Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie

Our Kentucky-born-and-raised pastry chef, Stacy Fortner, makes the best-ever pecan pie. Naturally she adds a good slug of her favorite Kentucky bourbon, Knob Creek. If you put the pecans into the shell first, they will rise to the top after you add the filling. The larger than usual amount of eggs gives this pecan pie an amost custardy texture.

Toast the pecans until they are lightly browned and fragrant, but don’t let them get too dark as they will darken a little more as the pie bakes.

Serve the pie at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Makes one 9 1/2 inch pie | Serves 8 to 10

Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie

• 1 3/4 cup pecan halves, toasted and cooled
• One 9 1/2 - inch single crust blind-baked and cooled pastry shell
• 4 large eggs
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon molasses
• 2 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon, preferably Knob Creek
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350F

Put the pecans in the prepared pie shell, taking a moment to turn them right sides up, and set aside.

Put in the eggs in a bowl and whisk lightly to break them up. Add the melted butter, sugar, corn syrup, molasses, bourbon, and salt, whisking until smooth. Pour the filling into the pastry shell.

Bake until the pie is cooked through and set, about 50 to 55 minutes. To check that the pie is cooked enough, poke the tip of a small knife into filling which should look set up and not liquid. Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool on a rack about an hour before slicing and serving.