Bourbon Pecan Pie
It is pie season and what could be better than a classic pecan pie with a splash of bourbon?
I love pie. I have featured a coconut cream, rhubarb- peach, rustic apple, and chocolate cream pie and now- I give you Southern Bourbon Pecan Pie. Oh yes, my darlings. Pee-can Pie.
Hunky Hubbie and I were on our annual trip across the country from Florida to Montana and decided to make a pit stop off I-75 in rural Georgia to pick up a little lunch and a few bags of fresh Georgia Pecans for pie baking. My husband’s family is from Georgia and he attended law school in Macon, so this is a much beloved pilgrimage.
Jump to Recipe
We stopped at Lane Southern Orchards which is a perfect stop for its’ charm, ambiance, and the huge pecan groves so our Golden Retriever could run around and wear himself out a bit. We stopped in the cafe and picked up several bags of Lane’s gorgeous fragrant pecans.
I wanted to make a pie that honors my husband’s Southern roots in Georgia. I created a pie that is not too sweet and has a touch of Bourbon- because, well, Hunky Hubbie loves his bourbon.
I started with my husband’s grandmother’s pie recipe which is as classic as they come:
3 medium eggs
1 cup dark Karo Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp butter
pinch salt
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
It is baked in a pastry shell and is as perfect as you can get. Delicious. But, I can never do things well enough alone.
I remembered a Garden & Gun recipe from their cookbook: The Southerner’s Cookbook which had a shortbread cookie crust and a sorghum-bourbon filing. Okay- now we’re talking. But that recipe proved to be a tad too sweet for me and sorghum is not readily available everywhere.
So- third try.
No sorghum, but molasses, way less Karo syrup, lots more pecans, and a touch of sea salt. Bam! The molasses has a slightly smokey flavor and mixed with the soft floral notes of the bourbon- pie heaven! Oh me- Oh my!
Serve with unsweetened whipped cream unless you have a wicked sweet tooth and want to add a pinch of sugar.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
Fot the Crust
- 16 shortbread pecan sandies
- 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter- cut into pieces- cold
For the Filling
- 1 ½ cup pecans, (6 oz) chopped and lightly toasted
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup dark Karo syrup
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, beaten well
- 3 tbsp Bourbon
- butter for the pie plate
- heavy cream- for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie plate very liberally.
- For the Crust: In a food processor, process the shortbread cookies and the flour until well combined. Add in the salt and butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Pour the crumb mixture into the buttered pie plate. With the back of a 1 cup measuring cup, press the pie crust into shape and up the sides of the dish. CHILL for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove, set on a wire rack, and let cool completely.
- For the Filling: Put the 6 tbsp of butter, light brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt into a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until melted and fully combined. Whisking, add in the Karo syrup, molasses, and bourbon. Beat eggs in a small bowl. Off heat, add 1/8 of a cup of the bourbon-sugar mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly to temper them so they do not scramble. Add a small amount of the bourbon mixture three to four more times to the eggs. Then pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan and cook until glossy- about 2-3 more minutes. Off heat, pour in the vanilla. Fold in the toasted pecans.
- Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees until the pie is set.
- Let the pie cool on a wire rack.
- Serve with unsweetened freshly whipped heavy cream. The pie will keep up to two days in the fridge if well-wrapped with plastic.
