Not a Gerard Family Thanksgiving… that’s for sure! Before I get to this pie, I just gotta say I had a serious space cadet moment last week. You guys know about Snapchat, right? If you don’t, you should probably get an account because it’s super fun, and way less stressful than say, Instagram, because nothing has to be perfect. It is all real life, real-time, no sugar-coating! So anyway, I had a whole slew of people emailing me saying that they followed me on Snapchat, but never saw any of my snap stories. So I did what I do when I need any social media help, and asked Kai what the heck was up. Right away, he was like, “well, do you have your settings set so ANYONE can see your stories?”. Guess what, I SO did not! I had my settings set so that only the people I follow could see my snaps. UGH. Sorry to all the people out there who were missing out on my life behind the scenes at Half Baked Harvest. Promise you can see what’s going on now! And if you don’t already follow me, you maybe, probably should cause umm, I basically only snap videos of food and my cat (he’s the best). <–So all the good stuff! Bottom line, follow along with me on snapchat @hbharvest…or not… totally respect whatever you are game for! 🙂 Anyway! I made us a Salted Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie on this very snowy Friday. Or I guess, snowy for me. It’s white and pretty and I am liking it. So where’s my Christmas music at?? I may or may not have it on (Christmas Freak!). Ok, but time to be serious now, I have pie to tell you about!!
So at Thanksgiving there is always at least two pies to choose from, right? To be honest, I always make at least three, plus some sort of cookies or hand-held treat for people to snack on throughout the day. What?!? Hey, it’s Thanksgiving, you guys know we love our sweets over here! Soo. I normally make a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie, a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie and of course, a Pumpkin Pie. Can you guess my two favorites?!? Chocolate all way! Pecan and chocolate chip cookie have always been my favorites, BUT, I also love pumpkin pie too. When I was thinking about what pies to make this year, I thought that I should really skip the pecan pie and just make pumpkin pie, because this year I REALLY want to actually eat the pumpkin! But then the thought occurred, I could combine the two pies and get the best of both worlds! A little pecan with my pumpkin? Yes, please.
I feel like this happens to me all the time, these dessert mash-ups. It seems my stomach wants all things and it wants them all at once. I’d say it’s a bit of an issue, but then we wouldn’t have these chocolate chip cookie stuffed pretzels, these oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie peanut butter swirled brownies or this chocolate bourbon pecan pie custard cake OR these pecan pie brownies. Ahh. All the chocolate things I love! This pie though? It may just be one of my favorites yet. It’s EVERYTHING about the holidays that “normal” (at least my definition of normal) holiday loving people crave. It’s sweet, vanillay, pecan filled, pumpkin + cinnamon perfection, and OKAY, maybe some chocolate too…but only if you choose to add it! I know some people don’t like chocolate + pumpkin. I actually did half the pie filled with chocolate chips and the other half NO chocolate. I wanted to try it both ways to see which I liked best. The verdict?!? Both are good, I can’t really say one way is better than another. It’s really just personal preference. If I was making this pie for only my family, I would add the chocolate chips, BUT my family loves chocolate. Obviously go with what you and your family love!!
What else? The pumpkin pie layer is a very basic pumpkin pie. I added extra vanilla and cinnamon because I think that’s the only way to do it. For the pecan pie, I use maple syrup to sweeten it, bourbon and vanilla for great flavor and just a touch of salt to really finish things off. Trust me on the salt though.
Mom and I both agree is suites this pie SO well. That little taste of salt flavor every so often is amazing. I especially LOVE it on the maple pecans. YUMMERS. You can make and bake the pie up to two days in advance, so that’s a HUGE bonus. It’s also really easy to make. And guys, I will not judge you if you want to skip my homemade crust and just use the good ol’ dough boy’s crust instead. Don’t get me wrong, I think homemade is the way to go, BUT I know how it gets come Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s full on madness at my house, and I have no issues turning to my favorite little Dough Boy for help. He never fails me. <–Truth. But umm, if you have time, make your crust now. Just line your pie plate with the crust, wrap up the pie plate in plastic wrap and freeze until you’re ready to bake. Then it’s all ready to go and even easier than store-bought. <–DO IT… like this weekend. Seriously.
Two pies in one? The way to go for sure…no hard decisions to be made. YES!
