Tar Heel Pie

Celebrate March Madness by making this yummy, fudgy, and sinfully rich pie – even if you’re not a Tar Heel fan!

• Pastry for a 9-inch, single-crust pie (store-bought)
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans
• 2 eggs, beaten well
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line a 9-inch pie pan with crust and then crimp the edges decoratively.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat, tilting and swirling the pan to melt it evenly. Remove it from the heat and add chocolate chips. Stir quickly to melt the chocolate chips in the warm butter and combine them well. * see note

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and sugars and stir with a fork or a whisk to mix well. Add the pecans and toss to coat evenly with the flour mixture. Add the eggs, vanilla, and the chocolate mixture. Stir to mix everything together evenly into a thick, rich, nutty chocolate filling. Pour the filling into the piecrust.

Place the pie on the lowest shelf of the oven. Bake until the pie is puffy, handsomely browned, somewhat dry, and firm in the middle, 30 to 40 minutes. Place the pie on a cooling rack or a folded kitchen towel and let cool to room temperature.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

From Southern Pies: A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan by Nancie McDermott (Chronicle Books, 2010).

* I always melt butter and chocolate in the microwave using a 8 cup Pyrex™ measuring cup.  I put both in the cup and melt on low power – 30-40% – for a minute or less at a time, checking and stirring until just melted.