Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Bake to impress this holiday season with Pecan Pie

Bake to impress this holiday season with a recipe that has stood the test of time. Try Pecan Pie from Stout’s Favorites cookbook, p. 43, available via the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/StoutsFavoritesFirstEdition/page/n45/mode/2up

Pecan Pie Recipe


The cookbook was published by the Home Economics Club of Stout State College, 1955, featuring favorite recipes of faculty and students, and "dedicated to all those people who enjoy preparing and eating good food.” This recipe was submitted by Mary E. Killian, a faculty member in the Food and Nutrition Dept., Director of Food Service and the Cafeteria, and an advisor for the Dietetic Club and Alpha Sigma Alpha during her time at Stout, ca. 1948-1967.

1955 Tower Yearbook photo, Mary Killian


According to Killian, “This is a favorite with students at Stout. Although it is a Southern recipe, it has won the applause of the Northerner. It is simple in preparation and delectable to eat. One reason I like it personally is it can be made a day ahead and still retain its perfect flavor.”

Cooking tips: I used a 10 inch graham cracker pie crust and lined the bottom and sides with whole, and not chopped, pecans. I used room-temperature vs. cold butter, and my first four ingredients did not cream together, the mixture stayed flaky. After I poured my mixture into the pie crust, the pecans started floating to the top, and more did as the pie was baking. I freaked out at first, but it worked out in the end with the pecans lining the top of the pie. When I cut a slice of pie to taste test it, a lot of the bottom of the crust had disappeared and melded together with the filling. I have only baked a few pies before this, and rarely eat Pecan Pie, but I think it turned out pretty good in the end. In the future I will line the pie with fewer pecans. Bon Appetit! 

Pecans lined in pie shell


The baked pie, pecans lining the top

The pie, complete with cool whip spread on top. Bon Appetit!


Discover how cooking and eating food has changed since the 1950s, from the National Museum of American History’s online exhibit “Food: Transforming the American Table”: https://americanhistory.si.edu/food

By: Julie Hatfield, Archives Assistant, UW-Stout Archives

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