By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus chilling and cooling
- Rating
- 4(591)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Like a cross between a giant Danish and a frangipane-filled tart, this not-too-sweet galette is perfect for the holidays and beyond. Maple sugar gives it a warm and toasty note, and fresh ginger and allspice, a delicately spicy nuance. You can substitute other nuts for pecans, and walnuts or slivered almonds would work particularly well. And both the dough and filling can be made a few days ahead. Serve this with whipped cream or ice cream for a sophisticated dessert, then save the leftovers for breakfast the next day. An unadorned slice is fantastic with coffee.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 1large egg, at room temperature
- 1⅔cups/215 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10tablespoons/145 grams unsalted butter (1¼ stick), cold and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1½cups/150 grams whole pecans, lightly toasted (see Note)
- ¾cup/110 grams maple sugar (or use brown sugar, preferably muscovado or powdered jaggery), plus more for sprinkling
- 6tablespoons/85 grams unsalted butter (¾ stick), at room temperature and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1large egg, at room temperature, beaten
- 1tablespoon bourbon, brandy or rum (optional)
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
- ¼teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
- Whipped cream or ice cream, for serving
For the Dough
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
690 calories; 51 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 20 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 19 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 335 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
Make the dough: Crack the egg into a measuring cup and beat it with a fork. Add enough cold water to measure ⅓ cup. Transfer 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture to a small covered container and reserve it in the refrigerator for brushing the crust before baking.
Step
2
To make the dough in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and salt in the work bowl and pulse two or three times to combine. Add cubed butter, then pulse until the mixture has formed lima bean-size pieces. Drizzle in the egg mixture and pulse just to combine, taking care not overprocess.
Step
3
To make the dough by hand, put the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add cubed butter, then mix it in with your hands, pinching and squeezing with your fingers (or use a pastry blender) until the largest pieces are the size of peas. Drizzle in the egg mixture a little at a time, mixing until the dough starts to come together.
Step
4
Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and squeeze it once or twice to form a ball. (Add a few drops of water if needed to help the dough come together.) Flatten into a disk, cover in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
Step
5
Make the filling: Set aside ½ cup pecans for the topping. Put remaining 1 cup pecans in a food processor with the sugar and process until finely ground. (If you’ve made the crust in a food processor, don’t bother washing it out.) Pulse in the butter, egg, bourbon, vanilla, ginger, allspice and fine sea salt until smooth. Chill for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days, until the mixture is cold and solid.
Step
6
Place a piece of parchment paper on a work surface. Unwrap the dough and place it in the center of the paper. Top with another piece of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into an 11-inch round. (It can be ragged at the edges.) Leaving the dough sandwiched in the parchment paper, transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet.
Step
7
Remove the top piece of parchment paper from the dough. Spoon the pecan mixture onto the dough circle, leaving a 1½-inch border. Top with reserved whole pecans. Gently fold the pastry over the filling, pleating to hold it in. (Casual folds are fine: The aim is to make sure the filling stays in the tart.)
Step
8
Put the galette, uncovered, in the refrigerator for another 20 minutes (and up to 1 hour). It should be cold and firm to the touch when you put it in the oven.
Step
9
As the galette chills, heat the oven to 375 degrees.
Step
10
Brush pastry with reserved egg mixture. (Add a little water if it thickened as it sat.) Sprinkle the pastry very lightly with flaky sea salt and very generously with maple sugar.
Step
11
Bake the galette for 25 to 35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream or ice cream.
Tip
- To toast the pecans, spread them out on a rimmed baking pan and bake for 8 minutes at 325 degrees. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Ratings
4
out of 5
591
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Cooking Notes
Faded elegance
Galettes are easier to pleat if you make 1” cuts about 2” apart all the way around the edge. Then when you fold up the flaps you can overlap them slightly - use the egg wash,sprinkle with a bit of sugar and bake for a lovely, professional finish.
witloof
Wow, this looks just wonderful! I am definitely going to make this for the next time I celebrate a winter holiday with other people. To the person who was questioning toasting the nuts first, I have discovered that toasting them before baking a pecan pie made a huge huge difference in the flavor of the finished product and now I wouldn't dream of putting them into any baked product raw.
A
When you make galettes at home, feel free to make them savory and with buckwheat flour. The rest of us are happy to try new recipes, especially variants that look as delicious as this maple-pecan galette.
Phill
I think that I would set aside the 1/2 C of pecans to be used for the topping and not toast them. They'll get toasted well enough during the baking of the pie. The ones in the picture look almost burnt.
Sheila
I have had the most success with these freeform fold-over crusts by baking in a glass pie dish - the sloping sides of the dish encourage the crust folds to stay folded over. (As a bonus, it's really easy to see how the bottom is looking near the end of baking...)
Aengus P
Modification for Step 7:Put the reserved whole pecans onto the dough circle then cover the pecans with the pecan mixture. I have found when making pecan pie that if you allow the pecans to rise up through the filling while baking that you end up with the best tasting/looking glazed pecans on top.
Nicole
Maybe say at the start there are 4 h of chilling!
mdunn144
I made this tart yesterday and it came out as a molten unformed mess. It was beautiful before it went in. Wayyyyyyyy too much butter. And, yes, I chilled every step according to the recipe. Something is seriously off in the recipe.
