Homemade Bourbon Pecan Pie

Pecans and bourbon are harbingers of cooler weather around these parts.

Pecans ripen in October which makes them synonymous with Fall. Bourbon can be harvested all year round, but it is particularly nice when it’s cold outside. (Maybe they should call it “Brr-bon”! Just kidding.)

Bourbon also happens to be a damn fine addition to pecan pie.

As the only granddaughter living in the same city as my paternal grandmother, I was the one to be gifted with her mother’s recipe collection last year. It brings me incomparable joy to read through them, connecting with a woman I never knew. From her notes, I gather that she made a lot of desserts and threw a lot of parties. There’s one sheet of paper with four recipes written on it in faded pen: pecan pie, lemon pie, molasses pie, and chocolate pie. The pecan and lemon pies both have several check marks next to them, as if they’ve been tried and tested many times. The molasses pie has a big ol’ X next to it. I guess I won’t bother with that one. Thanks for the heads up from beyond the grave, Agnie.

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of pecan pie. They are almost always WAY too sweet, not to mention the fact that people can be so stingy with the pecans. (I can’t blame them when pecans are going for 11 bucks a pound, really, but it’s the holidays, people! Live large! Or make some other kind of pie instead.) The bourbon, though, cuts through the cloying sweetness and adding lots of toasted pecans makes a pie that will wow your socks off, especially if you pair it with some hot, black coffee.

What?! Coffee AND bourbon?! Is that the devil behind me?!

Nope. False alarm. It’s just a mirror.

One more thing before I get on with the recipe. Great-grandma’s original called for white sugar and dark corn syrup (Karo brand to be precise). I avoid corn syrup at all costs and instead had smashing success using sorghum molasses in place of the dark Karo. Of course, I like the fruity, mineral-y, molasses-like flavor of sorghum so take that into account. If you have no such qualms about corn syrup, you can either follow her recipe as written, or use brown sugar with light Karo. Or use brown sugar and dark Karo for an even richer taste ‘splosion. Can’t find sorghum and don’t want to use corn syrup? Try brown rice syrup from a health food store. Molasses would probably work, too, but it would be a mighty rustic pie.

 

If you like this recipe, you might like this eggnog recipe from the same era. If you’d like to make your own pie crust, use this recipe.

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