Best Pecan Pie Recipes

Chef John Stage of New York's famous Dinosaur Bar-B-Que lends us his favorite Thanksgiving recipe that incorporates the Thanksgiving staple, sweet potatoes, into another Thanksgiving favorie, Pecan Pie. 

When you can’t decide between pecan or sweet potato pie, have them both. The gingersnap crust in this recipe sets the stage for the perfect blend of pecan filling and sweet potato mixture, and it captures the best of what Louisiana has to offer, and gets you into that Thanksgiving mood.

"Celebrating Christmas with my family means everyone is crammed in the kitchen because you’re either making your best dish or picking at everything because you’re starving already. This is why I believe the kitchen brings people together whatever the occasion is because it always brought my Irish family together. Growing up we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve and that hasn’t changed to this day.  My favorite thing to eat on Christmas is prime rib with béarnaise and only my grandpa’s creamy pommes purée. Ultimately it comes down to the pies for me because I have a sweet tooth so nothing beats the hot apple pie with homemade vanilla ice cream."

My mother was obsessed with pecan pie so I decided to whip up a recipe using Mexican chocolate. I always like to top this with a cinnamon-spiced whipped cream or a little vanilla ice cream. Click here to see It Doesn't Get Easier Than Brunch.

To me, pecans are the sweetest and softest of nuts. There’s something quite decadent and dessert-y about them; I shudder when I see them in savory applications. This reaction, I think, stems from my love of gooey, nutty pecan pie. If you want to gild the lily, drizzle the top of each pie with melted chocolate for a delicious surprise. These pies can also be made in jars.  Click here to see Pick-Up-and-Go Pies. Click here to see The Great American Pie Extravaganza.