Bourbon Pecan Pie

This pie can easily be converted from a bourbon pecan pie to a regular pecan pie. It’s not as sweet as the average pecan pie, but still has everything that anyone is looking for in a pecan pie. It’s one of my favorite pies.

Last year, I had the honor of baking pies and cheesecakes for my sister’s best friend’s wedding. I’ve known her since she was in middle school so it was special. I loved the idea that they had a non-traditional wedding “cake.” These non-traditional wedding pies, meant they didn’t have a top tier of a cake to save for later. Well, their anniversary is approaching, so that gave me the opportunity to pull out my recipes and play in the kitchen. I couldn’t resist the opportunity. The holidays are also around the corner so it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.

Notes:

• Make sure your crust is cold and you haven’t had it laying out because you’re trying to record it as I did and the crust will keep the crimping much better. Also see the note from my easy pie crust recipe about folding the edges under rather than trimming them off and they will hold that crimping from the piping tip.
• For this anniversary pie, I covered the edges with aluminum foil for the first half of the baking, including the time at the higher heat and then took it off for the last 25 minutes or so and that yielded a nice golden crust.
• Omit the bourbon and you have regular pecan pie
• You can substitute the light corn syrup for just plain granulated white sugar for a corn syrup-less pie.

Bourbon Pecan Pie

Yields: 1 9-inch pie

Time: 50 mins – 1 hour

1 prepared pie crust (homemade easy pie crust or store bought)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup (or use white sugar for corn syrup-less pie)
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter (melted)
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 tablespoon AP flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup chopped + 1/2 cup pecans halves
2 tablespoons bourbon (omit if you want regular pie)

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Roll out your pie crust, prepare your pie pan and set aside. You can use a store bought crust and this step is made even easier.
• In medium bowl, whisk brown sugar, corn syrup and melted butter. Then whisk in the eggs one at a time. Add salt and flour. Then whisk in milk, vanilla extract and bourbon. Lastly, add the 1 cup of chopped pecans. Pour the mixture into your prepared pie pan. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of pecan halves.
• Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325F and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes until the top has cracked slightly. Cover the edges  with aluminum foil during first half of baking so it doesn’t brown too quickly and will yield a golden crust.

Enjoy!