I’m just going to start this post by saying if you pick one recipe from the Brave New Meal cookbook to cook, it’s this one. Regular pecan pie is just very sweet and sort of one noted, but this one hits differently.

I will say that I used frozen pie crust but honestly they just always work so well. I followed the recipe’s instructions the same – par-baking the crust and then filling and baking again. It honestly came out amazing. But let’s talk about this filling because like I said, it’s not like store-bought at all.

The process to make this feeling was different than a typical pecan pie, and there are some unusual ingredients in there, but you have to trust the recipe and you will be so happy with the results. The filling requires a blender which is definitely not something you would use for any other pecan pie. This version is slightly less processed (ie. no corn syrup), it uses other ingredients to make-up that sweetness and the blender just gets it all smooth.

The full list of ingredients in the filling are saltine crackers, dairy-free milk, coconut oil, white sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, pear, cornstarch, salt and cinnamon. The crackers are broken up and soak in the milk to get softened then everything gets blended with half of the pear. It becomes this really thick and gooey mixture which you then cook on the stove to dissolve the sugars and reduce down until it thickens up a bit. After that, all the pecans are stirred in.

Once the crust is par-baked, you put the other half of the pear (bite sized bits) in the bottom, followed by all the gooey pecan filling. This is baked in a 350° oven for about 35 minutes until set and it was smelling so good.

After it comes out of the oven, it needs to cool down then chill in the fridge to fully set up. This took a lot of patience but I knew it would be worth it. It served up beautifully and this was possibly the best pecan pie I’ve ever had. The cinnamon in there is such a nice touch and the pieces of pear add extra texture. My whole family loved this pie and I will most, most definitely be making it again.