Kentucky Derby Pecan Pie

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Ingredients:

• Deep dish pie crust (I used Pillsbury ready-made)
• 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter (or plant-based butter)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp Kentucky bourbon
• 1 cup pecans (I used halves, but roughly chopped is fine also and will make your pie easier to slice)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

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Optional: You can make your own pie crust or use frozen, I personally like to save time with the ready-made ones and use the second one in package to make cutout ornamentation, such as the horseshoes. Also, instead of bourbon, you can substitute 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350℉ / 175℃. Combine sugar and flour in a large mixing bowl.

Then add your melted butter to the flour/sugar mixture and stir until combined. Then add the eggs and bourbon and stir until fully mixed together.

Fold in chocolate chips and pecans.

Pour the filling mixture into the pie shell.

Speaking of pie shell, let me show you how I prepared my Pillsbury ready-made one to look like a homemade one. (See below)

I unroll and place evenly across my pie dish and gently press the bottom first, then the sides. After I finish placing pie crust into pan, I roll the top edges over the give them some width and a larger diameter.

Then I use my pointing finger on one side and thumb and pointing finger on the other side to make the wavy pattern. (As shown pictured)

If you can’t (or don’t want) to do this, you can also use a fork to make a pretty crisscross pattern in the edge roll or leave plain.

…and now your pie is ready for the preheated oven!

(Don’t worry about the batter being low, it will rise up during baking.)

Place pie in center of middle rack in oven and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until pie is set.

NOTE: I don’t have one of those nifty pie crust shields yet, so I just use three small pieces of foil, pinched together to protect crust. I remove when 20-30 minutes left to bake to get that golden brown crust.

Now…for a little extra flare and cuteness, I used the other roll of pie crust to make little horseshoe decorations to go in the center of pie.

I tore some crust off, rolled it into about a 2-inch-long cylinder shape and formed my horseshoe. I pressed it down to give it the squared-off look and used a toothpick to make the holes.

I brushed them with an egg wash made by whisking together 1 egg and 1 tbsp water.

Then, with about 20-25 minutes left on your pie, gently place them on the top center of the pie, then remove the foil around edges and continue to bake.

The reason I didn’t put on top before baking is because the batter would have consumed some of them and also, they would brown too quickly.

Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.

After completely cooling, this pie cuts easily.

If desired, add a dollop of whipped cream topping and chocolate shavings right before serving, enjoy!