Maple-Walnut Pie | Baking with Dorie

If maple-walnut pie does not ring the bell, maple-pecan pie will. Thanksgiving is around the corner, it’s the season to make the iconic pecan pie. However, Dorie has something else in mind, and switches up the nuts, replacing pecan with walnut. I’m intrigued and I bake both: a maple-walnut pie and a pecan pie. One for the blog and one for a friend who’s made pickleball playing in her backyard a blast throughout this summer. Within a few hours after giving her the gift, she sent me a message which says: “made my day,” with the picture of a slice of the pie. That says it all.

Although I did not taste the pecan pie, but the maple-walnut pie, which is baked the same way, is remarkable. I do not taste any bitterness from the walnuts; the sweetness of maple syrup and brown sugar dominate. Neither did I make the crusts. Use store-bought ones which come in two in a package. In retrospect, the crust is undeniably the weak link. You really can’t beat Dorie’s all-butter pie dough or the sour-cream pie dough when you have the time to make them from scratch.

It’s a breeze with just making the pie filling; no mixer involved, just mixing all the ingredients in a single bowl. I don’t even think it matters that much which order the ingredients go in as long as the nuts are the last to add. The ingredients are:

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsps (1 1/2 oz; 42 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups (200 grams) walnuts or pecans (halves or pieces)

Pour the fillings into a partially baked crust. (Bake partially for about 20 minutes until firm and the crust doesn’t need to take on much color.) Then bake the pie for 5 minutes at 400°F, then lower the temperature to 350°F for an additional 30 to 35 minutes. The pie rises high and settles down as it cools.

The entire mixing and baking the pies probably takes less time than waiting for them to cool before cutting into it. It’s a rewarding bake. Two pies and twice the pleasure!