Brown Butter & Bourbon Pecan Pie

The ultimate homemade pecan pie that’s perfect for Thanksgiving! There’s a flaky pie crust, a rich brown butter & bourbon custardy filling & plenty of toasted pecans.

I don’t know about you but I love making homemade pies! Especially when they’re simple & easy to make like this brown butter & bourbon pecan pie. Seriously, I can’t emphasise enough how easy this pecan pie is to make! It couldn’t be easier. You make a single pie crust, par bake it then fill with a really simple syrupy custard mix & loads of pecans then bake until just set. That’s all there is to it!

If you’ve never had a pecan pie before, you’re in for a treat! This is a classic Thanksgiving dessert but it’s so good, I’d eat it all year round. There’s a flaky pie crust, a sweet, gooey custardy filling that’s made with golden syrup, brown sugar, butter & eggs plus loads of toasted pecans (the star of the show!). To give our pecan pie an extra nutty, caramelised flavour, we’re going to be browning the butter for the filling & adding in a generous amount of bourbon whiskey & a pinch of ground cinnamon.

This pecan pie is sweet, buttery & nutty, with a crisp, flaky pie crust & a gooey filling. This one’s best served with a scoop of ice cream, a generous amount of warm custard or a dollop of whipped cream. It’s the perfect dessert to make in the holiday season & is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

For more homemade puddings, take a look at our ever growing collection of dessert recipes! There’s lots to choose from here, including sticky toffee pudding, panna cottas, tiramisu, homemade ice creams & loads more…

Why You’ll Love This Pecan Pie!

• It’s Easy To Make – A really good pecan pie is surprisingly easy to make. You only need to make 2 components; a homemade pie crust & the custardy pecan filling.
• The Flavours Are Perfectly Balanced – This pecan pie has been developed to have the perfect balance of flavours. There’s buttery pastry, toasted pecans & a rich pie fillings that’s made with brown sugar, golden syrup, bourbon whiskey, brown butter, lemon & some warming ground cinnamon.
• The Pie Crust Is Crisp & Flaky – We’re making our own pie crust, so that it’s as crisp & flaky as possible!
• It Can Be Made Ahead Of Time – Pecan pie actually tastes better if it’s made a day in advance, as the flavours have time to develop. This makes it perfect for dinner parties, when you need a dessert to make in ahead of time!
• It’s Perfect For Thanksgiving – A homemade pecan pie is a traditional Thanksgiving dessert & for good reason, it’s delicious!

What You’ll Need

• Pecans – You’ll need pecan halves for this pie! I’d recommend picking out the most uniform pecans for decorating the top of your pie with.
• Bourbon – Adding a couple of tablespoons of bourbon whiskey to pecan pie filling helps cut through the sweetness from the sugar. The warming, caramel & vanilla flavour of bourbon complements the flavours from the pecans & brown sugar perfectly. If you’d prefer, you could use rum instead or leave the alcohol out completely.
• Golden Syrup – I prefer to use golden syrup for pecan pies instead of corn syrup as it adds a buttery, caramel flavour to the filling. Golden syrup is available in most supermarkets in the UK but you can also buy it online.
• Brown Sugar – We’re using dark brown sugar for the pie filling, for its’ rich molasses flavour. Light brown sugar will also work but I think that dark brown works best.
• Eggs – You’ll need large eggs for this recipe & each should weigh around 50 grams out of the shell. Make sure to use room temperature eggs for the pie filling!
• Lemon – Adding some lemon zest & juice to pecan pie filling adds some acidity, which cuts through the sweetness from the sugars.
• Salt – We’re adding sea salt to our pie filling, to enhance all of the flavours!
• Cinnamon – Adding cinnamon to pecan pie is optional but the warming flavour complements the toasted nuts & rich brown sugar perfectly.
• A 9″ Pie Crust – This recipe makes a 9″ pie, so you’ll need to make one of my single pie crusts.

How To Make Brown Butter & Bourbon Pecan Pie

A really good homemade pecan pie is surprisingly easy to make & consists of 2 components. A flaky homemade pie crust & a rich, caramely custard filling that’s packed full of pecans! There’s a few handy tips & tricks included in this recipe as well, which make it super easy to make a next level pecan pie. It’s perfect for Thanksgiving!

Flaky Pie Crust

For the best pecan pie, you’ll want to make your own pie crust! Don’t worry though, this is super easy to do & really does take a homemade pecan pie to another level.

For this pecan pie recipe, I’d recommend making one of my flaky single pie crusts. This recipe makes a crisp, flaky pie crust that’s perfect for a pecan pie. You’ll need to make the pie dough, line a 9″ pie dish then let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before par baking. Chilling the pie crust stops it from shrinking in the oven & makes it as flaky as possible! If you’ve got the time, I’d recommend making the pie crust the day before & letting it chill overnight.

