Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie with a Flaky Homemade Crust

This chocolate espresso pecan pie is a rich, fudgy coffee pecan pie with a filling made from melted chocolate, butter and a splash of espresso poured over toasted pecans, all in a flaky homemade crust with a pretty pecan-half border. It's been a family favorite at every holiday for more than 15 years.

If you love chocolate and pecans together, try my Gluten-Free Chocolate Pecan Pie too, or bake my Amaretti Almond Pumpkin Pie to round out your Thanksgiving dessert table.

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Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays, probably just because of all the amazing pies! I first found this one in the September 2007 issue of Fine Cooking. I was busy with a new baby and hosting everyone at my house, and I didn't have time to make my own crust that year, so I used a ready-made one. The pie was still amazing. Ever since, it's been on our table every Thanksgiving, alongside my pumpkin pie and my Salted Caramel Apple Pie.

It does take a little work to put together, but it's worth every step. When it's in the oven, the smell of chocolate and pecans fills the whole house, and it's so hard to resist slicing it right away. Patience, Lora... patience! It needs to cool completely to set, so I always bake mine the day before.

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• Unbleached all-purpose flour: Plus more for rolling.
• Sugar and kosher salt: Just a little of each.
• Unsalted butter and vegetable shortening: Butter for flavor and shortening for a tender, flaky crust. Chill both well. Pop the shortening in the freezer for 15 minutes before cutting it.
• Ice water: Added a tablespoon at a time.

Chocolate Espresso Filling

• Pecans: Two cups lightly toasted and coarsely chopped for the bottom layer, plus ½ cup of your best-looking halves for the border.
• Unsweetened chocolate: Melted with the butter for a deep, not-too-sweet chocolate flavor.
• Unsalted butter
• Eggs: Four large eggs set the filling.
• Light corn syrup and sugar: The classic pecan pie base. Swap in about ½ cup of dark corn syrup for a deeper caramel flavor.
• Kosher salt
• Espresso: Two tablespoons, cooled. It makes the chocolate taste richer without making the pie taste like coffee. Use decaf, or leave it out.

This year we are not hosting dinner at our house. I had a ½ day to bake all by myself today. And I was busy! I can't wait to taste this pie again tomorrow. The smell of the chocolate and the pecans is all through my house and it is difficult to resist slicing it now! Patience Lora…patience.

I hope you are having fun with your Thanksgiving preparations. What are you making this year? Or are you lucky and just bringing the wine?

I did use my crust recipe that I posted last night. You could use Fine Cooking's crust if you prefer. I never tried the Fine Cooking crust recipe. It is similar to mine as they used shortening and butter.

How to make homemade chocolate espresso pecan pie?

Here is how I measure before I trim. I saved the excess from the trim for an area of the crust that looked thin. Leave about a 2 inch border beyond the pie plate.

Here is how I rolled out the dough before putting it into the pie plate. Once you have the pie dough in the plate, don't mess with it.

Once you have it rolled out, carefully transfer to the pie plate.

Carefully press the dough into the plate.

Just work around the edge to do the crimping.

Here is how I crimped it. I also scored the pie with a fork.

After I toasted the pecans, I added them into the crust. I then added the best looking whole pecans as a border.

This photo below is my original photos (from 2010!)and I also wanted to keep it in the post for reference.

After that, I poured in the chocolate espresso mixture.

It is really nice to see the pecans on the border rise as the mixture is poured in and the chopped pecans stayed pretty much flat on the bottom.

Recipe Tips

• Use any crust you like: I use my own butter and shortening crust, and my Easy Buttery Pie Crust works too. A frozen or refrigerated 9-inch deep-dish crust is completely fine. The filling is the star!
• Pecans go in first: Always add the pecans to the crust first, then carefully pour the chocolate filling over them.
• Don't stress the border: If the decorative pecan border feels too fussy, just scatter all the pecans in the middle. No one will notice once they take that first bite!
• Coffee-free option: Leave out the espresso, or use decaf if you still want the flavor. I like to use one of my favorite Italian coffee brands.
• No double boiler? You can melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave in short bursts. (I don't own one!)
• Watch the browning: Tent the pie loosely with foil if the top or crust starts browning too quickly.
• Use the baking sheet: Pouring the last of the filling once the pie is on the oven rack keeps it from spilling on the way in.

Storage and Freezing

• Make ahead: Bake the pie a day ahead. It needs at least 4 hours to cool and set anyway.
• Room temperature: Cover and keep at room temperature for up to 1 day.
• Refrigerator: Because of the eggs, refrigerate leftovers, covered, for up to 4 days. Let slices sit out for 20 minutes before serving.
• Freezer: Wrap the cooled pie or slices tightly in plastic wrap and foil and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions

Serve a slice with lightly sweetened whipped cream, or go full Italian with a spoonful of Crema al Caffè and a little espresso on the side. On our Thanksgiving table, it sits next to a pumpkin pie and an apple pie, so everyone can have a sliver of each.

