Homemade Pecan Pie–An Ellis Christmas Tradition

Kevin: Hello everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! For the last three years I have made Pecan Pie around Christmastime. I love Pecan Pie.  It reminds me of my childhood, living in Florida. The first time I remember tasting it is when I was at a church gathering when I was around 11 years old. It was sweet, rich, and had complex flavor. I researched a recipe online that best captured the taste I had experienced so many  years ago. Here is the recipe I used to make this delicious pie:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 cups pecan halves
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust
 
Directions:
1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Mix the white sugar, brown sugar, and butter together in a bowl. Stir in the corn syrup, eggs, and bourbon; fold in the pecans. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C); continue to bake until the pie is set, about 35 minutes more. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

You can access the original recipe here.  I modified the recipe slightly for time and added a few extra pecans, but more importantly - vanilla.  I though that the original was a good guideline, but it needed a little more depth of flavor.  Now this pie is just the foundation of many types of pecan pie.  I will definitely try something different next time I bake it.  If you guys have any ideas for me to try please drop me a line at kevin@eatsandtreats4u.com and let me know.  I'd love to give them a try!

Aimee:  I don't like pecan pie (go figure!) so I can't really weigh in on this.  What I do know, is that our family friend Jerry is totally, head-over-heels in love with Kevin's Bourbon Pecan Pie, as was everyone who had some last night.  We had a little less than half the pie left on Christmas day and Jerry offered to take it off our hands.  We still have one at home so we were kind of releived not have to bring the rest of this one home with us.  So many desserts going around!  Which reminds me, Jerry's wife, Lorin had found an idea online to make a cookie dessert tray out of melted starlight mints and it was so cool!  I am going to try that for New Years and I cannot wait to tell you all about it!!

Stay tuned......


xoxo
Kevin & Aimee