Last Minute Pecan Pie

This pie was an exercise in "crap the stores are closed" plus "what can I substitute for what."

Didn't have a pre-made crust and couldn't buy one so I made one of the simplest pie crusts I could find. Thank you, Internets!

PECAN PIE - PIE CRUST
CRUST:
3 c. plain flour
2 sticks butter
6 tbsp. water

CRUST: Mix well and pat with fingers into pie pan (will make 2).

from http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1637,158175-234193,00.html

and then for the filling, I used a more complex recipe...

Pecan Pie filling

Ingredients 

•  1 3/4 cups white sugar
•  1/4 cup dark corn syrup (thank goodness we had this! would've ruined the whole thing)
•  1/4 cup butter
•  1 tablespoon cold water
•  2 teaspoons cornstarch
•  3 eggs
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or almond extract, rum, maple syrup, whatever's handy)
•  1 1/4 cups chopped pecans 
•  1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell (or make your own like me!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, water, and cornstarch. Bring to a full boil, and remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Gradually beat in cooked syrup mixture. Stir in salt, vanilla, and pecans. Pour into pie shell.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until filling is set.

from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-pie/

How it looked...

at first it was a little scary, bloated coming out of the oven, but after a few minutes, it settled down.

 

How it tasted....

Bland. Apparently using the old bag of pecans I had on hand, even unopened, was a bad plan. Pecans are very important!

Or possibly I just expected the pie to make me OD on sugar like Grandmas, and this is what regular pecan pie actually tastes like...