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Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie has the gooey texture you know and love, but with an upgrade from the bourbon and chocolate. Imagine the fudgiest brownie combined with pecan pie – that’s exactly what this recipe tastes like! It’s all wrapped up in a flaky, buttery pie crust – top it off with a dollop of whipped cream for Thanksgiving perfection!
I LOVE this time of year. I love the cold weather (not sorry about it). I love the anticipation of all the wonderful holiday moments to come, but mostly I love the good food enjoyed with people we love.
Here’s what I don’t enjoy: pecan pie. I’m sorry, I’ve just never been able to do traditional pecan pie. I like pecans, but not enough to eat something that is made up of ENTIRELY pecans. Luckily for me though – and for you, because I know you love pie – my mom introduced me to this pie a few years ago. Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. (I think it’s also known as Kentucky Derby Pie.)
SO much yes. The chocolate and bourbon give so much more depth of flavor than a pie that’s only made of pecans. And, we’re amping it up this year with a melted chocolate + butter base (instead of just adding chocolate chips into the brown rice syrup base).
How to Make Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie:
First, we’re whisking together room temp eggs, vanilla, and salt. Then, we’re going to heat a mixture of brown rice syrup (or corn syrup), bourbon, and brown sugar on the stove.
That mixture gets whisked SLOWLY into the egg mixture – this part is super important! If you whisk it in too quickly, you risk cooking the eggs.
Then, we’ll melt our butter and chocolate together, and whisk it in to the egg/bourbon mixture.
It’s going to be thick, decadent, and oh so chocolatey! Toss your pecans in the bottom of the pie crust, pour the chocolate mixture in, and bake! See? Easy. If I can do it, you can certainly do it!
If you’re not super confident with homemade pie crust, I wrote a whole post on How to Make Perfect Pie Crust last week and it’s full of tips, tricks, photos, and troubleshooting help!
If you’ve never experienced pie like this you need to make it asap. Your Thanksgiving-people will thank you. And, I doubt there will be any pesky leftovers to fit into your fridge.
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Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 half my perfect pie crust – recipe linked below, Or 1 sheet store bought pie crust
For the Filling:
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 Large eggs, at room temp, VERY IMPORTANT that they’re at room temp
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1 cup brown rice syrup, or corn syrup
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 tbsp butter
- 9 ounces Semi sweet chocolate, chopped, use bakers bars of chocolate, not chips
- 2 cups halved pecans
- 1 egg, for egg wash
- coarse sugar, for decorating crust
Instructions
- Before you start, set your eggs out in a bowl on the counter so they can come to room temp. This is very important!
- Make pie crust: Follow the directions in my post on How to Make Perfect Pie Crust. We only need a bottom crust for this pie, so you can cut the recipe in half, or make the full recipe and reserve half for another pie. Follow the directions through step 7 – freeze the crust in the pie plate as directed (without egg wash – that comes just before baking), and although this is a single-crust pie, we're NOT blind-baking it so ignore that step. Make the filling while the dough is in the freezer.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the filling: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vanilla, salt, and room temp eggs. Set aside. In a medium pot on the stove, over medium heat, whisk together the bourbon, brown rice syrup, and brown sugar. Stirring constantly, bring to a gentle boil over medium heat (about 7 minutes). Remove from the heat as soon as it starts the gentle boil, and set aside to cool slightly – for about 5 minutes. While that cools, melt your butter and chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl, in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval until fully melted and smooth. Set aside. Slowly drizzle the bourbon/syrup mixture into the bowl with the eggs. You MUST go very slowly, whisking constantly, to avoid cooking the eggs. I recommend slowly pouring for a bit while whisking, then stop, keep whisking, and repeat. After the bourbon mixture is all mixed in to the egg mixture, whisk in the chocolate butter mixture (pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds if it's hardened up at all) until fully combined and smooth. Set aside.
- Assemble the pie: Beat an egg in a small bow with a splash of water – this is your egg wash. Pour 1 and 1/2 cups of the pecans into the bottom of the frozen, crimped pie crust, and pour the filling over the top of them. Pop the remaining 1/2 cup of pecans on the top of the filling to make it look nice. Brush the edges of the pie crust with the egg wash. Sprinkle some coarse sugar over the edges of the crust.
- Bake: Bake at 350 degrees for 52-62 minutes. (Add a piece of foil or a pie shield around the edges of the crust after 30-35 minutes, if the crust is getting too brown, to prevent burning.)
- Serve + Store: Let pie cool completely before cutting + serving (about 3 hours). Serve with whipped cream! Store leftovers, covered, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Make Ahead Tip: Pie dough can be made 1-2 days in advance, and kept in the fridge, tightly covered, or made 1 month in advance, and kept in the freezer, tightly covered. Let it sit in the fridge overnight before using, to thaw. The pie can be baked 1-2 days before serving. Allow it to cool completely, then cover it tightly with foil/plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Note: Brown rice syrup can be found at Target/Whole Foods/Amazon. We used this one
(affiliate link). You can also substitute corn syrup.
Wow! This is rich and delicious. This is definitely a variation of pecan pie bordering on its own pie entirely, which is not a bad thing. If you are looking for a traditional pecan pie, this could be viewed as disappointing I suppose as the pecan are definitely there to provide their nutty crunchy texture but are a bit in the shadows from a flavor perspective, as this is really chocolately and has a bourbon favored kick as well, which overall I found delightful. I is a bit like super fudgey brownie with pecans and bourbon in a pie crust, YUM! Of note I used a popular double oaked bourbon which may have made the bourbon flavor stand out a bit more than intended.
Thanks so much for this in depth review, Aaron! It’s always helpful for other readers (and myself!) to hear how other people found the recipe. Glad you enjoyed it!