How To Par Bake A Pie Crust

The best way to par bake a pie crust for a pecan pie, is by baking it in a high temperature oven, on a preheated baking tray. The heat from the baking tray ensures that the bottom of the pie crust is crisp, golden & fully cooked. Here’s a step by step guide to properly par baking a pie crust for pecan pie…

1. Preheat an oven to 200°c/392°f. Place a large baking tray into the oven at the same time, so that it can heat up as well.
2. Next, take a large piece of baking parchment, scrunch it up then place inside your pie crust. Fill the crust with baking beans (or uncooked rice) then place the pie dish onto the tray that’s in the oven.
3. Bake the pie crust for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are set & starting to turn a light golden brown.
4. Carefully lift the parchment & beans out of the pie crust then place back into the oven & cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the inside looks dry & is a light golden brown.
5. Once cooked, take the pie crust out of the oven, let it cool slightly then brush the bottom with a light coating of egg yolk, to seal up the holes from when we docked it. Leave to cool before using.

Brown Butter Pecan Pie Filling

The filling in a pecan pie is made with a custard like mix that’s made with eggs, sugar, syrup & butter. It has a rich, buttery flavour & a gooey texture with a crunchy top. We’re going to be browning the butter for our filling, to give it an extra nutty, caramelised flavour. And golden syrup instead of corn syrup for extra flavour.

Toasted Pecans

Before making our pecan pie filling, we’re going to be toasting some of the pecans in the oven then roughly chopping them up. The chopped pecans are added into the pie crust & the filling is poured on top. The pie is then topped with untoasted pecan halves, in whatever pattern you like! We don’t toast the pecans on top of the pie as they’ll toast in the oven as the pie bakes. Also, you’ll need to toast the pecans before par baking the pie crust, so that they can cool before we chop them up.

Brown Butter Custard Mix

To make the custard mix for our pecan pie filling, we place chopped up butter into a pan then cook over a medium heat until it smells nutty & the milk solids have turned golden brown (this is brown butter!). Next, we add the brown butter into a mixing bowl with brown sugar, golden syrup, sea salt & a small amount of ground cinnamon then whisk to combine.

Now we need to let the syrup & sugar mix cool for a few minutes then whisk in eggs, one at a time. Then to finish the filling, we whisk in lemon zest & juice, vanilla paste & bourbon whiskey. The filling gets poured over the chopped pecans in the pie crust then we arrange untoasted pecans on top. The pies gets baked at 175°c/347°f for 55 minutes – 1 hour, until the filling is set with a very slight wobble. If the pecans or pie crust starts to brown too much, you can loosely cover the pie with foil but I’ve never found this to be necessary.

Cooling (To Set The Filling)

Once our pecan pie is cooked, we need to let it cool completely before serving so that the filling is fully set. If you’ve got the time, I’d recommend chilling your pecan pie in the fridge overnight. This ensures that the filling is set & gives the flavours in the pie time to develop.

To serve your pie, cut it into portions with a sharp knife then leave to warm up to room temperature.

Serving Suggestions

Pecan pie is best served with something creamy to cut through all the sweetness from the filling. This could be a scoop of vanilla ice cream, warm custard, fluffy whipped cream or a dollop of clotted cream.

A classic holiday breakfast is a slice of leftover pecan pie & a cup of black coffee. The bitter flavour of the coffee cuts through all the sweetness from the pie! I’d recommend serving your pecan pie at room temperature but you could serve it cold or warm as well. If you’re heating pecan pie up, make sure to do this gently as overheating it can make the filling melt.

Tips & Tricks

• For the flakiest pastry, make your own pie crust! It’s really easy, especially when you follow my flaky single pie crust recipe.
• Toast the pecans for the pie filling for extra flavour. Leave the pecans on top of the pie untoasted, as they’ll toast as the pie bakes.
• Brown the butter for the filling, to give your pecan pie an extra nutty, caramelised flavour.
• Use a good quality bourbon whiskey to give your pecan pie maximum flavour.
• Add a small amount of something acidic to your pecan pie filling (I use lemon), to cut through all the sweetness from the sugar.
• Use golden syrup for pecan pie filling instead of corn syrup, to give the filling a buttery, caramel flavour that complements the toasted pecans perfectly.
• Let your pecan pie cool completely before serving, to ensure that the filling is completely set.
• Store your pecan pie in the fridge to keep it fresh but serve it at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Desserts To Try!

• Brown Butter Sticky Toffee Pudding
• Pumpkin Spice Sticky Toffee Pudding With Rum Caramel
• Dark Chocolate Mousse
• Classic Cherry Pie
• Mulled Wine Poached Pears
• Amaretto Tiramisu

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