Maple Pecan Pie

I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year; I am traveling down to my sister’s house.  As such, I will not be making the turkey, stuffing, sides, breads, cranberry sauce, gravy- nothing! My sister has entreated me to make two pies for her Thanksgiving Day table; pumpkin and pecan.

Well, I refuse to show up with a standard pecan pie; I desire something more impressive to bring to my sister’s home. But how to improve upon such an incredibly perfect pie?

If there is one thing I do not like about my tried-and-true version of pecan pie, it’s that it uses corn syrup. It’s serves its purpose, but it tastes like nothing. I happen to have been given a glorious jar of maple syrup for my birthday this year (yay October babies!) and so decided to make a maple pecan pie.

When you swap out corn syrup for maple syrup, wonderful things happen. The maple syrup adds wonderful complexity of flavor, and gives gloriously dark color to the pie. Top with some whipped cream, and that is a dessert with which to end a feast.

Here is a gratuitous photo of my dog, Bodhi, being adorable. He was a good baking buddy today.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups pecan halves

Crust:

1 ½ cups of Pastry Flour

9 Tbsp Cold Butter, cut into cubes

½ tsp Salt

3 to 5 Tbsp of Ice cold vodka

Method:

In a food processor add the flour and salt, pulse once to incorporate.

Add the butter, pulse about 10 times or until the butter is about the size of peas and distributed evenly.

While pulsing add 1 tablespoon of vodka at a time until the dough comes together when pinched between your fingers.

Dump the dough in a lightly floured surface and quickly form into a disk.

Wrap dough and pop it in the fridge for about half an hour before using. 

Roll it out into a ¼ inch thick circle and place into a 9 inch pie plate. Trim and crimp the edges and pop into the fridge for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Meanwhile, which the eggs and sugar together until smooth. Stir in the maple syrup, butter, vanilla salt and pecans. Pour into the prepared pie crust.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Slice and enjoy!