Sometimes I buy certain ingredients to make a particular recipe and sometimes I get the inspiration to make a recipe from the ingredients. The latter is what occurred last night when I took a handful of glazed pecans to snack on and realized that I MUST turn them into a pecan pie. It was a calling, I’d say. I happened to already have a frozen pie crust in the freezer and the bag of glazed pecans were practically begging me to be tossed into it.

An hour later and there was a pie sitting on my counter cooling off. This pie recipe could not be easier to follow…everything goes into one bowl! Since I made the pie late in the evening, I didn’t want to leave it out on the counter where my mischievous dog, Duke, might take a midnight bite. I covered it loosely with foil and let it finish cooling/setting in the refrigerator.

This morning I took it out and looked at its beauty. It was perfectly set, no jiggling around and the pecans were calling out to me. It took all my might to wait until dessert this evening to have my first slice. It was worth the wait as the pie was sweet and the pecans were crunchy and the piecrust was flaky. Perfection in pie form! I think I’ll have to make this next Thanksgiving in place of the usual pumpkin pie! Here’s my pie:

Bon Appetit’s Spirited Pecan Pie

Recipe from: Bon Appétit | October 2005

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Active time: 10 minutes

Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 refrigerated pie crust (half of 15-ounce package), room temperature
• 2 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon Scotch whisky
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups pecan halves
• Whipped cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 9-inch glass pie dish with dough. Crimp edge decoratively. Whisk sugar, eggs, butter, Scotch, vanilla, and cinnamon in large bowl to blend. Mix in nuts. Pour filling into dough-lined dish.

Bake pie until filling is slightly puffed and set in center, covering edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 40 minutes. Cool pie completely at room temperature. Cut into wedges and serve with whipped cream.