Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, Ben and I made a chocolate bourbon pecan pie this weekend.  Yummy!  AND I found out that this pie tastes even better after it has been refrigerated overnight.  As overwhelming as pecan pies may seem to be, this recipe breaks it down nicely, plus if you use store bought pie crust (shhh don't tell) it means prep time only takes about 15 minutes!

Ingredients
1 9" premade pie crust
3/4 cup chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup bourbon (or water)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons cornmeal
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Place pre-made pie crust in a glass pie dish.  Sprinkle chocolate morsels and chopped pecans in the bottom of the crust (see picture below).  In a saucepan, mix corn syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and bourbon or water and boil for 3 minutes - stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, butter, cornmeal, vanilla, and salt.  Gradually mix 1/4 of the hot mixture in the egg mixture, whisking constantly.  Continue until all of the hot mixture is incorporated into the egg mixture.  Pour over the crust (see second picture below).  Bake for 55 minutes.  

The recipe I was using didn't call for extra pecans on top, but it makes it look so much better, so 35 minutes into the baking I took the pie out and arranged some pecans on top, then continued baking for 20 more minutes.  If you think the pecans are burning you can place some foil over the pie.

*You'll noticed that I cut back on some of the ingredients compared to Southern Living's recipe, because the pie crust could not hold everything.  But if you got a 10" crust you could probably use the same measurements as the recipe.

This recipe is adapted from Southern Living.