I’ve never had a great relationship with Pecan Pie.
We all have our “things” in life, some more profound and bizarre than others.
But, sometimes we need to face those fears, particularly when we have the added comfort of apples and bourbon 😉
Thus, I tackled a terror, and worked to create a bigger, better version of plain old pecan pie: Apple Bourbon Pecan Pie.

With pecans in the crust, the filling, and acting as a lacy layer on top, and apples and bourbon cooked in between, this pie contends with manna from heaven.

Apple Bourbon Pecan Pie

Crust:
1 cup pecans
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
8 Tbs. ice cold butter, cubed into 1/2″ pieces
1 large egg
1 Tbs. white vinegar
ice water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Process the pecans in a food processor until mostly crumbled. Add the flour, butter, egg, and vinegar. Pulse until crumbly, adding a touch of ice water (no more than 3 Tbs). until you reach an almost dough – crumb consistency.
Transfer to parchment paper and use your hands to form into a mound or disc.
Top with another layer of parchment and roll out into a round large enough to easily fill an 9″ deep-dish pie plate.
Transfer to the pie plate, trimming any edges. Fold under the remaining edges and flute for your decorative edge.
Fill pie pie weights and bake for about 20 minutes, until barely browning.
Remove from oven and allow to cool while preparing the filling.

Filling:
2 Tbs. butter
1 large Honeycrisp apple, chopped into 1″ pieces
1-2 Tbs. bourbon
3 large eggs
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup light corn syrup
2 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup whole pecans

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the apple pieces and sauté until golden. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in the bourbon. Cook for another minute or two and remove from heat.
In the food processor, whir together the eggs, sugar, corn syrup, flour, and vanilla.
Stir in the chopped pecans.
Once the apple mixture has cooled, stir in the filling from the food processor. Stir well.

Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
Fill the pre-baked pie crust with the filling and decorate the top with a layer of whole pecans.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, until set.

Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Serve a la mode with Butter Pecan Bourbon Ice Cream, if desired.