Once upon a time, in a land far, far away…

Ok, it’s the ‘burbs of Philly.  Whatever.

ANYWAY… (*back to my magical, princess voice*)
Once upon a time, in a magical kitchen of Philadelphia, a southern princess decided to make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving.  She went to the grocery store and bought lots of fresh pecans and pie crusts.

The princess recalled the days when her Mamamac would make beautiful pies.  Pecan, pumpkin, apple, chocolate.  Yes, she made some delicious pies with perfectly fluted crusts.  She made it look so easy that the southern princess thought, “truly, how hard could this be?”

On Friday, she decided to try a pecan pie in a cast iron skillet.  She had such high hopes for that pie.  Whisking together the eggs and sugars, she was sure it would come out of that oven looking spectacular.

To her surprise, when the princess pulled the pie out of the oven, she discovered that the pie had sunk and the crust was the consistency of petrified wood.  “Boo, Hoo,” she wept, as she turned on the disposal and sent the pie down the drain.

The next day, the southern princess bought more pecans and tried out a more traditional pecan pie.  The recipe came from the queen of the south herself, Paula Deen.

The southern princess beat the eggs, added dark molasses, sugar, pecans and a hint of bourbon.  Then she gently folded in chopped chocolate and poured it into the pie crust.  She put the pie in the oven, said a little prayer, and patiently waited 30 minutes.

Before she knew it, the timer went off and she pulled out a gorgeous chocolate pecan pie!  It looked wonderful!  It smelled wonderful!  And best of all, it TASTED wonderful!

She did it!  The princess cut a slice and topped it with a generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

She took it to her northern, Yankee prince and with one bite his heart was won!  He looked up at his southern princess and said, “you are the best pie maker in all the land!  I love you!”

And they lived happily, ever after.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
2 cups pecan halves
3 large eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons good-quality bourbon
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cover bottom of pie crust with pecans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, sugar, bourbon and the chopped chocolate. Stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour mixture into the pie shell over the pecans and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes or until pie is set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Recipe Source: Paula Deen