Boozy Brown Butter Pecan Pie

Boozy Brown Butter Pecan Pie

This is one of those recipes we keep coming back to, especially when we want to genuinely impress people. Brown butter pecans, a boozy kick, and a proper buttery pastry shell combine to create something rich, nutty, and just a little bit indulgent in the best possible way. The filling sets into this gloriously gooey, caramel-like layer that's sweet but not sickly, with the brown butter adding this deep, toasty depth that makes it taste like you've been cooking for years. Trust us on this one; it's the kind of dessert that goes completely quiet around the table.

Cook: 135 min
Serves 8

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • 23cm pie tin
  • Baking sheet
  • Rolling pin
  • Blender
  • Light-coloured pan (for browning butter)
  • Baking beans
  • Parchment paper
  • Microplane (for orange zest)
  • Chill lined pastry tin in freezer for at least 30 minutes (or fridge for 2 hours)

Ingredients

  • 1 x 500g block of plant-based shortcrust pastry
  • plain flour to dust
  • 110g plant-based butter
  • 1 tsp cashew butter
  • 110ml golden syrup
  • 60ml maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 150g soft brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp bourbon or dark rum "(amaretto, brandy, cognac or similar dark liqueurs could also work)"
  • 150g silken tofu drained but not pressed
  • 2 tbsp plant-based milk - (not soya)
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • sea salt
  • 300g pecans (with an optional 100g extra for topping)
  • 2 tsp water
  • 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
  • 1 orange
  • plant-based vanilla ice cream

Method

1

Prepare the pastry base 

  • Dust a clean surface with flour
  • Roll out the pastry with a lightly floured rolling pin until it’s roughly ½ cm thick, giving the dough a quarter turn after each roll
  • Cut out a disc of pastry large enough to line the tin and up the sides with a 5cm overhang (place the tin in the middle of your pastry as a size guide) 
  • Neatly place the pastry disc inside the tin and gently press it in with your fingers, ensuring you get into all the grooves and corners without any air gaps and being careful not to rip the pastry
  • Prick the base of your pastry all over with a fork
  • Chill your lined tin in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or in the fridge for a couple of hours, until very firm and cold to the touch (cover your pastry with cling film if it will be chilled for a long time)
2

Make the brown butter pie filling

  • Add the plant-based butter and cashew butter to a light coloured pan over a low-medium heat
  • Once the normal butter melts, smush the cashew butter into the mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate
  • Keep heating while stirring constantly - all the liquid in the pan will start to foam vigorously for a few minutes, before some golden and clear liquid appears again beneath the foam, with some solid flecks separating out and sinking to the bottom
  • Keep stirring, until these solid flecks turn a deep, golden brown colour (you may need to spoon away some of the froth on top to make things easier to see) and everything starts to smell toasty and nutty
  • Immediately remove from the heat while continuing to whisk to stop it cooking
  • While the butter is still warm, add the sugar to the brown butter pan and mix to dissolve
  • Add the maple syrup and golden syrup to the pan and mix until smooth, then leave to cool
3

Blind bake the pastry 

  • Trim off the excess pastry edges with a knife
  • Place your chilled pastry tin onto a baking sheet
  • Line your pastry case with parchment paper and baking beans
  • Bake your pastry case for around 25 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden with minimal wet grey patches on the base, and the sides can support themselves
  • Remove the parchment and baking beans, and bake uncovered for around 5-7 minutes until the pastry is dried out, then remove from the oven and leave to cool
  • Reduce the oven temperature to 160˚C (fan setting)
4

Prepare the pecans and finish the pie filling 

  • Add the sugar, salt, water and 300g of pecans to a pan and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly to coat in the glaze and toast the nuts
  • Remove from the pan and spread out the candied pecans in an even layer on parchment to cool completely
  • If the pecans are still sticky after cooling, the sugar is undercooked - add back to the pan to cook for a few minutes longer and cool again
  • Mix the cornflour with plant-based milk to make a thick liquid, then pour this, the liqueur, silken tofu, salt and cooled brown butter/syrup mixture to a blender and blitz until smooth
  • Throw in 200g of candied pecans and blitz again into the filling mix
  • Roughly chop the remaining pecans, and fold through the filling mix
5

Assemble the pie and serve

  • Pour the filling mix into the pastry case and smooth out the top with a spatula
  • Decorate the top with the 100g extra pecans if using, then bake for 40-50 minutes until the filling is set on the edges and slightly puffed, but still has a slight wobble in the middle (cover with tinfoil if the top starts getting too dark before the pie finishes baking)
  • Remove from the oven and baking sheet, and leave to cool completely (you can move it to the fridge once it comes to room temperature) - this can take a couple of hours
  • Bring the pie out to room temperature
  • Sprinkle the top of the pie with flaky sea salt
  • Portion into slices, and top each slice with a dollop of ice cream and some grated orange zest

Tips & Variations

  • Get the pastry cold: We find this works really well when the pastry goes back into the fridge for 20 minutes after lining the tin. It helps it hold its shape and stops shrinkage when blind baking.
  • Choose your booze wisely: Bourbon is our go-to here, but a dark rum works brilliantly too. Just don't skip it; it really does make a difference to the final flavour.
  • Toast the pecans first: Even if the recipe doesn't ask you to, giving the pecans a quick dry toast in a pan before adding them makes them taste so much more nutty and fragrant. Henry always does this step.

Why This Works

The trick here is the brown butter. Taking the time to cook it until it smells nutty and turns that gorgeous amber colour adds a whole extra layer of flavour that you just can't get any other way. The booze isn't just for fun either; it cuts through the sweetness and lifts the whole filling so it feels complex and grown-up rather than just sugary.