Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Joyous Christmas-to-New-Years Weeklong Daze. 🎄🌟☃️
Christmas at home in Montgomery was quiet this year but blessed with close family, an overabundance of doggy excitement, seven showings each of Home Alone, Elf, Four Christmases, and Christmas Vacation, and some really really good food.
We deviated from our traditional turkey/casserole/pumpkin pie Christmas Eve dinner for a beautiful beef tenderloin spread that was 10x less stressful for me and unanimously tastier.
Christmas Eve Dinner 2020
- Beef tenderloin – Seasoned with garlic-infused olive oil, grainy Dijon, Hawaiian rub. Pan-seared in butter, then roasted at 400 ~20 minutes. Finished with pan sauce reduction. With horseradish cream (1/4 cup sour cream, 1 Tbsp horseradish, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper, chives).
- Spinach artichoke mushroom twice-baked potatoes – Baked potatoes (3 small-medium) mashed with sour cream (6 Tbsp), cream cheese (2 Tbsp), butter (1 Tbsp), salt and pepper. Smoked gouda (1.5 oz) and fontina (1.5 oz) folded in. Yellow onion (1 small), minced garlic (3 cloves), cremini mushrooms (8 oz), herbs de Provence (1 tsp) sautéed after cooking the bacon, with 1 Tbsp white wine to deglaze the pan. Spinach (1.5 cups) and 4 chopped jarred artichokes stirred in until spinach is wilted. All folded into the potato mixture. Filling stuffed back into the potato skins, topped with bacon and extra cheese, baked until crisp and melty (425, 30 min).
- Honey dijon garlic roasted Brussel’s sprouts – Chopped Brussel’s sprouts (12 oz) tossed with garlic-infused olive oil, minced garlic, sea salt and pepper. Roasted at 425 ~ 15 minutes (or until slightly charred). Finished with honey dijon glaze (1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp grainy Dijon, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar).
- Maple balsamic pear salad – Greens, red pear, red onion, honey goat, toasted pine nuts, maple balsamic dressing (1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp good quality balsamic, 1.5 tsp Dijon, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, salt and pepper, fresh thyme).
- Garlic focaccia
- THIS ULTIMATE browned butter chocolate pecan pie + gelato
- Cookies for Santa – Homemade chocolate chip cookie dough base –> toffee-pecan, Biscoff cookie butter-stuffed, chopped peanut butter cup-stuffed, and m&m.
Browned Butter Chocolate Pecan Pie
For dessert this year, we wanted to uphold the traditional Southern Christmas pie motif while also indulging in something we all actually craved (re: fudgy chocolate). And so this chocolate pecan pie with browned butter, bourbon, dark chocolate, maple and honey, and flakey all-butter crust was born. Needless to say, it hit home on all fronts.
The filling combines crunchy pecans with a magical mixture of browned butter and melted dark chocolate, brown sugar, eggs, maple syrup and honey (NO corn syrup necessary!), cocoa, vanilla, and a touch of bourbon to bring the flavor over the top. We’ve essentially transformed the super-sweet syrupy glue that typically binds a pecan pie into the smooth and fudgy filling of a rich chocolate pie. I call it a win.
Moreover, the crust is perfectly crunchy around the edges, moist and flakey throughout, and so much easier to make than you think–free of shortening.
The result is ultra satisfying without being overly sweet, made with pure quality ingredients and a whole lotta Christmas love. Your family and neighbors will thank you.
Browned Butter Chocolate Pecan Pie
Sweet and crunchy Southern pecan pie meets smooth and fudgy chocolate pie with rich nutty browned butter, bourbon, dark chocolate, maple and honey, and a flakey all-butter crust.
Notes
Crust recipe adapted from Butternut Bakery. Filling adapted from NYT Cooking and A Cookie Named Desire.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 4 Tbsp ice water
For the filling:
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 oz dark (or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp bourbon
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs + 1 yolk, room temperature
- 2 cups pecan halves, roughly chopped
Instructions
Prepare the crust:
- Fill a glass of ice water and set aside.
- Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the cold cubed butter using a pastry cutter or two forks. The mixture should be roughly combined, with many small lumps of butter distributed throughout.
- Pour 2 Tbsp ice water into the flour and butter mixture. Stir with a rubber spatula, then mix in the other 2 Tbsp water.
- Work the dough with your hands until it holds its shape. Form into a thick disc and place onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap it and refrigerate 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- When the dough is completely chilled, take it out of the fridge to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about an inch larger than the 9" pie dish.
- Roll the dough onto your rolling pin and gently place it into the pie dish. Crimp the edges with a fork or roll to fit the edges of your pie dish.
- Place a piece of parchment paper over the pie dough and fill with uncooked rice or dry beans to keep the dough from rising while pre-baking.
- Bake the crust 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and set aside to cool.
Make the filling:
- Add the butter to a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture begins to brown and smell nutty. (It should be a caramel color with many small browned bits.) Remove from heat, then stir in the chopped chocolate to melt. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, stir together the brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, salt, vanilla, bourbon, cocoa, eggs + yolk until smooth. Then fold in the cooled chocolate browned butter until evenly incorporated.
- Add the chopped pecans to the pre-baked crust. Pour filling over the pecans. Tap pie pan on the counter 5-10 times to allow the filling to reach the bottom.
- Place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake 30-40 min at 350ºF, or until the filling is just set when the pie is jiggled. Cool on a wire rack completely before serving. Store refrigerated.