There was a time when I considered myself somewhat of a pecan pie recipe purist and had no interest in anything but basic pecan pie. I've loosened up over the years and love embellishments -- especially bourbon! So even though it's a bit last minute, here's a recommendation for a fantastic Thanksgiving Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. It's from The Blue Moon Bakery, via Midtown Magazine.
Texture and Flavor
The recipe is very simple, especially if you use a store bought crust. I used one from Aldi for this pie, but next time I'll use Blue Moon's recipe (which is in the notes) or our current favorite pie crust. The truth is I didn't want to waste time on a homemade crust until I knew the pie was good, and this one is. It's somewhere between a bourbon-y tasting custard and chocolate cream pie filling that just happens to have pecans. It's way more boozy tasting than the other bourbon pecan pie on Cookie Madness, but it's also pretty different since it's completely chocolate. For the holidays, you may want to bake this as well as the One Stick of Butter Pecan Pie for the traditionalists.
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie Ingredients
Here's a quick ingredient list rundown.
- I used a roll and bake pie shell, but put a scratch recipe in the notes. Feel free to make your own using your favorite recipe or Blue Moon's, which is in the notes.
- Pecan Pieces -- Kirkland pecan halves from Costco, which I toasted and chopped. The recipe doesn't call for making a pecan border, but if you have plenty of pecan halves you can put them around the perimeter. The pecan halves you use for the border do not need to be toasted.
- Butter -- Any kind
- Bittersweet Chocolate -- I used Guittard Bittersweet Disks but feel like Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chips would also work well.
- Corn Syrup -- Karo dark and light
- Eggs -- Bring to room temperature
- Cocoa Powder -- Hershey's Natural
- Bourbon -- I used ⅓ cup of Four Roses. Use one you like because you'll taste it.
- Salt - Morton Kosher
- Vanilla -- Nielsen Massey
More Recipes With Bourbon
Recipe
Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell or a roll-and-bake crust deep dish
- 1 ½ cups toasted and chopped pecans plus some whole ones for the border
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (84 grams)
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate or Ghirardelli bittersweet chips (84 grams)
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar (150 grams
- ½ cup light corn syrup (150 grams)
- ½ cup dark corn syrup (150 grams)
- 4 large eggs, bring to room temperature
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup bourbon
- ¼ scant teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- If using a store-bought roll and bake crust, let it come to room temperature. Roll out and fit into a 9 inch pie dish and keep chilled until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Toast the pecans at 350 for about 7 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside to cool, then chop.
- Combine the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. If you have a microwave-safe mixing bowl, you can do it directly in the mixing bowl. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the chocolate mixture, dark brown sugar, corn syrups, eggs, cocoa powder, bourbon, salt and vanilla.
- Sprinkle the toasted nuts over the pie crust, then pour the chocolate mixture over the nuts. They will rise to the top.
- Set the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes.
- Allow the pie to cool for several hours. If you want to solidify the chocolate, let cool, then chill, then bring back to room temperature.
Notes
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cube
- 2-4 tablespoons ice water
Anna says
Good luck! I think that will work just fine. I actually like that other one a little better because it's more like a pecan pie with chocolate in it, whereas this one is really good but has more chocolate flavor and reminds me more of a bourbon flavored brownie pie than a pecan pie.
Sue says
Thank you for your response, Anna. I've decided I'm going to use the lower-bourbon recipe and substitute strong coffee (well, espresso) for the 2 tbs of bourbon. I think it should work!
Anna says
Sue, that's a good question. I haven't tested this particular recipe without the bourbon, and since it calls for a full 1/3 cup, it gets significant flavor from it. You could try leaving it out and using a teaspoon of vanilla. I think it would probably be okay, but since I haven't tested it I can't make that promise. I have another chocolate pecan pie which is more like a regular pecan pie with chunks of chocolate in it. That one only uses a small amount of bourbon and should be fine without it. Here's the link. https://www.cookiemadness.net/2018/05/05/bourbon-chocolate-pecan-pie/
Sue says
DH and DS both hate the taste of alcohol in sweets. I'm dying to make a chocolate pecan pie, but what can I substitute for the bourbon?
Anna says
Yeah, why put bourbon in something if you can't taste it.
T. Martin says
"Booziest" - talking my language