When I was a kid we would get boxes from my grandmother out in West Texas in the fall, and there was always a couple of gallon bags of pecans.
Daddy would spend all of football season cracking them, and Mom would use them just as fast as he could get them out of the shells.
Lots of our holiday goodies contained those little treats, and I carry on that tradition.
My Mom now has pecan trees of her own that she and Daddy planted 30 some years ago.
When I lived far away from home I would get care packages stuffed with a few gallon bags of pecans every year.
It was awesome!
Now I live in the same town and I get them whenever I want.
Cuz I’m the favorite. 🙂
And because I use pecans in just about everything, I thought I needed a pecan crust recipe, too.
So here it is.
I love this recipe!
It’s crunchy and slightly sweet and perfect for all kinds of yummy deserts.
Check out my Cherry Cream Cheese Pie recipe to fill it up. It’s made with homemade cream cheese and it’s amazing in this crust.
You could fill it with a sweet potato pie.
Or maybe with Spiced Plums.
Or Apple Pie Filling.
Or, maybe get a little crazy, and put Rhubarb in it!
Now that sounds yummy! 🙂
This crust is perfect for those of you that are avoiding gluten.
And I even included a keto friendly option!
Pecan Crust Recipe
- 2 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans (if you’re not lucky enough to have your own trees, you can order these here
) - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I get my organic spices from Starwest Botanicals )
- 1/3 cup dehydrated sugar cane juice (you can order that here), Sucanat, or brown sugar
- 4 Tbsp butter
)
), Sucanat, or brown sugarNOTE: For a keto friendly version of the crust, simply replace the sugar with the granulated sweetener of your choice.
Preheat oven to 350° F.
First, chop the pecans pretty fine.
You can do that by hand or in a food processor.
Be careful if you’re using a processor. You don’t want pecan butter.
Which is a thing.
And quite tasty.
But not so good for crust.
Melt the butter while you’re chopping the pecans.
I like to use my cast iron butter melting pot
to melt it in.
Just pop it in the oven while it’s preheating and, Presto! Melted butter.
Mixing the Crust
Next, put the chopped up pecans in a small bowl and add the cinnamon and sugar or sugar substitute.
Mix that up good and then add the melted butter and mix until the butter is evenly distributed.
When it’s all mixed up good it holds together kinda like wet sand. 🙂
pecans, sugar, and cinnamon
Now comes the fun part!
Press the pecan mixture into the bottom of your pan(s).
And then press the mixture up the sides for a pie.
If you are making a cheesecake, just press it into the bottom.
The cool thing about this recipe is that you can put it all in a regular pie pan or it has a fairly thick crust, or split it between two for a thinner crust, or even use a deep dish pie pan.
There’s crust enough for all!
pecan mixture pressed into the pie plate and up the sides
Baking the Crust
Bake the pecan crust in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
Only until it’s lightly browned. Nuts burn easily, so be careful.
I take any leftover crust mixture and spread it on a cookie sheet and bake it at the same time.
Then I have something to use as a garnish for the tops of cheesecake or to sprinkle over yogurt.
And if you are topping your pie with whipped cream, it makes a lovely crunchy counterpart to that as well!
Finally, cool the crust completely before adding the filling.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are using this crust for a baked pie, like pumpkin pie or apple pie, carefully pour the filling into the uncooked crust and bake as long as your recipe calls for.
Blessings!
What would you put in this amazing crust?
More amazing things you should bake:
Pecan Cinnamon Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup dehydrated sugar cane juice
- 4 Tbsp butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Chop the pecans pretty fine. You can do that by hand or in a food processor.
- Melt the butter while you're chopping the pecans.
- Put the pecans in a small bowl and add the cinnamon and sugar. Mix well.
- Add the melted butter. Mix until the butter is evenly distributed.
- Press the crust mixture into the bottom of your pan(s). You can go slightly up the sides (like a 1/4 inch) if you want to.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Just until its lightly browned. Nuts burn easily, so be careful.
- Cool the crust completely before adding the filling.
Julie says
Can you use this crust to make a cheesecake in the oven for 40 minutes?
Cery says
Hi Julie! Yes you can and it’s pretty amazing. Don’t bake it before hand, just pack it down good. And if the edge isn’t covered with the filling, you will need to cover it about half way through so it doesn’t burn. Have fun!
Mariah says
Can I use regular granulated sugar?
Cery says
Hello Mariah! Yes you can use regular sugar. Use the same amount and it won’t be a problem at all. Thanks for stopping by!
Susan says
Have you tried this recipe using walnuts or almonds? If so would the ratio be the same?
Cery says
Hi Susan! I have tried this with some mixed nuts that I had left over from making Baklava and it turned out great! Same ratio. A walnut crust sounds pretty awesome. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Tina says
This is amazing. Trying to stay away from lots of cabs and this will help since I love pies. Using coconut sugar for this. Hopefully it will turn out. Not carb free, but it won’t be as bad a a regular pie crust. Plus I have tons of pecans that I need to use up. Bonus!!
Cery says
Hi Tina! I’m so glad you’re going to give it a try! I think it would be just fine with coconut sugar. And yay for tons of pecans! 🙂
Deborah says
DELICIOUS! My new favorite crust.
Cery says
Hi Deborah! I’m so happy that you liked it! It’s pretty much the only crust I use anymore. 🙂
Lisa says
This crust was very good. It can’t go soggy can it? I mean it’s nuts.
I used a sweet potato filling, and the nuts were perfect for it. This is great having a gluten free crust
Cery says
Hi Lisa! I have never had the crust get soggy. Sweet potato pie sounds amazing!
Tr says
Do you bake the crust then add the sweet potatoe filling or add the filling to the unbaked crust?
Thanks
Cery says
Hello Tr! I would use an unbaked crust if the filling needed to be baked. Blessings!
Denise says
I’m making bean pies and pinto bean pies. I am going to make pie crusts for one of each pie using walnuts and pecans with brown sugar. I will let you know how they turn out.
Cery says
Hi Denise! I’ve never heard of bean pies. I looked it up though, and they look pretty good! How did the crust work out? Blessings!
Karen says
Thank you for this! I am eating low carb and sugar free so I’m going to try this recipe with Monk Fruit sweetener instead of sugar. I can’t wait!!!
Cery says
Hello Karen! This works great for a keto friendly pie crust. You are very welcome!
Mary Moore says
Can I use an alcohol sugar substitute for this crust?
Cery says
Hi Mary,
You can use the monkfruit sweetener with this with great results.
Amy F says
Looking to make this for a key lime pie. I’m thinking if I take out the cinnamon and don’t pre-bake it, then it should turn out yummy? Anything to recommend instead of cinnamon?
Cery says
Hi Amy!
Key lime pie sounds great for this crust. I would not pre-bake it. You could try adding lime or lemon zest instead of the cinnamon.
Let us know how it goes!
Elke says
I’m looking for a crust substitute for a quiche. I want rho try this one without the sweetener. What do you think?
Cery says
Hello Elke!
I’ve never used it in a savory dish, but it should work just fine!
Now I may need to give that a try as well, lol!
Shirley Fowler says
Turned out beautiful. Made a cheesecake and everyone thought I bought it.
Cery says
Woo hoo! That’s great to hear, Shirley!
It goes really well with cheesecake, doesn’t it?
Blessings!
Cery
debra stevens says
Made this recipe for the crust of a cream pie last night for the first time for company. It was so delicious people asked for seconds I’ll be making this recipe many times in the years to come.