This Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie is made without corn syrup and is instead flavored with maple syrup and bourbon. It’s gooey and decadent with a flaky crust — a perfect Fall or Thanksgiving pie recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Pecan Pie
Pecans are one of my favorite nuts to use in desserts, but this may be because Fall is my favorite season and they seem to be the autumnal nut. Some of my favorite recipes include caramel pecan cinnamon rolls, cinnamon pecan blondies, or caramel maple pecan pie. However, if you’re looking for a fun pecan pie variation, then look no further than this Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie. Here’s why you should give this recipe a try:
- There is no corn syrup in this pecan pie. Instead, maple syrup and bourbon are used for sweetness and depth of flavor.
- The crust is foolproof to make and extra flaky.
- Serve it with flaky sea salt on top because we’re all sweet and salty fans around here.
- A great pie for Fall or Thanksgiving.
Ingredient Notes for Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie
Ingredients for Pie Crust
- All-Purpose Flour: If possible, measure flour with a scale for accuracy.
- Unsalted, cold butter: Make sure the butter is very cold to ensure a flaky crust. Cut your butter into cubes as well before starting so that it blends well into the flour.
- Granulated sugar and salt: A little bit of sugar and salt add some flavor to the crust.
- Ice water: similar to the butter, you want to ensure that your water is very cold to keep the butter from softening.
Ingredients for Pecan Pie Filling
- Raw Pecan Halves: I like using pecan halves in pecan pie, but you are welcome to chop yours up into smaller pieces first.
- Optional: Toast the pecans before baking with them for a more aromatic, nuttier flavor.
- Grade A Maple Syrup: Make sure to use pure maple syrup, and not pancake syrup (which isn’t actually maple syrup!).
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness. Avoid reducing the amount of sugar in the recipe.
- Room Temperature Eggs + Egg Yolk: Quickly warm eggs by soaking them in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes.
- Melted Butter: You can use either salted or unsalted butter.
- Pure Vanilla Extract and Bourbon: Bourbons on the sweeter end tend to work really well here, such as Woodford. I also like using Four Roses.
Not ingredient-related, but if you’re interested in what pie dish I used for this pie, it’s this Staub 9″ Pie Dish and I love it. It comes in lots of pretty colors too, I just use white because it works better for photos lol.
How to Make Flaky Pie Crust
This pie crust recipe is my absolute favorite, tried and true recipe. It’s a little bit unconventional and I have to credit the method to J. Kenji Alt-Lopez and the Serious Eats team. You essentially blend some of the flour with butter to create a mass of fat, and then pulse the rest of the flour around it. After that, you use a rubber spatula to fold water in, creating layers.
Three things to keep in mind are:
- Keep your ingredients cold. You want to make sure the fat does not melt too much before baking. Make sure to chill your pie crust before rolling it out, and then freeze it after shaping.
- Weigh the flour. Pie crust is one of those things where accuracy is important, and nothing is more accurate than a scale when it comes to measuring ingredients. If you have a kitchen scale, use it to your advantage here!
- Blind bake the crust. This will ensure a crispy, flaky crust that isn’t soggy at the bottom.
Tips for Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie
Here are a few tips for making the very best pie:
Let the pie cool completely before serving. Pecan pie continues to cook and set while it cools, so if you try to cut into it while its still warm it may be messy and runny.
Bake the pie on the bottom ⅓ of the oven for a crispy crust. The oven floor conducts heat better than the air, which will lead to a nicely browned, crisp pie crust. You can also set the pie onto a pizza stone, which conducts heat even better. No soggy bottoms here!
Set the pie dish on a sheet pan in the oven. In case there are any drips or spills the sheet pan will catch it instead of your oven floor (which will burn and is a pain to clean).
Brush the crust with egg wash before baking. To give the crust an aesthetically pleasing finish, brush it with egg wash before baking. The crust will turn golden brown and glossy as it bakes. I know looks aren’t everything, but it never hurts!
Toast pecans before using. It takes a little bit of extra time, but it amps up the flavor 100x. Spread pecans out onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and toast them in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Make sure they don’t burn and let them cool before. using.
