Seriously the Best Ever Bourbon Pecan Pie

What I’m about to confess is not vogue.  It’s outdated and won’t receive applause, especially in a cookbook, but here goes:

I think some commercially-prepared dishes are better than homemade [ducks the flying eggs and tomatoes].

Many apologies, but let’s look at cake mixes, for example. If you are an expert baker with years of baking experience/knowledge under your apron strings (like Pinball Kerri, p. ___), you can probably make a scratch white cake that is moist and delicious. Or maybe you’re not that experienced at baking but you have the time to follow an 18-page blog recipe, read all the wherefores and whatnots, and, by the end of the day, produce a cake that’s company-worthy. But for the average cook with not a whole lot of spare time or money to experiment with, $1.49 cake mixes are awe. some. It doesn’t hurt that most of us were raised on cakes from a box. Just tossing this out there: our modern taste buds might actually prefer cake mixes to cakes from scratch. (And yes, I know preservatives are not popular right now. But throwing away scratch-made bread or cake because they’re dry on Day 2 or 3 is a waste of time and money.)

But. My walk of shame down commercially-prepared food aisles does not take me to the cake mix section this time. It leads me to the frozen foods, straight to Sysco’s pecan pie, specifically the one from 2009, as they may have changed their ingredients/sources/lab-formulas/product-specifications/chemical-preservatives since then, who knows?

I’ve always taken pride in serving homemade stuff as much as possible, with the exception of a few box mixes. (You’ll see a few pop up here and there in this book—by all means, sub homemade if you’d like!) But when a Sysco product runs circles around Grandma’s . . .

It took me a few years of testing a couple dozen pecan pie recipes, but I finally figured it out. The secret ingredient in Sysco’s buttery, show-stopping pecan pie turned out to be two things: cinnamon (just a hint) and maple flavor (a lot). The maple flavor provides an oddly buttery quality that more butter and maple syrup can’t bring to the (dessert) table. The thing is, even with a list of ingredients from a label, flavors are sometimes incognito because of vague, blanket phrases like “natural flavors and spices.” Hence the difficulty in putting my finger—or tongue—on what my old family standby was missing. Reading the list of ingredients was little to no help, even after glossing over the unmentionable unpronounceables.

Also, Sysco’s 2009 pecan pie had a cookie crust. Use your favorite pie crust or try this shortbread one. I put a pinch of cinnamon there too, for good measure.

 Serves 6 - 8.

Make the crust: in a large bowl, mix together with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Press into a deep dish pie pan using a piece of plastic wrap to keep it from sticking to your hands. Chill . . . . . . . . . . . .    In a large mixing bowl, beat together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Have ready . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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1 c. (2 sticks) butter, soft 2 c. flour ½ c. powdered sugar ½ t. each cinnamon, salt* 1 c. sugar ½ c. corn syrup ½ c. butter, melted 3 eggs 2 T. bourbon (optional) 2 T. almond flour or regular flour 1 T. each vanilla, molasses 1 t. maple flavoring ½ t. each cinnamon, salt 1½ c. pecans, toasted & chopped

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the chilled pie crust for 10 - 12 minutes, until the edges start to brown a little. If it’s puffy when it comes out, press it down with a smooth glass or coffee cup while still warm. Scatter the pecans in the bottom. Pour the filling over the pecans and bake for 45+ minutes, until the middle just barely jiggles. If it looks too dark while baking, cover lightly with a foil tent. Cool completely before cutting into it. (Sh-h-h . . . for extra umph, microwave together a teaspoon of butter, a teaspoon of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of bourbon and brush it on the pie before serving.)

*Cut back to ¼ t. of salt in the crust if you’d like. I realize not everyone loves salt as much as I do.