Gooey, sweet, nutty, and with notes of smoky caramel, this browned butter bourbon pecan pie is a Southern classic spruced up with both browned butter and American bourbon. Famously made around the holidays, this pie is great anytime of the year as a spruced-up version of an American classic.
BBBPP, or, browned butter bourbon pecan pie, only slightly modifies a famous pie from the American South. Browning the butter and adding a little bourbon adds just the right notes of caramel, a little smokiness, and some added nuttiness to the overall taste. If you’re concerned about the bourbon, it does cook out while baking while leaving the flavors behind.
Pecan pie has always been one of those Thanksgiving staples in my parent’s house. It was my mom’s favorite pie, so we always had one for the holiday. If you’re wondering, my dad’s favorite is pumpkin pie. So yeah, we always have both of those on the table for Thanksgiving.
Ingredients for Browned Butter Bourbon Pecan Pie
Overall, a pretty simple list of ingredients for a pie. Sugar… so.much.sugar. I actually tried to cut back a little on the sugar by mixing up some of the classic ingredients for more flavor without being overly sweet, but this is definitely a sweet pie.
Pie Crust – Use your favorite recipe for a pie crust, like my Flaky All-Butter Pie Crust, or simply buy one, no one’s going to judge here.
Butter – I use a ¼ cup here, or 4 tablespoons. Since you’re melting it, it doesn’t need to be at room temperature. Brown it in a small skillet in just a few minutes.
Sugar – To add to the caramel and toffee notes, I like to use dark brown sugar. If you only like keeping light brown on hand, that will be fine as well.
Corn Syrup – Like with the sugar, I like to keep the flavor going by using a mixture of light and dark corn syrup. Golden syrup is also a tasty choice. If you only use one, I’d go with dark or golden if you want deeper notes with the flavors of caramel and molasses, or light if you want a lighter taste with notes of vanilla.
Eggs – 3 large eggs at room temperature works fine here. With most of the ingredients being types of sugar and nuts, you need the eggs to build structure and make a custard.
Bourbon – Use a whiskey you like here. If you’re not a fan of bourbons or whiskeys, then use something slightly better than the cheapest you can find. You don’t need much, so if your store sells the small airplane bottles, that will be enough. If you’re totally against using bourbon, feel free to omit it as well.
Vanilla – Just a little bit of vanilla extract for flavor to round things out.
Salt – Draws out the flavor in everything.
Pecans – One 10oz package should give you about 2 ½ cups. I like to buy them as pecan halves. Reserve 1 cup of the nuts and coarsely chop the rest if you’d like to make a pretty pie. If you just want all of them crushed and aren’t worried about aesthetics, you can chop them all or buy the same size bag of chopped pecans.
How to Make Browned Butter Bourbon Pecan Pie
One of the nicest parts of a pecan pie is that it’s fairly simple to make. Once you have a crust made/bought and parbaked, you basically just toss all your ingredients together, whisk, and dump into the pie shell. This version of the pie only adds one step with browning the butter, which only takes a few minutes.
Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C.
After rolling out your pie dough, transfer it to a 9” pie plate/dish and trim the excess dough, tuck it underneath itself around the edge and crimp/flute the dough how you’d like it to look. Using a fork, poke some holes in the bottom, place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and fill with pie weights. Par bake the crust for about 12-15 minutes and set aside to cool some.
Reduce oven temperature to 350°F/180°C.
In a small skillet, add your butter and turn the heat to medium. Swirl the pan occasionally as the butter melts. Once the butter has melted completely, continue swirling the pan more often, keeping an eye on the color as well as the smell. The butter should froth up a decent amount, and as that subsides you should be able to smell a nuttiness. At this point you should see lots of small brown flecks, that’s the milk solids cooking. Once you get to this point, remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the browned butter to a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool. Start to finish this should take 5-7 minutes.
While the butter cools, chop the pecans. Reserve 1 cup of pecan halves if you’d like to decorate the top of the pie and coarsely chop the rest. If you’re not concerned with aesthetics, feel free to chop all the pecans.
In a large mixing bowl, add the dark brown sugar, light and dark corn syrups, vanilla extract, bourbon, cooled browned butter, and salt. Whisk together until all the sugar has dissolved and there’s no visible lumps. Now add the eggs, one at a time, whisking together between each addition.
Now fill the pie crust with the chopped pecans and spread evenly across the bottom. Pour all the pie mixture over top of the pecans until the crust has filled. The pecans should float to the top. Now add the reserved pecan halves on top.
Place the pie plate/dish onto a baking sheet and place into the oven. Cook for about 50-55 minutes. It should puff up slightly and remain slightly jiggly in the middle when done. Check around the 30-minute mark, if the crust looks like it’s browning more than you’d like, add a pie shield or tent the outer ring with foil.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow the pie to fully set before cutting, at least 4 hours.
Storing and Making Pecan Pie Ahead of Time
Once the pie has cooled, you can loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-5 days.
If you’re making this pie for Thanksgiving, allow it to cool and set at room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to serve if you’re making the pie 1-2 days ahead of time.
If you make the pie the weekend before Thanksgiving, I suggest freezing it.
Once the pie has cooled, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then again in aluminum foil. Place in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. Move to the refrigerator to thaw overnight the day before you wish to eat it. Uncover the pie and set out at room temperature for 10-20 minutes, reheating in a 350°F/180°C oven for 10 minutes just to toast the crust some.
📋 Recipe
Browned Butter Bourbon Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch pie crust homemade or store-bought
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, (4 tablespoons) cut into 4-5 even pieces
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup light corn syrup
- ⅔ cup dark corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons bourbon/whiskey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 ½ cups pecan halves, (1 10oz bag)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C.
- After rolling out your pie dough, transfer it to a 9” pie plate/dish and trim the excess dough, tuck it underneath itself around the edge and crimp/flute the dough how you’d like it to look. Using a fork, poke some holes in the bottom, place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and fill with pie weights. Par bake the crust for about 12-15 minutes and set aside to cool some.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F/180°C.
- In a small skillet, add 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter and turn the heat to medium. Swirl the pan occasionally as the butter melts. Once the butter has melted completely, continue swirling the pan more often, keeping an eye on the color as well as the smell. The butter should froth up a decent amount, and as that subsides you should be able to smell a nuttiness. At this point you should see lots of small brown flecks, that’s the milk solids cooking. Once you get to this point, remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the browned butter to a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool. Start to finish this should take 5-7 minutes.
- While the butter cools, chop the pecans. Reserve 1 cup of pecan halves if you’d like to decorate the top of the pie and coarsely chop the rest. If you’re not concerned with aesthetics, feel free to chop all the pecans.
- In a large mixing bowl, add ¾ cup dark brown sugar, ⅓ cup light and ⅔ cup dark corn syrups, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons bourbon, cooled browned butter, and ½ teaspoon table salt. Whisk together until all the sugar has dissolved and there’s no visible lumps. Now add the 3 eggs, one at a time, whisking together between each addition.
- Now fill the pie crust with the chopped pecans and spread evenly across the bottom. Pour all the pie mixture over top of the pecans until the crust has filled. The pecans should float to the top. Now add the reserved pecan halves on top.
- Place the pie plate/dish onto a baking sheet and place into the oven. Cook for about 50-55 minutes. It should puff up slightly and remain slightly jiggly in the middle when done. Check around the 30-minute mark, if the crust looks like it’s browning more than you’d like, add a pie shield or tent the outer ring with foil.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow the pie to fully set before cutting, at least 4 hours.
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