Alan in France
Will definetely try this recipe. But most especially hats off to you Melissa Clark for including the metric system in your list of ingredients. I find so many amazing looking recipes on US web sites but which infuriate me so much by having to first try and figure out what a cup or an ounce is.. Arrgh. So thank you Melissa on behalf of all of your foreign non Imperial subscribers who would like to follow your recipes. A wonderful database of recipes NYT. Thank you. But maybe more (k)g & ml?
Martha
I’m not sure why one needs to toast the pecans before the galette is assembled. I think they might turn out getting over roasted.
binkle
So if I make this, the galette police will come a-knockin'?
Maria
Alan, you may find this chart helpful for conversions between volume and weights, including metric, when a recipe doesn't have both: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
S. Parker
Not helpful. Pedantry.
Heather
You could always buy an airplane bottle.
LaToya Caprice
I just came online to write the exact same comment. I am a serious home baker, I weigh my ingredients, and I followed this recipe exactly as written. It's still delicious, albeit quite heavy, but in terms of appearance, it's a hot mess.
S
Really yummy! I couldn’t find maple sugar, so I did 1/2c light brown sugar and 1/4c maple syrup. I did need to add a little water to the crust, but not much, maybe 1tsp. I baked in a pie dish, and I’m glad I did, because it did spread quite a bit! Next time I’ll toast an extra 1/4 pecans for the top—the amount I reserved to decorate the top didn’t really cover the surface. Delicious though!
Susain
It was a big hit, but not easy to make. Impossible for me to roll out the frigid dough until I had warmed it up. Same for the filling. As it baked it was swimming in melted butter along the sides and on top. Looked like a potential epic fail, but the butter soaked in as it cooled so the crust was remarkably flaky and, of course, buttery. I used a pinch of dried ginger instead of fresh. Would reduce sugar in filling just a bit; it was right on the verge of too sweet.
AT
What happened? When my galette was assembled it completely held all the filling; however after the first 25 of baking one side spilled out like lava down a mountain.
Deb
This was outstanding. I’ve made it 3 times now, so here are some tips: (1) The crust definitely needs some water to come together, but don’t overdo it or you won’t get the crumbly texture. (2) Maple sugar is expensive, and brown sugar works just as well in the filling and tastes delicious. For the sugar on the crust, though, use either maple sugar or turbinado and use lots. (3) A small sprinkle of cloves in a nice additional spice in the filling. (4) Most importantly, use the pie plate method!
EKSanfilippo
This fell apart so spectacularly that all I could do was giggle and dump it into a a parchment lined 8x8 and finish baking, crust on the top. It’ll be fine, and I’ll try again.
sumwug
I was looking for a pecan pie-like dessert with less sugar than the classic 2-cups-sugar recipe, which I find unbearably cloying. And this recipe does it perfectly! My only change was to omit the fresh ginger because I was running out of time and because I wanted to try it with the full classic pecan flavor. It will be my go-to recipe now. Toasting the filling pecans first is a must, but don’t toast the ones that will go on top; they get plenty brown. It is all deliciously sweet—but not cloying.
Clare Cy
It looks great, but I'm not sure you should be selling it by saying it's easier to make than a pie. It seems about the same effort to me, other than having to be a little less persnickety about working with the dough/crust at final assembly. That saves, maybe, five minutes.
Jane E.
I don’t understand how you spoon the filling onto the galette when you have chilled it until it is totally solid. Thanks.
Katryn
This was spectacular. For those of you who aren’t keen on pecan pies because of their cloying sweetness, this one is perfect. The filling almost feels like an almond paste and the mix of spices is delicate. I used a pie dish because of the comments on the crust melting away. It turned out great. The crust itself is buttery, with just enough crumble. This will be my go to pecan pie from now on.
amanda
Would you freeze this before or after baking?
Bianca 4s
Hi Amanda,Almost any pie will do well if frozen prior to baking, just wrap is tightly and freeze. The trick is not thaw it before baking - instead pop it into a super hot oven (this recipe calls for 375 which should be fine) and bake. Hope this helps. Bianca
andrea
Fabulous
Margot
A friend of mine and I have made this galette for 2 Thanksgivings in a row. We both think it is an easy delicious recipe. In all honesty, my friend makes her favorite pastry recipe and I make the filling according to Melissa Clark's recipe. We assemble the galette together. We both make our parts of the recipe ahead of time. We have not had any trouble with the filling spreading or seeping out of the pastry. I love pecan pie but I think this is a fantastic alternative.
WillnPL
A keeper! I don’t think I’ll make a pecan pie again. I used vodka instead of water in the crust, and it came out beautiful with only a couple of hours in the fridge. It held the filling in without any spills. Left out the ginger, as I thought it would be too strong. No maple sugar, so I used light brown sugar and substituted maple syrup for the rum. Just the right maple flavor without being overly sweet.
JoAnn
I followed this recipe exactly and as someone else said, “Hot Mess.” If I had to serve this to company, there would be blood in the kitchen. I usually love Melissa Clark’s recipes. Hope someone else had better results.
Bruce
This looks good. I've made maple walnut pie using black walnuts, which go very well with maple. I'm going to try this recipe with black walnuts.
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