Caramelized Pecan Pie

For the pastry crust:
1. One of the secrets to a flaky pie crust is to work with very cold butter. Cut the butter into cubes and freeze it for at least 15 minutes.

2. Combine flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. Beware that too much water will make the crust tough.

3. Place the dough in a mound on a clean surface. Flatten the dough with the heel of your hand a couple times. This will help flatten the butter into layers between the flour which will help the crust be flaky. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. This is good. At this point the crust should be wrapped in plastic wrap, refrigerated at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4. Remove cold dough from the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place crust into a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Flute edges of the dough using your fingers.

For the filling:
5. Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream together the eggs, butter and sugar using a mixer or food processor. Add in the next four ingredients mixing well.

6. Pour filling into prepared pie crust. Sprinkle with additional turbinado sugar.

7. Bake pie for 40 to 50 minutes, or longer if needed, until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cook’s Notes:
Turbinado sugar turns this pie into a caramel pecan pie that glistens with the crystals on top!

Pastry can be mixed by hand with a pastry cutter if a food processor is not available.