For Jennifer Sparkman, the smell of pecan pies baking will always feel like the holidays.
Growing up, Jennifer and her family knew the season was near when they came home from school to find their mother, Jeanenne Skinner, and grandmother, Mattie Oden, baking as many as 25 pies at a time.
The pies were given to their teachers, a tradition that began in kindergarten and continued through high school. But some of Jennifer’s favorite memories happened before the pies ever reached the oven. Pecans were gathered from their yard and shelled by hand before Grandma Oden finely ground them in her little one-cup grinder.
They also shared pies with school office staff, church staff, at fellowship meals and with employees at her dad Frank Skinner’s drugstore. Grandma Oden continued baking well into her 90s, and her mother says people throughout the community still remember those pies.
The family credits their unique flavor to maple flavoring instead of vanilla and finely ground pecans that create a crunchy topping.
Today, Jennifer is honored to carry on the tradition and share a recipe filled with generations of memories, from her family to yours.
Mattie Oden’s Pecan Pie makes two pies.
Combine 6 lightly beaten eggs with 2 cups sugar, 1 cup dark Karo syrup, 2 pinches salt and 2 teaspoons maple flavoring. Mix in 1/2 cup melted butter and 2 cups finely chopped pecans. Divide between two unbaked deep-dish pie shells. Bake at 350°F for about 55 minutes, until lightly browned, set and almost cracked in the center.