Not Your Mama's Pecan Pie

 Well, at least not my mama's.  Although, technically, I don't know if my mama has ever made a pecan pie.  My grandma made a mean one, but this isn't hers, either.  This is my friend Annie's pecan pie.  (I think it might really be Tyler Florence's Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie, since I first tasted it when she was a producer on one of his shows.)

Regardless of whose pie it is, it's my pie of choice for the Thanksgiving table this year.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post to bring you... The Conundrum of Two Recipes!

Has this ever happened to you?  You want to bake something and you find two similar, yet different, recipes for it?  Which do you use?  Do you try to combine them into a hybrid?  Do you make both?

Well, dear readers, in my attempts to gather and accurately credit the source for the above-mentioned pie, I managed to get myself into this very situation.  On one hand, I have the Tyler Florence recipe, courtesy of foodnetwork.com.  It looks like this:

Pie Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup finely ground pecans
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

Filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup or sugar cane syrup (such as Steen's)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon salt
11/2 cups pecan halves

Directions

1. To make the pastry: combine the flour, ground pecans, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the ice water and work it in to bind the dough until it holds together without being too wet or sticky. Squeeze a small amount together, if it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Carefully roll the dough up onto the pin (this may take a little practice) and lay it inside a 9-inch pie pan. Press the dough into the pan so it fits tightly and trim the excess around the rim. Place the pie pan on a sturdy cookie sheet so it will be easy to move in and out of the oven.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. To make the filling: melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, remove from heat and let cool. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy and then blend in the sugar. Stir in the syrup, vanilla, bourbon, salt, and the melted butter mixture until well blended.
5. Arrange the pecans on the bottom of the pie crust and carefully pour the egg mixture over them. Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 45 minutes. Test for doneness by sticking a thin knife in the center of the pie, if it comes out pretty clean, you're good to go. Transfer the pie to rack and cool completely before cutting.

 On the other hand, I have the recipe me friend Annie me last night after I sent her a facebook message asking her about it.  It looks like this:

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie
NOM NOM NOM

Ingredients:

- Refrigerated pie crust
- 4 eggs
- 1 C light corn syrup
- 6 T melted butter
- ⅓ C sugar
- ¼ C packed light brown sugar
- 3 T bourbon
- 1 T flour
- 1 T vanilla extract
- 1 C coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 C (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Instructions:

- Fit pie crust into 9-inch pie plate; fold edges under & crimp
- Whisk eggs, corn syrup, and everything else except the pecans and chocolate together until smooth; then stir in pecans and chocolate; pour into pie crust
- Bake on lower oven rack at 350 for 1 hour or until set

What is a baker to do?  Any thoughts?  Votes?  (No, really, feel free to vote.)  Well, Thanksgiving is a mere two days away, so I'd better decide quickly.  I am, after all, trying to be a more decisive person.  Ack.  If only deciding between recipes weren't a part of my life's mission of trying to...

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