Thanksgiving is right around the corner so I know you guys are gathering all of your scrumptious show-stopping recipes together right now! But WAIT! You have to add my Apple Butter Pecan Pie with Puff Pastry Crust to your recipe arsenal. Trust me on this one! I know you probably think there isn’t a way to improve upon perfection, but there is a way. Adding apple butter to this no corn syrup based pecan pie is one of the best decisions I’ve made all week!
What Sparked the Creation of Apple Butter Pecan Pie with Puff Pastry Crust
I had been saying for a long while that I wanted to make a pecan pie without corn syrup and with an organic all butter whole wheat pie crust. We all should stay away from corn syrup as much as possible because it is crappy for our health. A lot of corn syrup is made from GMO corn and sprayed with pesticides. Yuck! Anyway, earlier this week I knew I needed to hurry up and get it together so I could have a pecan pie recipe up in time for Thanksgiving. On the day that I was planning everything out for the pecan pie recipe I honestly wasn’t feeling too well, I guess thanks to the Fibromyalgia or the CFS/ME (sometimes I am not sure which disease is causing certain symptoms), I knew I didn’t feel like making pie crust from scratch. I also knew I refused to buy ready-made pie crust so I thought of what would be the next best option. Behold, buttery and flaky puff pastry!
If you live near a store that sells organic puff pastry, by all means, purchase it! I don’t happen to live near a store that carries organic puff pastry so I just buy regular puff pastry and keep it in the freezer. I thought using puff pastry would save all of the home cooks some time in the kitchen as they are preparing all of the other foods for Thanksgiving. No need to cut butter into flour and then knead the dough to then roll it out to proceed on with making the pie. All you have to do is allow the puff pastry to thaw out, roll it out, place it in the tart pan, blind-bake it and then fill it with the apple butter pecan pie filling and bake the pie. I am hoping this will save you guys a lot of time in the kitchen this holiday season!
The apple butter adds such depth and complexity to the pecan pie. Apples and pecans naturally pair so well together so it just made sense to combine the two. MyInstant Pot Date-Sweetened Apple Butter is flavored with many warming spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, and vanilla. So you will be getting ALLLL of those spices in the Apple Butter Pecan Pie! Yes, honey, it’s as mind-blowingly divine as you are envisioning. 😩😍
Tips for the Best Apple Butter Pecan Pie with Puff Pastry Crust
The biggest tip I have to give is to make sure you prick or dock the puff pastry with a fork before you begin blind-baking the crust. I missed a few spots around the edges with my pricking and my puff pastry crust puffed up around the edges. Luckily I was able to catch it in time so I could poke a few holes in the extra puffy parts of the crust as it was baking. That solved my problem!
The next tip I have is to make sure you are using enough pie weights to weigh down the puff pastry. It was my first time using these ceramic pie weights to blind-bake and there were not enough ceramic pie weights in the container to do the job. So I had to use some dried beans I had left in a small package to weigh down the rest of the crust. Honestly, that still wasn’t enough beans to do the job so make sure you fill the crust up to the top with your beans or pie weights.
The amaretto liqueur (Disaronno) that I used in this Apple Butter Pecan Pie takes this baby to another level! You honestly do not want to skip out on that almond flavoring that the liqueur provides. If you don’t have any on hand, then use some almond extract. It will be as close as possible to using amaretto liqueur!
My last tip is making my Instant Pot Date-Sweetened Apple Butter at least a day or two in advance so it will save you some time the day you make this. Also, the flavors of the apple butter will meld together perfectly when left in the fridge for a day or so. Now, if you are really short on time, then go ahead and buy some apple butter to make this recipe. I’m sure it will still taste amazing! Try to buy the least processed apple butter you can find. You don’t want an apple butter with a lot of unnecessary ingredients.
Thinking that’s enough tips to get you the BEST pecan pie you’ve ever tasted! As per usual, if you love this recipe, please be sure to share it with your family and friends by using the share buttons at the top, side, or bottom of this post. Don’t forget to save this recipe to your recipe collection by using the Pinterest or Yummly button on this post. When you make this Apple Butter Pecan Pie with Puff Pastry Crust tag me on social media and use the hashtag #ALSSAeats! Here are the links to my social media accounts:Bloglovin’,Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to stay up-to-date. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel .
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Tools needed for this recipe:
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed
- 1 cup organic brown sugar
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 2 organic eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 2 tablespoons organic unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
- 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon amaretto liqueur or almond extract
- 1 - 1 1/4 cups pecans
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Preheat the oven to 400℉. Prepare the tart pan by spraying with a nonstick baking spray or use a little pat of butter. Set the tart pan aside.
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On a lightly floured surface, place the puff pastry down and with a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the puff pastry out to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Carefully line the tart pan with the puff pastry while pressing the puff pastry into the pan firmly. Trim any excess pastry from the rim of the tart pan and prick the pastry dough all over with a fork. Refrigerate the tart pan for 15 minutes.
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Meanwhile, you will want to toast your pecans by spreading them on a cookie sheet and baking them for about 5 to 6 minutes. Allow the pecans to cool and then chop them up. You do not want to finely chop the pecans.
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Place the tart pan on a baking sheet. Prepare the pastry for baking by lining the puff pastry shell with a piece of parchment paper, then filling the top with dried beans, rice, or pie weights. Please be sure to fill the shell up to the top with the weights. Bake the pastry in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the pastry shell to cool for a few minutes before removing the weights and parchment paper. Then cool the pastry shell completely.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients except for the chopped pecans. Scatter the pecans into the cooled puff pastry shell and then pour the mixture over the nuts. Place foil around the edges of the puff pastry shell. Bake the Apple Butter Pecan Pie for 25-35 minutes, or until the filling is set and the pastry is golden. Remove from oven and cool to lukewarm before slicing and serving.
Yum! There’s nothing quite like pecan pie. Especially when it’s wrapped in a puff pastry. This looks absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing!
I’m not a fan of pecans…unless they’re part of pecan pie 🙂 I’ve never done a puff pastry crust, but I have used it for appetizers and you’re right about poking holes! This looks so good, and I love that you added apple as well
This sounds so good! I went apple picking this fall and made apple butter and now it’s just sitting in my freezer now I have something to use it for!
This pie sounds divine! Pair it with a warm cup of tea and you’ve got yourself the perfect fall afternoon treat!
One of the best and my favorite combo. This pie looks fantastic. Can’t wait to try your recipe.YUM
I LOVE puff pastry so it only makes sense that I would love it as a pie crust! Great idea!
Loving this combination of pecan pie and apple butter, and you really can’t go wrong with a puff pastry crust.
This pie sounds amazing and delicious, apple, butter and pecan and everything nice!
I am drooling over this pie! It would be perfect for the upcoming holidays and I know my family would enjoy this year around.
I love anything that has the words apple butter 😉 this dessert sounds like something I would dream about. Pinning for later.