a merry little dessert

So, big Charlie decided out of the blue that he wanted chocolate pecan pie for Christmas day. He had never had one, but for some reason really, really wanted one. I said okay and found a recipe. I actually found 5 and melded them together leaning toward the most chocolaty of them (this was a good choice...just ask Charlie). I love this pie because while it is extremely decadent and truly divine, it is easy as pie to make. Marie Calendar has started making frozen, ready made pie crusts and they were perfect. We had too much filling, so my mother-in-law took the second frozen crust out of the tin, popped it in the microwave, and we broke it into pieces and began molding it artistically around a few little glass baking dishes. These little mini pies turned out not only adorable, but my favorite of the day. Here are some photos and the recipe follows. Enjoy! xo

Chocolate Pecan Pie

3 eggs

1 cup of Karos syrup

2/3 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp of salt

1/3 cup of butter softened

1 tsp of vanilla

1 cup of pecan (large pieces)

1 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Mix together eggs, syrup, sugar, salt, butter, and vanilla well. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into a 9" pie shell (or if you use the Marie Calendar shells, use one for a full pie and mold the second crust into 2-3 mini pies). Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 50 minutes or until the center is set. (It will jiggle a little, but will be mostly set). Enjoy this beautiful pie.