Bourbon Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 1 cup dark corn syrup
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tbsp bourbon
• 3 tbsp melted butter, 1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Fit the crust into a 9-inch pie dish and crimp the edges.
2. Whisk the filling ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.
3. Pour the filling into the crust.
4. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the edges are set and the center jiggles only slightly when the pan is nudged.
5. Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate at least 2 hours before slicing.

The Tale of Bourbon Pecan Pie

Story updated September 15, 2026

Bourbon pecan pie belongs to a specific strand of pecan-pie history centered on Kentucky. In 1954, George Kern, working with his parents Walter and Leaudra at the Melrose Inn in Prospect, Kentucky, developed a rich chocolate-and-nut pie spiked with the state's signature spirit; the family trademarked it as Derby-Pie in honor of the Kentucky Derby, and Kern's Kitchen still guards the exact recipe as a closely held secret. Home cooks, unable to use the trademarked name, began making their own versions, many substituting pecans for the original's walnuts and settling into what's now widely called bourbon pecan pie. It layers the sweet, sticky, corn-syrup pecan pie tradition of the wider South with a splash of Kentucky bourbon's smoky caramel notes, and has become a fixture on Derby Day tables and Southern Thanksgiving spreads far beyond Kentucky's borders.