Old Fashioned Pecan Pie Recipe without Corn Syrup (No Karo)

The first time I tasted an Old Fashioned Pecan Pie I was hooked, a true blue pecan pie lover. It was crispy and chewy, and the flavor was out of this world delicious. I didn’t know it then but what I was tasting was a no-corn syrup pecan pie!

Then I tried to make my own, following a popular corn syrup-based pecan pie recipe. My first pecan pie was too sweet, so sweet I almost couldn’t eat it and if you know me and my love for sweet things then you know it was BAD. That began the long hunt for a good Pecan Pie recipe. What I wanted was an Old Fashioned Pecan Pie without Corn Syrup, but I didn’t know it at the time. 

The Best Pecan Pie Recipe Without Corn Syrup?

When I first started looking for a Pecan Pie Recipe that wasn’t too sweet but had a lot of flavor, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. All I knew was that I just hated the overpowering sweetness of the corn syrup. I wanted something old-fashioned and not too sweet. I found it in an old Betty Crocker recipe book from the 1940s, with a few tweaks it’s been my go-to for a Pecan Pie without Corn Syrup ever since.

Is This THE 1914 Pecan Pie?

Nope! And I want to be upfront about that, because a lot of people land here looking for it. The 1914 pecan pie is actually a recipe called Texas Pecan Pie that ran in the Christian Science Monitor on March 24, 1914. It’s well over 100 years old, and while it is made without corn syrup this isn’t the recipe. This pie is a cousin, not a copy. It belongs to the same family of pecan pies made without karo.

The big differences between my pie and the 1914 pie are pretty clear. I use mostly brown sugar and it uses all white sugar. The 1914 pie uses a full cup of milk and mine uses two tablespoons. That pie has no butter and mine has half a cup. And mine has no meringue topping on the pie.

So if you came for the 1914 recipe, this isn’t it. If you came for an old fashioned pecan pie without corn syrup, you’re in the right place!

Ingredients needed For Pecan Pie With No Corn Syrup

This recipe doesn’t need any special ingredients. That’s one of the things I love about old fashioned recipes! You will need a pie crust though, I go through the details on the crust down below.

• 1 single pie crust
• brown sugar
• melted butter but cooled to room temperature
• eggs
• sugar
• flour
• pecan halves
• salt
• milk
• vanilla extract

Tools You Need

• food processor or pastry blender for making the pie crust
• rolling pin
• wooden spoon
• large bowl
• pie pan
• saucepan
• wire rack
• piece of aluminum foil
• plastic wrap to cover the pie

Substitute for Corn Syrup in Pecan Pie

I was surprised that the traditional pecan pie recipes didn’t call for molasses or pure maple syrup as a corn syrup substitute. Nope. They called for brown sugar and just a little white sugar. And that’s IT!

No 2 cups of corn syrup in this pie that’s for sure! Occasionally I’ve added a dollop of molasses instead of vanilla; it works well. Feel free to try maple syrup or molasses in place of the vanilla. I’ve also made a Maple Pecan Pie and it’s outstanding!

Will my Pecan Pie Be runny if I don’t use Corn Syrup?

I get this question A LOT. If you leave the corn syrup out of your pie you don’t have to worry about the pecan pie filling being runny. The egg in this recipe AND the flour work together to make a perfect filling that sets up as the pie cools.

It’s not runny at all and it’s perfectly set every time. If you’re worried about your pie not setting up pop it in the fridge for an hour or so. That will really help it set up. But I’ve never had one of these pies be runny unless I messed up on the ingredients.

Is this an easy pecan pie recipe?

YES!! It’s simply mix and pour into the prepared pie crust. The hardest thing about any pie is the pie crust. If you’ve never made a pie before it is truly easy with a food processor. And if you don’t have a food processor use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients.

Once you start making homemade pie crusts you’ll never go back. Also if you don’t like an All-Butter Crust (recipe in the recipe card) try my Easy Homemade Pie Crust recipe that uses shortening! And not to worry you can make it in a food processor too.

Tips for making a great pie dough/crust:

• KEEP EVERYTHING COLD
• The secret to quick and easy pie dough?? A food processor!
• don’t stretch your dough to fit the pan, it will shrink
• No baking room-temperature pie dough, it’ll puddle up in your pan, so chill it after you roll it out
• MAKE ONE BEFORE YOU HAVE TO SHARE A PIE, don’t try to make a pie crust for the first time if you want to impress people, try to make one in advance so you know how it works!

But IF the thought of making a PIE CRUST has you worried you can absolutely use a store bought crust. Use a single frozen pie crust OR half of a package of refrigerated pie crusts. These crusts are a little more thin and liable to tear so be sure to dab them back together with water. Water on pie dough is like glue and you can mend them fairly easily with just a little water.

What size Pie Pan should I use??

This is an old-fashioned pie and it’s made to fit best in a 9-inch pie pan. No deep dish, nothing super fancy. I use and love a Pyrex Pie Pan but I don’t like to chill it in the fridge too much because the shock of going from cold to hot can be too much. You can use a metal pie pan too if you want to super chill your pie crust before baking!

Which Pecan Pie Should You Make?

Every pecan pie I make is made without corn syrup, so you can’t pick wrong on that count. This one is the classic, and it’s where I’d start if you’ve never made a pecan pie before. It fits a regular 9-inch pie pan and it’s the one my family expects on Thanksgiving.

If you want more nuts in every bite, make my Chopped Pecan Pie. It’s this same filling with double the pecans, chopped up and stirred through. If you need something you can pack in a lunch or send home with people, Mini Pecan Pies are this recipe baked in a muffin pan, and you get twelve of them.

If you love maple, don’t just pour maple syrup into this pie, because you’ll end up with a runny mess. I worked out a separate Maple Pecan Pie with real maple syrup and dark brown sugar that sets up the way it should. My Bourbon Pecan Pie has a little bourbon and a little maple in it, and it does NOT taste like you had a shot of bourbon.

For the chocolate lovers there’s my Chocolate Pecan Pie, which has a full cup of chopped semi-sweet chocolate folded in with the pecans. And if your table is split between pecan and pumpkin, you don’t have to bake two pies! My Pecan Pumpkin Pie has a pumpkin layer on the bottom and a pecan layer on top, all in one crust.

How to store pecan pie

Here is the thing almost nobody knows about pecan pie. It is a custard. Eggs, sugar, and butter baked into a soft filling, which makes it a perishable food and not a counter food. Let it cool completely, after two hours cover it tightly to keep out fridge air, and get it into the refrigerator. It keeps 3 to 4 days, and it is best in the first two.

And yes, I know. Your grandmother left hers on the counter under a tea towel all Thanksgiving Day, and everybody lived. After finding spoilage in improperly stored cake I am now hyper conscious about storing baked goods. Of course at the end of the day you can store it however you like. But again, best practice is cool it completely, cover and chill.

What Readers Say About This Pecan Pie Recipe

I think it’s the BEST pecan pie. But here’s what other people are saying about this recipe:

“I have only had a bite of pecan pie here and there. It always looked too nauseatingly sweet! I decided to try your recipe yesterday for Thanksgiving. Oh. My. Stars. It is wonderful! Everybody loved it! Thanks so much!”

From a reader in response to another comment

“I’m allergic to corn…thank you soooo much!!!! And I’ve missed, missed, missed the delectable confection of the most wonderful nutpie on the planet! Thank you, thank you!!”

From a happy reader who found a recipe she can eat

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