Nutty Chocolate Pie

You guys know that mom always makes it best, right?

I remember growing up and absolutely loathing pecans.  Walnuts.  Almonds.  Hazelnuts.  I didn’t like the texture, the flavor, or that nutty dry-mouth feeling that you get after eating a raw one.  But I DO know that when it came to eating Mom’s pecan pie that she made at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and my dad’s birthday – that was a treat!

 

It’s not until many years later that I realized that toasting is what brings out the flavor that I enjoy in pecans.  Good thing I got smarter as I got older!

This pie is a take on Mom’s pecan pie because, well, I just can’t seem to make it as good as hers.  Oh, I have the recipe!  I have the tools!  But there’s that mystical aura that surrounds baked goods made my mom, and I’m just not there yet.  Maybe when the baby is born I’ll have those powers bestowed upon me.  Hopefully!

 

This pie has a mixture of walnuts, almonds and pecans in it because those are my favorites, although a fun twist might be to add some macadamia nuts or hazelnuts as well.  Let it play to your palate!

I think we can all agree though:  chocolate is pretty much a life-saver when it comes to baking.  It’s versatile and just plain tastes good.  Who really needs anything else, right?  I’ve always been a little weird about chocolate too.  I love the stuff, but only the dark stuff, except I could eat chocolate chips all day.  I love to add chopped chocolate to goods, but the reality is with that you never really have to use the whole bar, which ends up in my stomach before the cake/cookie/pie is done.

 

Self control, what?

NUTTY CHOCOLATE PIE

• 5 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup walnut halves
• 3/4 cup pecan halves
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup chopped chocolate (if you have self control) or semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 9-inch deep dish pie crust (I bought mine in the freezer section, but if you have a great recipe definitely use that!)

Preheat your oven to 350.  Whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup until the brown sugar starts to dissolve (make sure you start with hot melted butter and this will go much faster).  Whisk in the vanilla, eggs, and salt until very well combined.  Fold in the walnuts, pecans, and almonds.  Sprinkle the bottom of the pie crust with the chocolate.  Pour the nut mixture on top.  Bake for 25 minutes and then check to make sure it’s not browning too much; if it is, cover with foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes until the pie is set with just a little wiggle in the middle (check!).  If not, continue to let it bake the remaining 20 minutes but be sure to double check a couple times that it’s not burning.  No one like a burned pie!

 

Remove from oven and let cool completely at room temperature before serving.

I’d like to say a big thank you to my Mom for always being such an inspiration to the dishes I make and big non-thank you to my friends who made fun of the nuts in the pie.  ‘That’s what she said’ jokes and inappropriateness may have been abundant at the party I took this too which makes it hard to write a post about nuts 🙂