Uncle Lawton’s Pecan Pie
My dad has an unusual hobby. If it’s a good year for pecans, he likes to buy a 50-pound bag or two of them in the shell, and then he sits and shells them by the hour. You might wonder what he does with all the pecans he shells. Why, he gives them to his kids, of course! Seriously. How cool is that? I love pecans.
Last year Dad and Mother were at our house for Thanksgiving, and Dad brought me a gallon of shelled pecans. As I began cooking Thanksgiving dinner he told me, “Now, you don’t have to take pecans out of your bag for any that you want to use for dinner. I’ll give you extra for that.” So I went a little crazy. I topped the sweet potatoes with pecans, and then I made pecan pies and date nut candy. It was all wonderfully delicious.
Pecan pies are something of a tradition in my family. Mother said, “The first pecan pie I ever remember eating was made by Aunt Nina [Uncle Lawton’s wife], who was a very good cook. When she was no longer able to cook, Uncle Lawton baked pecan pies and sold them.”
You might remember from my Thanksgiving post earlier that Uncle Lawton was my Granddaddy’s brother. He lived in Texas. Maybe he had a pecan tree or several. I’m not sure about that. But he was “famous” in the family for his pecan pies. In the summer of 2005 he visited my parents in Arkansas and baked a number of his pies for our family reunion that summer.
Thanks to Dad, I still had some pecans in my cupboard this fall. If it had been up to me, I would have snacked them all away, but he admonished me: “Now stop nibbling on those! They aren’t for snacking! They are for baking!” So I tried to stay out of them… and I had just enough to make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving. Maybe I’ll get some more for Christmas. I heard a rumor that it was a good year for pecans.
Here’s the recipe:
Great-Uncle Lawton’s Pecan Pie
2 cups brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour, rounded
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups white corn syrup
6 eggs, slightly beaten
2 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 stick butter, melted
Mix sugar and flour well. Mix vanilla, corn syrup, and eggs. Add to sugar mixture. Add pecans and melted butter just before pouring into pans. Divide in two 9″ deep dish pie crusts. Bake at 300 degrees until firm, about 1 hours, 10 minutes.
9 Comments
Michael Ann
Shelled pecans for Christmas?!? That might be the best gift ever! They are crazy expensive to buy. I love family food stories! And that recipe looks great!
Karla Ezell Cook
I know, right? Dad used to keep bees, too. We loved getting that honey as well! But bees are harder to keep than they used to be, I guess, so he’s given up on them, I think.
rachelgoingcreative
Karla, your pie looks absolutely scrumptious!! Thank you for the recipe too. That’s neat that your dad shells pecans for y’all. I wouldn’t have been able to stop nibbling on them though. They make great snacks!!
Karla Ezell Cook
I love snacking on them. Sometimes I just out-n-out defy my daddy and snack on ’em anyway! He just laughs at me.
mommyhon333
I made a last minute pecan pie and probably left it in the oven too long. It was a little too crunchy. My recipe is similar to Uncle Lawton’s but without the flour. Most years, I can’t get my pie to solidify so I am going to try adding the flour. Thanks for sharing your sweet family memories.
Karla Ezell Cook
It will be interesting to see if that makes a difference.
Sheila @ Making the Most of Every Day
PrcN pie is NOT my favorite but it is my daddy’s and Michael’s. I’m going to make this for them for Christmas Eve dinner! Thanks for sharing it and for the story behind it!
Karla Ezell Cook
Hope they like it!
Kristen
I love foods, snacks, treats, that remind one of loved ones. And what an awesome treat to receive and be able to share.