Pecan Pie Brownies

It’s almost Thanksgiving. You’re welcome for the reminder. I don’t know if you’d have noticed otherwise. We usually head to my grandma’s for the Turkey Day feast, but she’s been knocked up with pneumonia and bronchitis. Why have one when you can have both, right? Poor thing. We’re switching gears to have it at my mom’s house, and between my mom, sister, and I, we’re taking on the cooking. We usually help, but never do the full thing. I’m pretty psyched for the honor. Family recipes are fun like that. I’m only in charge of rolls, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce, but there is only going to be 8 people this year. Somehow I don’t think it’ll be necessary to fill two dining room tables with food (as usual). That’s not going to stop me from making dessert, too. I like variety.

I’m not really a pecan pie fan. Pumpkin pie? Totally. Fruit pies are hit or miss unless it happens to be banana cream or coconut cream. Andrew’s favorite pie happens to be pecan. Being the nice girl that I am, I knew I had to make Jessica’s pecan pie brownies. It’s only a little bit of the pecan pie-ness and a whole lotta brownie. Gooey brownie. Fudge-y brownie. I didn’t scrimp on the good stuff–butter, sugar, chocolate. I mean, if you’re going to be bad, you might as well really make it worth it. The key is to definitely use the fridge to your advantage. These brownies need it to maintain shape or you’re going to have a melty mess on your hands/clothes/counter/fork. It took almost a full 24 hours before I could cut them (nicely) out of the pan. As you can see, they still ended up super mishapen rustic. 99% of the time Andrew and I ate them directly out of the pan. Presentation is overrated.

Inspiration: How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 10 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, room temperature

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• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons whiskey
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325º.
2. Prepare a pan–I used a 9″ cake pan.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla until smooth and foamy.
4. In a double boiler (or in a sauce pan on low…I’m lazy), add the butter, cocoa, sugar, and salt. Whisk until smooth and creamy. Don’t burn the butter/sugar. That won’t taste good at all.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
6. Whisk in the eggs. Whisk continuously to keep the eggs from cooking. Scrambled egg brownies anyone?
7. Stir in flour and pour into the prepared pan once the batter is nice and smooth.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. While the brownies bake, prepare the pecan pie filling.
10. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the brown rice syrup and brown sugar until light and creamy.
11. Add eggs and vanilla and mix.
12. Add melted butter and whiskey.
13. Wait too fold in the pecans until you’ve pulled out the brownies.
14. Pour the pecan filling over the top of the warm brownies.
15. Bake for 35 minutes. The pecans should be bubbly and set.
16. Cool completely, and then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours. If you can wait that long.