I think I’ve created a monster.

My kids are not allowed to eat anything that contains high fructose corn syrup.  Its a steadfast rule in our house, and the kids pride themselves on following it.  They know that most brightly packaged foods contain it, and they generally stay away from those items.

My mom requested that I bake a pecan pie for yesterday’s Thanksgiving celebration, but every recipe I found called for corn syrup.  I brought Evie to the grocery store, and when she saw me place corn syrup in the cart she immediately questioned what it was.  When I told her, she freaked out.  Like, totally threw a fit. With TEARS.  In the middle of the grocery store.

“I will NOT put corn syrup in the pie!!”

“Corn syrup is DISGUSTING!”

“DO NOT BUY THAT, Mom!!!!”

I had to find an alternative way to make a traditional pecan pie my mom would love and Evie would love making.  I Googled “pecan pie no corn syrup” and several options popped up. I decided to create my own recipe using some of these as inspiration.  I was sure to add an extra egg yolk, as it seems like whenever I add one to my baking the results are so much richer.  And, even though most recipes I found called for only 1/2 stick of butter, a recipe in last Sunday’s Chicago Tribune pointed out that plenty of butter always makes a pecan pie better so I stirred in an entire melted stick.

Mack helped me bake the pie.  We made homemade pie crust yesterday and stored it in the fridge, so he was so happy to roll it out this morning.  He helped himself to more than a few licks of the brown sugar filling, too.

Pecan Pie

Pie crust (I used Martha Stewart’s recipe)

3/4 cup water

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 stick butter, melted

2 cups dark brown sugar

1-2 tablespoons bourbon (optional but lovely)

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (I use homemade vanilla extract)

2 cups pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Sprinkle pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

Whisk eggs, egg yolk and water together.  Add butter, brown sugar, bourbon and vanilla extract.  Mix well and set aside.

Press pie dough into a 9″ pie pan.  Sprinkle pecans onto unbaked crust.  Pour in egg mixture.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the filling is set and no longer jiggly.