Hello, Friends, and Happy Thanksgiving!  We have so many things to be grateful this year, but one of the best things to be grateful is you, our wonderful followers.  Not following the blog yet?  Just click on the “following” button in the lower right hand corner of your screen.  Add your email.  You will get an email to confirm that you are not a robot and really want to follow our blog.  Then you are in!!  You will receive an email from us once a week with our latest post.  We promise not to bombard you with lots of emails to consume your in box through the week.  Ain’t nobody got time for that!!!

In honor of Thanksgiving we have a wonderful pie recipe to share with you.  Rhonda ripped this pie recipe from her Southern Living Magazine.  Unfortunately, we don’t have the month or year she collected this recipe.  This pie not your ordinary Thanksgiving Pie.  This pie recipe will have your mouth watering and clamoring for more.  We test tasted this pie on not only our esteemed panel of teenagers judges, but also on Rhonda’s friend’s husband, Justin, who apparently is a pecan pie connoisseur!  Justin, the picky pecan pie snob, gave this recipe his full stamp of approval, so there you have it!  It’s a winner!

So what is so great about this particular recipe?  The crust is tasty – not your ordinary bland pie crust.  The filling is rich with a twist of rye whiskey.  Oh yah!!!

First you need to prepare the crust.  When Rhonda was growing up and made pies with her mother, they always used a pastry blender to knead the crust.  This recipe calls for using the food processor – genius!  Our crust finally turned out perfect.  Another thing that makes this crust so delicious is adding a little bit of kosher salt and ¼ cup of finely chopped sautéed pecans. After the crust is prepared and while it is chilling, you can work on the rest of the pie.

For the filling you will place corn syrup, sugar, brown sugar and Templeton Rye Whiskey in a saucepan and cook whisking constantly.  Remove this mixture from the heat.

In another bowl whisk together eggs, melted butter, cornmeal and vanilla.  Then add about ¼ of the syrup mixture to the eggs and whisk together.

Next turn around and add the egg mixture to the syrup mixture whisking constantly.  Add in the toasted pecans.  Cool for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Unwrap the dough and roll into a circle on a lightly floured surface. We always find it is easier to put the pie crust into the pan if you roll it out on parchment paper or wax paper. Sprinkle the dough with sautéed pecans.  Place plastic over the dough and lightly roll the pecans into the dough.

 

Add to the pie plate. Fold edges under and crimp.  Pour cooled filling into the crust.  Bake for 50-55 minutes.

Top with Whiskey Whipped Cream if desired. The recipe says that it makes a pie with 8 slices.  We found that the pie is very delicious, but rich.  Smaller servings are probably better.

Don’t want to add whiskey to your Thanksgiving Pie?  You can always substitute the whiskey with apple juice.

Templeton Pecan Pie

Crust

• ½ Tbsp. butter
• ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup cold butter cubed
• ¼ cup cold shortening cubed
• 3-4 Tbsp. buttermilk

Filling

• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup Templeton Rye Whiskey
• 4 large eggs
• ¼ cup butter melted
• 2 tsp plain white cornmeal
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 ½ cups lightly toasted pecan halves

Whisky Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp Templeton Rye Whiskey
• 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1. Prepare crust:  Melt ½ Tbsp. butter in a small skillet over medium heat, swirling to coat sides of pan. Add ¼ cup finely chopped pecans and sauté 2 minutes or until fragrant and lightly toasted.  Sprinkle pecan mixture with a pinch of salt.  Remove from skillet, and cool completely.
2. Pulse flour and next 2 ingredients in a food processor 3 or 4 times or until well combined. Add cubed cold butter and cold shortening: pulse until mixture is coarse.  Drizzle 1 Tbsp. of buttermilk at a time over flour mixture and pulse just until clumps form.  Shape dough into a flat disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Chill dough for an hour.
3. To prepare filling, place corn syrup and next 3 ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook while whisking 2 minutes and remove from heat.  Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients in a bowl. Gradually whisk about ¼ of syrup mixture into egg mixture.  Gradually add egg mixture into syrup mixture whisking constantly.  Add lightly toasted pecan halves and cool for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Unwrap dough and roll into a 13-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the dough with sautéed pecans.  Place a piece of plastic wrap over the dough and roll the pecans into the dough.  Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate greased lightly with cooking spray.  Fold edges under and crimp. Pour cooled filling into prepared crust.
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until set; cool pie completely on a wire rack (about 2 hours) before slicing. Serve with Whiskey Whipped Cream, if desired.
6. For the Whiskey Whipped Cream, beat 1 cup heavy cream and 1 tsp Templeton Rye Whiskey at medium high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar, beating until soft peaks form.

We can’t wait to hear if you make Templeton Pecan Pie for your Thanksgiving meal.  It will be on the table at our house.

Count your blessings, hug those that you love and Happy Thanksgiving!