Dark Chocolate Pecan Pie Tart

This reminded me I that I should enjoy pecan-related desserts throughout the year and not only in November and December.

I used some leftover pie dough that I had in the freezer, which cut down on time significantly for me! I definitely recommend saving your pie scraps because you can make so many things with it in the future.

Additional Terrence Bakes highlights:

• 500 followers on Tiktok (but it’s apparently getting banned 😅)

• 1,500 subscribers and 130K views on YouTube

• I started a new Instagram (@terrencebakes) for baking stuff to help keep that and personal stuff separate. We love balance! I haven’t posted on it yet, but SOON!

• I’m excited for 2025! I’ve only been posting things regularly since October, but it’s been a ton of fun. I want to get more in a consistent schedule starting in January, so this has all been a nice warmup.

You can see me make this on TikTok here!

INGREDIENTS

For the pie dough

• 1 ½ cups/202 grams all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 10 tablespoons/141 grams unsalted butter, chilled

• ½ cup/120 milliliters ice water

For the pie filling

• 150 grams brown sugar

• 60 grams melted butter

• 100 grams dark chocolate (chopped)

• 3 large eggs (room temperature)

• 200 grams pecans (plus more for topping)

• 1 pinch of salt

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

EQUIPMENT

• Tart pan

• Rolling pin

• Pie weights (I use dried beans)

METHOD

Make the pie dough

1. Follow my pie dough method from my quiche recipe here.

   1. Note: There are a million pie crust recipes out there! You can totally use your favorite one. I would definitely recommend doing homemade as you’ll get a better end bake.

2. Once your pie dough is chilled, roll out and add to your pie tart. Press your pie into the tart shell and against the edges. Don’t cut off any overhang just yet.

3. Place pie in the fridge while the oven preheats.

4. Preheat your oven to 425 F.

5. While your oven preheats, cut off any excess pieces of your pie crust. Place back in the fridge to let stay cold as your oven is preheating.

6. Once your oven is ready, add pie weights to your pie and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove pie weights, poke pie base with fork a few times and add back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

7. Let cool fully and work on the pie filling.

Note: Erin McDowell (the queen of pies) wrote this article and has a ton of other research on parbaking pies! I would recommend checking it out.

Make the filling

1. Reduce oven to 350 F.

2. Toast pecans on top of your stove for a few minutes in a pan. Ensure they don’t burn.

   1. I usually prefer this method because it’s much faster than preheating your oven and toasting.

3. Add your brown sugar and melted butter to a bowl and mix to combine.

4. Add in your chopped dark chocolate, eggs, vanilla, and salt and continue mixing to combine.

5. Chop your 200 grams of pecans and then add to the bowl and mix together.

6. Pour mixture into the cooled down parbaked pie shell.

7. If you have any extra, that is ok! You can store it in the fridge for a few days or make additional pie with leftover pie dough.

8. Add extra pecans to the rim of the pecan pie on top — you can totally skip this or design the top of your pie however you’d like.

9. Let pie bake in the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes, until your filling is set and the pie crust is golden brown.

10. Remove from oven and let fully cool and then remove from your pie tart.

11. Enjoy with vanilla ice cream!