Bookmarked!
Thanks! It was the perfect amount of pecans. I was worried to would be too much with then in the filling and on top, but it was delish!
so PRETTYY and so yummmehhhhh!
Thanks, Kayle!!!
omygosh this looks amazing. No one in my family likes pecan pie except for me 🙁 So I never get it on Thanksgiving! But we have two different pumpkin pies?? I think Im going to have to step in this year...
How do you endure a Thanksgiving with no pecan pie?! You poor thing! You could always rip a page out of my book and make a mini one!