By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 90 minutes plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(277)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This dessert adds coconut and pecans to a buttery chocolate shortbread crust, which is baked it until the whole thing is glossy and crisp on top. It tastes a little like pecan pie and a little like a candy bar — which is to say perfect.
Featured in: Stalwart Thanksgiving Flavors, Make Room for a Little Chocolate
Learn: Melissa Clark’s Thanksgiving
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- 1cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
- 60grams confectioner's sugar (about ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon)
- 1large egg yolk
- ¾teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150grams all-purpose flour (about 1¼ cups)
- 20grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder (about ¼ cup)
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅓cup honey
- 2tablespoons heavy cream
- 55grams dark brown sugar (about ⅓ cup)
- 1large egg
- 2tablespoons bourbon
- 30grams coconut flakes (about ½ cup)
- 175grams whole pecans (about 1¾ cups)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
602 calories; 45 grams fat; 20 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 27 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 92 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together 8 tablespoons butter and the confectioner's sugar. Beat in the yolk until combined, then beat in the vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and ⅛ teaspoon salt. With the mixer running on low, beat in the dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape the dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.
Step
2
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11-inch round. Transfer to a 10-inch fluted tart pan. Chill 30 minutes.
Step
3
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line the crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake 15 minutes; remove weights and foil and return crust to the oven to bake until dry to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool.
Step
4
Melt the remaining stick of butter. In a bowl, combine butter, honey, cream, brown sugar, egg, bourbon and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Stir in the coconut and pecans. Pour filling into the crust. Bake until the top is golden brown and the filling is gently set, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
Ratings
4
out of 5
277
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Cooking Notes
Susan
I made this for a Valentine's Day dinner party and everyone LOVED it. Wonderful flavors and textures and not too sweet. I used some fresh Texan pecans that I lightly roasted before adding to recipe. Note: in the ingredients list, one stick of butter is for the crust, and one for the filling. (I started the crust recipe with both sticks of butter... when I realized my mistake, I just doubled the recipe and put the extra crust in the freezer.)
agnes
The coconut and nuts come out buttery and crunchy and delicious, and the chocolate shortbread crust makes it all just perfect.
These substitutions turned out well when I was missing some ingredients:
2 Tbsp. greek yogurt + 1 Tbsp. milk in place of heavy cream;
1/4 cup corn syrup + 2 Tbsp. molasses in place of honey and brown sugar
(I do usually prefer desserts that are slightly less sweet.)
The second time I made this I reduced the butter for the filling in half and liked it even better.
Erika
My crust came out so crumbly that even refrigerating it didn't help me roll out a cohesive disk. So, I added 2 more tbsps of butter and it became quite sticky, so I made it into a pie crust instead. Everyone loved the result, anyway.
I did cut back the amount of honey and brown sugar to just 1/4 cup, and used Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum because I didn't have bourbon. I also added some bittersweet chocolate shavings on top because my finished pie wasn't quite as pretty as the one in the NYT!
mary
the dough was really crumbly. i wasn't able to roll it out. instead, i just pressed the pieces together into the pie pan and it worked out just great. tasty and a crowd-pleaser.
Barbara
I have both sweetened and unsweetened coconut. I'm unclear which this recipe calls for.
Amanda
Does this pie need to be refrigerated?
Catherine S
I hate people who don’t actually make the recipe and rate it, but this was too amazing not to share. I was looking for a quick gluten-free, dairy free pie filling to put in a store bought frozen GF/DF pie crust. I made the filing in minutes, substituting vegan sour cream for the cream, 3/4 stick of Earth Balance for the butter, vanilla for the bourbon and adding some mini-chocolate chips and an extra egg for a little more volume. The pie was divine.
SC
Followed the recipe exactly. No issues with the crust that others had, and the shortbread was good; however the overall flavor was lacking. Not sweet enough. I felt like bourbon overpowered it. 4 thumbs down in my family.
PSS
Making this now for Christmas Eve. If the crust has to be smooshed together, is it intact enough to add filling and bake in a tart pan with a removable bottom, or is it safer to use a quiche pan? Directions don’t specify.
Larry
Just had a slice with my morning-after-Thanksgiving coffee. Rave reviews from guests. A nice alternative to the boring standard for Thanksgiving. A keeper!
rajchelsea
So here’s what I discovered with the crust. The first time I made this I used Kerry Gold butter and it rolled out beautifully. The second time I used just regular unsalted butter and it was a crumbly mess that wouldn’t roll, but was workable enough to be pressed into the pan. The taste outcome was the same! Btw I used half and half instead of heavy cream because that’s what I had.
Darlene
I also was unable to roll out the dough. I pushed it into the tart pan with my thumbs. I did not have time to refrigerate a second time. No problem, it turned out great! I am making it again for the 2nd time in one weekend!
rajchelsea
Was really pleased with how it turned out. I used Kerry gold butter and didn’t have any issue with rolling out the dough. I was also happy with how chocolatey it tasted. I used half and half instead of heavy cream because I didn’t want to buy it for just two tablespoons. Didn’t have bourbon so I used cognac. Lastly I used half maple sugar and half brown sugar. I agree it was not overly sweet.....would definitely make it again.
ChezMew
Have made this twice now, magnificent! For the shortbread dough, I pound it into submission with a rolling pin first, then am able to roll it out with a little more ease. This time, I had extra dough left so I rolled it out, cut it into triangles, and baked it to make little shortbread cookies. An added bonus!
Neesha
Was served to people age 2 to 76. The 5 year old gave a thumbs down, but the 2 year old ate most of hers. It wasn't very sweet, so did feel a bit more like an "adult" desert. I did have to do two swaps: I didn't have bourbon (so used vanilla) and regular brown sugar. Cooked as a pie, since I don't own a tart pan.
Lschatz
IMHO The chocolate shortbread is the star component. I made it per the recipe. When the dough started to come together, but still had crumbly & floury bits, I scraped the bowl and then gave the dough 6-7 higher speed pulses. That pulled it together. The 11 inch round when rolled out will be thicker than pie crust. I also toasted the pecans included chocolate bits per other notes. The topping is pretty flexible.
Jill
Glad I read the notes. Same thing happened to the crust but it was easy enough to put together in the dish.
Marisol
Add egg white or egg to crust doughCrust dough in fridge only 30mRoll crust btw plastic wrapOkay to patch dough1/4C honey & brown sugar or pos < in fillingOnly 4T butter in filling70% dark choc chips in fillingBittersweet choc shavings on top
Natalie
Used a whole egg in the extremely crumbly crust. Pan leaked when filling overflowed. Run pastry higher up the sides
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