Derek’s Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

It’s always fun when baking leads to the liquor store. In honor of National Dessert Day, I posted on my Facebook site that I would bake and blog a recipe if someone shared something with me that they like to make. The first request came from one of my friends and  high school classmates, Derek Clever.

Thinking back to our Guns ‘n Roses and Purple Passion days of the 1980s, I wasn’t surprised Derek’s recipe included liquor. He begins his year with this pie and ends with it as he said, “I make it twice a year; Christmas and New Year’s.” My second request was from my sister for our favorite Caramel Apple Nut Bars.

With this recipe, I was a little out of my element. I love pecan pie but I’ve never made it before. And I didn’t even know exactly what bourbon was. I know Jack Daniels and Jim Beam but I thought they were whiskey, not bourbon. Turns out, bourbon IS whiskey, whiskey IS bourbon. (Thank you Brookings Municipal Liquor Store clerk #21TO for your explanation.) And Derek, please don’t be disappointed in me that I may have lost some of my “knowledge” of alcoholic beverages since our high school days…

One thing I’ve never liked about pie is the crust. I just don’t eat it. But I also don’t like that it burns so easily so it doesn’t make a very nice presentation. I know the trick of wrapping foil around the crust but if you’ve ever done it, you know it’s really a pain. So for the few times we make pie (my daughter makes pumpkin pie a few times a year), I bought a pie shield.

If you like bourbon, chocolate, and pecan pie, you will want to eat this pie.

Thank you for sharing your recipe with us, Derek!

Sweet wishes,