Costco Pecan Pie Review
Author’s note: I was not paid to write this review, and I have no affiliation with Costco. These are my own unvarnished opinions.
Ah, nuts.
After hearing about the Costco Pecan Pie for the past two years, I finally caved and bought one. I expected it to be a schmaltzy block of sugar, but I was surprised to find otherwise. This pie has pleasantly restrained sweetness, yet rich flavor. If you’ve read my other reviews, you already know that I eschew overly sweet desserts, so I was glad to be wrong in my sugar prejudice.
I’m also impressed by how nutty this pecan pie is. Unlike other grocery store variants, this one features large pecan halves (rather than small broken bits)— and LOTS of them! In my pie, there were at least two layers of pecans on top of the custard— a truly generous amount. Nearly half the pie depth is nuts. The pecans have a syrupy, glossy, candy-like coating, which makes the presentation beautiful.
Allow me to add that these pecans are delightfully crispy — not soggy or flabby — and they have a fresh, sweet taste. I did not encounter any bitter or rancid-tasting pecans. These are not sad bargain nuts, but rather good quality ones. I would certainly not be ashamed to serve this pie at a family celebration.
The custard base is a lighter color than I expected. It has a rich, flavorful taste, but not as many deep caramel or burnt sugar notes as some other pecan pies. The custard is also firmer than I expected, but in a good way. It’s not runny like pudding. I generally do not like overly soft pecan pie. The filling has a slight texture, which I personally enjoyed, although that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The texture reminded me of my mom’s homemade pecan pie. If I had to guess, the firmness of the custard is from the eggs, although there might be some kind of additional thickener, like flour or ground pecans involved.
I was sad to see artificial flavors listed more than once in the ingredients, so the rich, delicious flavor is suss. There’s no vanilla listed.
I was also saddened by the absence of butter. There is shortening, but no butter. Alas. There should be butter. Butter makes everything better.
Although I’ve been an enthusiastic cheerleader for Costco pie crusts, this crust was probably my least favorite so far. It has a brittle texture and tastes overcooked. I mostly scraped the pie custard out of it and then threw the crust away. I’m not mad about this, because MOST grocery store pie crusts meet the same fate in my house. I’ve just had unusually good luck with Costco pie crusts. Until now.
Can’t win ‘em all.
Because the crust is brittle, it tends to break and fall off the edges of the pie. This means your pie may look a bit battered and ugly by the time you serve it. Not a deal breaker, just something to know about. The aluminum pie pan tends to flex when moving the pie around, and this exacerbates the crust breakage.
Other than that, this pie serves pretty cleanly. I needed a sharp knife to cut the pecans, and it definitely serves better chilled, but otherwise, it plates nicely. Because the pie is so large, these are long slices, but not unwieldly.
Ingredients in Costco Pecan Pie
Definitely not a stellar ingredient list. But not a galactic failure, either. Even my mom’s homemade pecan pie is made with corn syrup, so I give this a reluctant pass. Fortunately, there are no artificial colors (paprika is used instead, which is an interesting choice). There are wretched preservatives and even wretcheder artificial colors.
Spell check didn’t flag “wretcheder,” which intrigues me. Is this already a word? Hmm.
Anyway, here are the ingredients:
- Corn Syrup
- Pecans
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid)
- Shortening (Soybean Oil, Mono and Diglycerides, TBHQ, Citric Acid)
- Water
- Glaze (Water, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Pectin, Citric Acid, Carrageenan, Xanthan Gum, Artificial Flavor, Potassium Sorbate [Preservative], Sodium Citrate, Sodium Metabisulfite, Sodium Phosphate, Paprika [Color])
- Soybean Oil and/or Canola Oil
- Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Dextrose, Egg Whites, Soy Flour, Whey
Price and Servings of Kirkland Pecan Pie
Costco’s Pecan Pie costs $16.99. There are probably 16 servings (potentially more), which means each serving costs $1.06. Although the label says 4 pounds, 6 ounces, mine was closer to a full 5 pounds. Sixteen servings would be approximately 5 ounces each, which is fairly generous.
Although this pie is not as terrific a value as the Costco Pumpkin Pie (which is only $6) or the Costco Apple Pie ($13), it’s still a decent price, especially considering how many pecans are in here. So many pecans.
The Costco item # is 15827. This is a “Kirkland Signature” (store brand) bakery item. Since this is a seasonal item, I found it in my local store in November and December.
Shelf Life of Costco Pecan Pie
My pie had an expiration date roughly two days after purchase. However, it took more than a week of diligent eating for me to finish it. The pie did not lose any significant quality over that time. Perhaps the crust got somewhat softer, which was a welcome change. Maybe the nuts were not QUITE as crispy. That’s about all that happened. This pie seems to have a decent shelf-life.
The End.
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