Oh my. I have never made a pecan pie before, and honestly, can’t even remember that last time I ate it. I had some pecans in shell that I had been needing to use for a long time. When my friend, Jen, commented on my Thanksgiving menu post that she was making a pecan pie, I decided it was finally time to use those pecans and make the pie. She recommended this Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie recipe from Martha Stewart. I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I improvised. Here are the changes I made:
- I used refrigerated pie dough. I just unrolled and placed the dough in the pie pan, and didn’t have leftover scraps, so skipped making the leaves. I also omitted the 2 egg yolks and heavy cream used to glaze the leaves.
- I did not have dark corn syrup, so I used light corn syrup instead. They can pretty much be used interchangeably, it’s just that the dark can sometimes enhance the flavor. I think it turned out great with the light. For more on light versus dark corn syrup, you can read more here.
- I did not have maple syrup, but I did have apple butter syrup that I had gotten at Apple Annie’s, a local apple orchard. This syrup is very delicious, we’ve used it on pancakes and waffles. Plus, the flavors of apple and pecan go together well, so I figured it would work. It definitely did! The apple flavor is somewhat subtle, but the addition of a syrup greatly enhanced the flavor of this pie.
My husband and I loved this pie. Getting all the pecans out of the shells was not real fun, but both my kids helped a little, so that made it not so bad. I was able to keep some nice to lay out on top, then the broken ones when inside the pie. It was maybe cooked a little too long since some pecans on top got a little over-browned. But, they weren’t burnt, so they were still edible. The inside of the pie was perfect.
I would definitely make this pie again, just probably not soon because I ate so much of it! Also, I would use pecans already out of shell….or there might not be any bourbon left when it’s time to put the pie ingredients all together!
