Honey-Pecan Slab Pie

This pie, from Jeffrey C. Brooks, assistant professor of professional practice in the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center and director of their national-championship-winning moot court and mock trial program (ranked #11 in the nation last year), has delighted LSU students, faculty, and staff at the “Expat Thanksgiving” he hosts at his downtown Baton Rouge apartment each year.

 

 

 

Please buy local, Louisiana ingredients—Honey is commercially produced in more parishes in the state than any other food—48 out of 64. It had a 2018 farm-gate value of $5 million.

“I’ve been doing Expat Thanksgiving for 13 years now, and last year I had more than 40 people come,” Brooks said. “I make everything from scratch.”

 

Honey-Pecan Slab Pie

(Makes 1 pie, 13 x 18 inches)
 
For the Crust:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cold and cut into tablespoon-sized cubes
1/2 cup water (more or less), chilled
 
For the Filling:
6 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup pure Louisiana honey
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar (packed)
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon (optional)
 
First, prepare the crust. Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a mixing bowl, and chill in the freezer for a few minutes up to a half-hour. Pour into a food processor and pulse once to mix. Add butter and pulse until butter breaks into pea-sized pieces. Slowly add just enough water (through the processor tube, pulsing as you go) to make small crumbs. Stop pulsing before dough forms into a ball. Place into a gallon freezer bag and press the dough out to make a rectangle inside the bag. Seal and place the bag in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Using a rolling pin on a floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle slightly larger than a half-sheet baking pan (13 by 18 inches). Line your rimmed half-sheet pan with parchment paper and transfer the dough over by rolling it up onto the rolling pin and then back down again on the parchment. Gently press dough into pan and up the sides, trim off any edges that come up over the sides, and pinch/crimp all the way around the edge. Chill crust for 20 minutes while preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Place a layer of parchment paper on top of the dough and either add pie weights or uncooked dry beans on top to prevent it from bubbling up. “Blind bake” (prebake) the dough for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, remove pie weights/beans and top sheet of parchment paper, and bake for another couple of minutes until dry to the touch. Allow to cool, while making the filling.
 
Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, corn syrup, brown sugar, eggs, salt, vanilla, and bourbon (if desired) until well combined. Scatter the pecans evenly over the prebaked crust. Pour the sweet mixture all over the pecans and bake for about 25 minutes until the filling is set at the edges but still jiggles a bit in the middle. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

 

 

Elsa Hahne
LSU Office of Research & Economic Development
ehahne@lsu.edu