Chocolate Pecan Pie with Ancho Chiles
This fudgy chocolate pecan pie is bursting with nuts and has a little extra bit of warmth and flavor, thanks to the ancho chiles!
When we lived in Arizona, Bart’s sister and her family came down every Thanksgiving for a full week.
It was always such a fun week, with swimming and movies and grown-up only dinners out and, of course, the Thanksgiving dinner of your dreams.
And this chocolate pecan pie with ancho chiles was always the most popular part of the whole meal.
My sister-in-law made it the first year and after that, she made two every year because it was so beloved.
I made it myself a couple of times and had trouble getting it to come out right, but after some tweaking, it finally turned out perfectly and I’m so happy to be able to make it myself now.
It really is a SHOWSTOPPER of a pie.
And if you’re worried about the ancho chiles, don’t be. They don’t make it spicy – they just give the chocolate a deeper, warmer flavor.
My children, even my spice-hating ones (which would be three of the four), gobble it up every time and beg for more.
Chocolate Pecan Pie with Ancho Chiles
Chocolate Pecan Pie with Ancho Chiles
This fudgy chocolate pie is bursting with pecans and has a little extra bit of warmth and flavor, thanks to the ancho chiles
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
- 1 whole ancho chile
- 1/2 cup butter
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup flour
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prep a pie pan with the unbaked crust, ready to be filled, and set aside.
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Place the pecans on a cookie sheet and toast them while you prepare the chocolate pecan pie filling, about 10 minutes or so.
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Snap the stem of the ancho chile off and place the whole thing in a blender. Blend until a fine powder develops and then sift through a sieve to get rid of large chunks or seeds. Set the powder aside.
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In a large saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over medium heat, stirring frequently. When it's smooth, add the two sugars and stir for a few minutes until the sugar starts to dissolve.
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Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk in the eggs one at a time, until completely incorporated. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.
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Whisk in the flour and the ground ancho chili powder until smooth.
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From the toasted pecans, set aside 15 halves and then chop up the remaining pecans and stir them into the chocolate batter.
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Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared pie crust and top with the pecan halves.
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Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is set and not jiggly and the crust is golden brown.
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Let cool to room temperature and serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Notes
You can buy whole ancho chiles at almost any grocery store in the Mexican food section (they're usually in a hanging bag). Or you can buy them from Amazon here although they're quite a bit more expensive.
Recipe adapted from What the Kale
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Photos by Heather Mildenstein
I’ve actually been wanting to make a chocolate pecan pie, so this is perfect!
I can only find ancho chile in powdered form at my grocery store. Is that a win or is it better to grind your own for this?
As long as it’s 100% ancho chiles, you should be fine. And I’d maybe do slightly less since it’ll probably be more finely ground than doing it yourself.
If we use the powder, how much??
About 1 tsp – maybe just a LITTLE bit less.
How much butter?
1/2 cup! It’s fixed now – thanks for pointing it out!
I made this for pi day yesterday and it was fantastic! I used bottled ancho chili powder (almost 1 tsp) and it worked perfectly! The middle was still kind of raw (but that didn’t stop us from devouring it!), so next time I’d probably check it with a toothpick before taking it out of the oven.