Making Pecan Pies Using Famous Recipes to Find the Best + Photos

November 20, 2021 Stan

I tried recipes for pecan pie from celebrity chefs Ree Drummond, Guy Fieri, and Ina Garten.
Fieri’s recipe used a store-bought crust, but Garten’s crust recipe was amazing.
Drummond’s homemade sweet pecan pie was the tastiest, and I’d definitely make it again.

There’s something so comforting about a slice of warm pecan pie.

I’ve never made it but I recently decided to test recipes from celebrity chefs Ree Drummond, Guy Fieri, and Ina Garten.

Here’s how it all went:

Drummond takes a classic approach to pecan pie

Ingredients for Ree Drummond's pecan pie, flour, sugar, butter. — Ree Drummond’s pecan-pie recipe uses pantry staples.

The Pioneer Woman makes a pretty classic pecan pie, complete with sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup.

Both the crust and filling require salted butter. Her recipe requires a cup of pecans, whereas the others require at least two.

The crust required the most work

Butter, flour, and sugar in a bowl. — I had to use my hands to mix everything.

This crust requires cutting the butter and shortening into the flour with a dough cutter.

I don’t own one, so I worked the fats into the flour with my fingers until it became pebbly.

Ree Drummond's dough recipe. — I was worried the dough would fall apart.

The dough was crumbly by the time I worked in all of the ingredients. I was worried it would fall apart when it was time to roll it out.

I let it chill in the fridge for about an hour.

Ree Drummond ingredients for pecan pie filling. — The filling only required a cup of pecans.

The filling was much easier to make. I whisked the ingredients together in a bowl and chopped the pecan halves into smaller pieces, which went into the unbaked crust.

Ree Drummond pie filling. — For the filling, I simply mixed all the ingredients together.

The crust held together fairly well as I rolled it out and transferred it to a pie pan.

Ree Drummond pie crust. — The crust was simple to make.

Aside from making the dough, this recipe was easier to follow than I anticipated.

Ree Drummond's pecan pie filling. — I poured the filling into the crust.

I baked it for 30 minutes with foil then 20 minutes without the covering.

The pie was jiggly in the center but the crust started to brown. I covered it in foil again and let it bake for another 15 minutes, which was perfect.

Ree Drummond pecan pie. — The center was a bit jiggly at first.

It was slightly soft in the center and the crust was golden. I let it sit and cool for about four hours after taking it out of the oven.

I was impressed at how good this pecan pie tasted

This pie held together well as I pulled it out.

It was gooey inside but super crispy and caramelized on top.

The rich and comforting flavor was very sweet and it tasted mostly like brown sugar. The crust was buttery and a bit crispy and the top was extra crunchy.

Fieri’s recipe takes a helpful shortcut with store-bought crust

Guy Fieri's pecan pie ingredients. — Guy Fieri’s recipe uses a shortcut.

I was shocked to see no surprises in Fieri’s Southern pecan-pie recipe.

Instead, he opts for traditional ingredients and a sheet of store-bought, refrigerated pie crust.

The filling includes a lot of pecans chopped into different sizes

Guy Fieri pecan pie filling. — I whisked all the ingredients together for the filling.

The pie was ready to pop in the oven once the crust thawed out.

I diced a cup of pecans into a fine chop and a rough cut. I left another cup of nuts untouched for the decorative topping.

Guy Fieri pecan pie. — I filled the crust with pecans and filling.

I whisked together the filling ingredients and added in the roughly-chopped pecans.

I rolled out the crust and pressed it into a pie pan. Despite buying a 9-inch crust, it didn’t cover my pan so I couldn’t neatly press it into a crimped design.

Guy Fieri's pecan pie. — I pressed the pie crust into the pan because I didn’t have enough.

I baked it uncovered for about 10 minutes. After the crust cooled, I added the finely-chopped pecans to the bottom.

I poured in the filling and arranged the whole pecans on top.

It needed to sit in the oven for another 40 to 50 minutes, so I covered it with foil to prevent it from burning.

The topping looked great but the store-bought crust didn’t work out

The arrangement on top was a really nice touch. The crust, unfortunately, was overbaked and wasn’t thick enough for the hefty filling.

The filling was very gooey and sweet, so the crunchiness from the pecans made a great contrast.

A slice of Guy Fieri's pecan pie. — Next time, I would leave the nuts off the top.

The pecans on top tasted somewhat acrid because they weren’t covered in the sugary filling.

I’d swap in an easy, homemade crust instead of store-bought, and I’d probably leave off the nuts on top.

Garten opts for a unique, flavorful filling

Ingredients for Ina Garten's pecan pie. — Ina Garten uses orange zest, maple syrup, honey, and bourbon.

The Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for maple pecan pie includes a buttery, perfect crust and filling with orange zest, maple syrup, honey, and bourbon.

I was surprised there wasn’t any sugar in this recipe but there were a whopping 2 1/2 cups of pecans.

I made Garten’s crust with a food processor, and it turned out amazing

Ina Garten's dough recipe. — I mixed the wet and dry ingredients together.

I started by pulsing the food processor a few times to mix the dry ingredients, then butter and vegetable shortening until it looked like small pebbles.

I poured in cold water until the dough formed a ball. Then I put it on a floured board, rolled it, and wrapped it in plastic wrap. It sat in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Like the other recipes, the filling was easy to make — although it required a long list of ingredients.

Once the wet ingredients were whisked together, I mixed in pecans.

Ina Garten's pecan pie. — I added in pecans.

The dough was easy to roll out and didn’t fall apart. I seamlessly transferred it from the board to the pan.

The edges were easy to crimp, too.

I poured in the filling and baked the pie for about 40 minutes. I added foil to prevent the edges from burning, then put it back in the oven for 15 minutes.

This pie reminded me of an old-fashioned cocktail and I loved the crust

I couldn’t wait to try this delicious-smelling pie. I cut into this pie when it was warm, so it fell apart.

The filling reminded me of an old-fashioned cocktail thanks to the bourbon and orange zest. The maple and honey were also welcome additions.

This pie had the best crust I’ve ever made. It was buttery and so easy to prepare, so it will be a go-to crust recipe for me.

This filling had the most pecans of all the recipes, but I think a cup and a half would have worked out better.

Garten’s recipe didn’t quite hit that classic pecan-pie flavor I was expecting. It did, however, pair well with an old-fashioned.

I loved all the pies but Drummond’s was my favorite

Three different pecan pies. — All the pies had tasty aspects, but I loved Drummond’s the most.

Garten’s crust turned out amazing and I loved the unique flavors she added.

Although I wasn’t happy with the crust on the pie I made using Fieri’s recipe, the filling was enjoyable. Drummond’s recipe was my favorite of the bunch. The crust wasn’t as delicious or flaky as Garten’s, but I did like it a lot.

In the future, I would combine Garten’s crust and Drummond’s filling to create my ideal pie.

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