Sometimes Pecan Pie Needs a Little Kick in the, um, a Little Kick

 When our friends Bob and Angie invited us for Thanksgiving dinner, Angie said she was making a pumpkin pie but that she'd leave the pecan pie to me. Yehaw! Time for my new favorite pie!

Unfortunately, we ate half of the pie before I had time to take a photo. The other half was whisked away for the Feast of Gloria Tubman (Harriet's under-achieving younger sister), traditionally held the day after Thanksgiving and featuring all the leftovers.

Anyway, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie comes from my new favorite cookbook, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook (below). How could you NOT love this book? Look at those two - they clearly love their jobs!

And with good reason. I've not yet had the opportunity to visit their bakery in Savannah, but I have tried about 1/4 of the recipes in the book, and every single one totally kicks some bakery butt.

Here's the best part - this pie is SO easy. You don't even have to roll out pie crust - you just press it into the pie plate. 

Below is the recipe. I've made a few small changes.

Bourbon Pecan Pie
Inspired by The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day.

½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
1 ½ cups dark corn syrup
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 Tb bourbon
1 ½ tsp butter, melted
1 ¾ cups pecan halves
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 recipe Shortcut Piecrust, made with brown sugar, unbaked

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together both sugars, the corn syrup, salt, flour and eggs, mixing until completely combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, bourbon, and butter until well combined. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.
3. Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell.. Bake for 1 hour or until the pie is firm around the edges and just a bit loose in the center.
4. Remove the pie from the oven and cool for at least 1 hour on a wire rack before slicing. It’s best served the same day, but it can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Shortcut Piecrust
Makes one 9” piecrust.
Cheryl and Griffith say “This pie crust is revolutionary. It’s a press-in crust, with no rolling or chilling required. Plus, it’s buttery and flaky and so easy to prepare.” Alline says "they're not just whistling Dixie!"

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed light brown sugar or granulated sugar
½ tsp fine sea salt
11 Tb unsalted butter, melted (1 ¾ sticks)

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Press into a pie plan, trying to keep the dough as evenly thick as you can. Press it up the sides of the pie pan and make it pretty! You can't go wrong - it's kind of like play-dough that actually tastes good.