More Recipes Like This

• Easy Chocolate Espresso Cake
• Cranberry Meringue Pie
• Easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from Fine Cooking (September 2007). Originally published November 2010. Updated

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5 from 6 votes

Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie is a family favorite every holiday! Buttery pecans filled with rich chocolate and the most perfectly tender crust…this pie is always everyone's favorite!

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chocolate, pecans

Servings: 1 9-inch pie

Calories: 1622kcal

Author: Lora

Ingredients

CRUST

• ▢ 6 oz. 1-⅓ cups unbleached all-purpose flour; more for rolling out the crust
• ▢ 1 tsp. granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ tsp. plus ⅛ tsp. kosher salt
• ▢ 2 oz. 4 Tbs. chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
• ▢ 2 oz. 4 Tbs. vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into ½-inch pieces (put it in the freezer for 15 minutes before cutting)

FILLING

• ▢ 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped
• ▢ 2 oz. 4 Tbs. unsalted butter
• ▢ 4 large eggs
• ▢ 1 cup light corn syrup
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• ▢ 2 Tbs. espresso cooled down, omit if you want it coffee free
• ▢ 2 cups lightly toasted coarsely chopped pecans
• ▢ ½ cup perfect pecan halves

Instructions

• CRUST
• Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse it one time to mix. Add the butter pieces and pulse 4 times. Add shortening one tablespoon at a time and pulse each time you add a tablespoon. The mixture should resemble coarse cornmeal, with butter bits no bigger than peas. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over flour mixture one tablespoon at a time. Pulse once after you add each tablespoon of water. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, keep adding water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing once after each addition, until the mixture just begins to clump together.
• Clean off your counter really well or use a pastry board or a nice cutting board. Flour your hands generously. Take the dough out of the food processor. Tilt the rolling pin and sprinkle it with flour as you rotate the rolling pin. Divide the dough into two balls and flatten each into a 4-inch wide disks. Sprinkle a little bit of flour on each disk and then wrap both separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling. When you are flattening the disks, you are not working the dough. You are just simply flattening the shape into a disk. If you are making the pie that day, make sure you refrigerate for at least an hour. It can stay for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Reserve the second disk for another pie.
• When it is time to roll the dough out to make my pie, I take it out of the refrigerator and I usually let my dough sit out for about 5 minutes before rolling. It's hot here in Florida. Doesn't take more than 5 minutes to get to the perfect rolling temperature.
• On a lightly floured surface, form pastry into a ball; shape into a flattened round. (For two-crust pie, divide pastry into halves and shape into two rounds.) Roll pastry 2 inches larger than an inverted pie plate with a floured rolling pin. Fold pastry into quarter folds and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
• Using a rolling pin, apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough. Every once in a while you may need to gently lift under the dough You have a big enough piece of dough when you place the pie tin or pie dish upside down on the dough and the dough extends by at least 2 inches all around.
• When the dough has reached the right size, gently fold it in half. Lift up the dough and place it so that the folded edge is along the center line of the pie dish. Gently unfold and be sure to not stretch the dough to fit. Fold pastry into quarter folds and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
• Place pie dough in the refrigerator to firm up for about 45 minutes in the refrigerator or 20 minutes in the freezer.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Place parchment paper over the pie shell. Fill up the parchment paper with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for about 25 minutes until lightly golden color. REmove from the oven and place on a rack. Carefully remove parchment paper and beans (or pie weights). Let the shell cool down.
• FILLING
• Place a metal bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Add in the chocolate and butter. Stir with a spatula until smooth and melted.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, and salt. Stir in the espresso, melted chocolate and butter and whisk together to blend. .
• Evenly spread the toasted pecan pieces in the pie shell. Arrange the pecan halves all around perimeter of pie shell with the points facing and and back touching crust to make a decorative border.
• Place the pie plate on a baking sheet (I like to bake on baking sheet so it won't spill when I transfer it to oven). Carefully pour the filling over the pecans until almost full (about ¾ full). Transfer pie on the baking sheet into the oven and carefully pour the rest of filling over the pecans. Pecans rise up while baking. Cover the edges of your crust with foil before baking to prevent them from browning too quickly. Tent pie loosely with foil paper if you notice it browning too quickly.
• Bake until filling puffs up and slightly cracks. Filling should spring back to touch and still jiggle just a bit, about 45-55 minutes. Transfer it to a rack and allow it to cool completely (at least 4 hours) before serving. Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Nutrition Disclaimer

Please keep in mind that the nutritional information presented below is an approximation and may vary depending on the exact ingredients used.

Notes

• Store-bought crust: Use a 9-inch deep-dish frozen or refrigerated crust.
• Corn syrup: Replace about ½ cup of the light corn syrup with dark corn syrup for a caramel flavor.
• Coffee-free: Omit the espresso or use decaf.
• Storage: Refrigerate leftovers, covered, up to 4 days. Freeze up to 2 months.
• Adapted from Fine Cooking, September 2007.

Nutrition

Calories: 1622kcal | Carbohydrates: 230g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 91g | Saturated Fat: 57g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 507mg | Potassium: 733mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 205g | Vitamin A: 1417IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 15mg

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