How Do I Know When Pecan Pie is Done?
It’s really hard to know when pecan pie is done baking based on just sight alone, so the key is to give it a jiggle test. Give the pie a gentle nudge and notice how it moves. The edges should be completely set while the middle few inches should be slightly jiggly (like Jell-O). If the filling flows freely like liquid, then the pie needs more time. Every oven is different, so make sure to judge the done-ness based on this test and use the baking time as a guideline.
The filling will continue to set while it cools, so for this reason it’s extremely important to let the pie cool completely before serving.
How to Store Leftover Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie
Since pecan pie has a custard filling (aka lots of eggs), it needs to be refrigerated. You can store leftover pecan pie covered and in the fridge for up to 4 days. With this, if you’re baking this pie ahead of time, make sure to keep it in the fridge until it’s time to serve! I actually like to transfer the pie to the fridge 2-3 hours after it comes out of the oven to help it cool down completely.
Pin & Save for Later
Want to make this pie but not ready to bake yet? Hover over (or tap on mobile) any image in this post to save it to Pinterest. Happy baking and I hope you love your Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie!
Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie (No Corn Syrup)
This amazing maple bourbon pecan pie is made without corn syrup. It is sweetened with maple syrup and has a hint of bourbon that pairs perfectly with the nutty pecans. It's gooey, rich, and the perfect pie to serve this Fall.
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup butter, very cold and cut into cubes
- 2-3 tbsp ice water
- 1 egg, for an egg wash
Pecan Pie Filling
- 2 cups pecan halves
- 4 tbsp butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ tsp fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup grade A maple syrup
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2-3 tbsp bourbon (2 for more subtle flavor)
Instructions
Make and Blind Bake Pie Crust
- Make the dough. In a food processor, add ¾ cup (150g) of the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse a few times to combine. Then, add the cubed butter. Make sure the butter is very cold. Pulse the butter into the flour 43-46 times (yes you read right lol), until it forms into a dough or paste.
- Add the remaining flour (70g) to the food processor and pulse a few times until crumbs form.
- Transfer the crumbs into a large bowl and fold in water with a flexible spatula, 1 tbsp at a time, until a dough comes together. You may only need to add 2-3 tbsp of water.
- Form the dough into a round disc, wrap tightly, and transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes If chilling for longer, you may need to let the dough rest at room temperature for a bit before rolling.
- Roll out the dough. Once the dough is ready, place it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into an even circle that is 2-3 inches larger than your pie dish. Drape the dough over your rolling and then lay it into a lightly greased, 10" pie dish. Trim off any excess along the edges to leave only a ½" overhang. Fold the excess dough under itself and use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges.
- Transfer the crust to the freezer to chill for at least 20 minutes while the oven preheats.
- Blind bake the crust. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Take the crust out of the freezer and line it on the bottom and sides with a large piece of parchment. Fill the crust with pie weights or dry beans, and then put the dish onto a baking sheet and into the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then take the pie out of the oven and use the parchment to lift the pie weights out. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Use a fork to gently poke a few holes at the bottom of the crust (no need to poke all the way through), and then continue baking for 5-10 minutes, until the crust starts to turn golden brown.
Make Filling & Bake Pie
- Make the filling. Add the pecans into the blind-baked pie crust. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, eggs, egg yolk, and brown sugar until smooth. Then, add the salt, maple syrup, vanilla, and bourbon and continue whisking until the mixture is even. Pour this filling over the pecans.
- Beat an egg and brush it along the edges of the pie, where crust is exposed. This will ensure a glossy, golden brown crust.
- Bake the pie. Put the pie dish onto a baking sheet, and then bake the pie for 45-55 minutes, until the pie is fully set along the edges but still has a slight jiggle in the middle. The bake time will vary by oven. To ensure a crispy crust, put the pie in the bottom half of your oven.
- Let the pie cool. Let the pie cool completely before serving--this may take a few hours. The pie will set as it cools, and will be a mess if you try to serve it while hot or even warm. Feel free to sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Read the recipe tips above in the post for expert pie advice.
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