Last Thanksgiving, I went searching for a new pecan pie recipe, when I discovered that my childhood favorite was made with yucky corn syrup. I changed the recipe that I found around quite a bit. One major change is that I continued my mother’s tradition of filling the pie with pecans, instead of just putting them on top. Most places scrimp on pecans because they are so expensive, but if you are going to go through all the hassle of making a pie from scratch, I feel that you should make it the best pie you can. This goes doubly so if you only make pecan pie once a year, as most of us do.
I hate to brag, but I just finished a left over slice of my pecan pie, and it was excellent. A couple of people at our veggie Thanksgiving party asked for the recipe, so here it is:
Ingredients:
- One pie crust (I always make them from scratch, here’s a good recipe)
- One egg white, beaten
- One pound Pecans
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup real maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter or salted pecans)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Soak the pecans in the bourbon, stirring periodically. (I usually soak them for a couple hours, if I have the time)
- Press pie crust into a pie pan. Coat the crust with a thin layer of the egg whites. This keeps the crust nice and flaky.
- Beat the butter, sugar, and eggs together until they get a bit fluffy, it will still be pretty liquidy, but the mixture will be about 75% more volume.
- Blend in the vanilla, salt, and maple syrup.
- Leaving 1/4 inch from the top of the crust, put the pecans in the pie pan then add the syrup mixture over the pecans.
- Cook for 45-60 minutes, keeping an eye on the pie. I’ve had widely varying cooking times with this pie. When most of the top is brown, and it seems pretty gelatinous, it is done. Be careful not to overcook and burn it.
[...] wouldn’t notice this unless I mentioned it, but I’ve slightly changed my recipe for Becca’s Bourbon Maple Pecan Pie. It is my favorite Thanksgiving desert, and this year it has only [...]