What's the mystery in this pie?

Cream Cheese! That's the mystery in the delightful pie.

I know what you are thinking...cream cheese in a pecan pie? Trust me folks...it's totally worth it.

Last year in my company's pie contest, I entered my mother's famous Texas Pecan Pie. I will admit it wasn't the prettiest pie there. I hadn't yet master the art of decorating a pie crust. But I knew it tasted good. Another lady at work entered what she called a Mystery Pecan Pie.

I was intrigued...I had to know what the mystery was all about. When she told me I was surprised to hear the mystery was cream cheese. And, needless to say her pie took 1st place and my plain ole pecan pie took 2nd.

I 've searched for the perfect Mystery Pecan Pie recipe and I finally have it. Trust me, I've tried a lot of different recipes for this recipe, but Paula Deen takes the cake...or maybe I should say the "PIE" in this case.

Although, I do love this recipe, it's still nice to have the original thing every once in awhile....Mom's Texas Pecan Pie recipe!

Happy Baking!

Mystery Pecan Pie
by Paula Deen

Topping:
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pie:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg 1 un-baked deep-dish (9-inch) pie shell
1 1/4 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all topping ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, and egg until combined. Pour into pie shell. Top with chopped pecans. Pour topping over pecans. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.