Recipe: Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
In my family, the most special moments always happened in the kitchen. Growing up in Virginia, I spent the days before Thanksgiving underfoot in my grandma’s kitchen, scooping out cupfuls of flour and adding the finishing touch — a dust of powdered sugar — to her famous bourbon chocolate pecan pie. (As a reward, I got to turn the dough scraps into my own tiny pies, also dusted with sugar.) These little moments turned into beautiful memories that stick with me every year. The smell of this pie — now a classic on my own holiday table — takes me right back to those days. I make the recipe just like she used to, and that includes using Dixie Crystals: No Southern lady, my grandma included, would trust a Thanksgiving dessert to any other brand.
No, while stuffing recipes and turkey brines can come and go, it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving for me without this bourbon chocolate pecan pie. I’m guessing that you have a similar story and that, if you grew up in the South, it also involves the familiar sight of a bag of Dixie Crystals — after all, it’s been the South’s high-quality sugar of choice since 1917.
This year, though, I’m also going to incorporate some new traditions, use the yummiest holiday of the year to make some new family memories. I think I’ll start by inviting my nieces and nephews help out in the kitchen like I used to: And I’ll get some great ideas for little chefs from Dixie’s Thanksgiving stash of recipes, crafts and projects. (The site also has thousands of new and vintage recipes, tips and coupons.) They’ll love the turkey sun catchers and pilgrim-hat cookies. Maybe I’ll suggest they make some tiny pies of their own, too.
Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
Makes 1 9-inch pie
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1
(9-inch) pure butter pie crust
- 1/4 cup
(1/2 stick) butter
- 2 ounces
unsweetened chocolate
- 3
large eggs
- 1 cup
Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
- 3/4 cup
dark corn syrup or sugar can syrup (such as Steen's)
- 1/2 teaspoon
vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons
bourbon
- 1/4 teaspoon
salt
- 1 1/2 cups
pecan halves
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare or thaw a 9-inch pie crust. Place in pie pan on a foil or parchment lined cookie tray for easy clean-up after baking. Melt butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and let cool. Beat eggs in a bowl until frothy and then blend in sugar. Stir in syrup, vanilla, bourbon, salt and melted butter mixture until well blended.
Arrange pecans on the bottom of pie crust and carefully pour mixture over them. Place in oven at 400°F. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 45 minutes.
Recipe Notes
To dress up the top of the pie, place a paper doily on top of the cooled pie, sift powdered sugar over it and then gently lift the doily off of the pie. Rim the edge of the pie along the crust with fresh pecan halves.
Visit www.DixieCrystals.com and follow Dixie Crystals on Facebook for more Thanksgiving recipes and family traditions!