Maple Pecan Pie

Last Sunday night found me doing two very uncharacteristic things - following a recipe nearly to the letter, and preparing a pecan pie from a recipe other than my grandmother's... *gasp* Scandalous, I know... I think before I was born I had to sign a contract pledging never to use any recipe other than The Family Recipe for a classic pecan pie, and, given the true perfection of my grandmother's recipe, I haven't found much cause to rebel... but when Zach oh so casually pointed out the lovely pecan pie on the cover of the November issue of Cooking light, and when I turned to the recipe and saw that it was sweetened with only brown rice syrup and maple syrup, and that the eggs had been reduced from the classic 4 eggs to 2, with the addition of some flour and an egg white, well, I just had to give the recipe a try... Really, shockingly, the only changes I made to the recipe were to use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, increase the pecans a wee bit, and put the bourbon in the pie instead of in the whipped cream topping, simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time...

The pie rose and set beautifully, baking to a flawless golden brown, and even sliced and served with ease, a challenging feat for a pie, indeed. As Zach is The Pecan Pie Expert, I watched with a mixture of eagerness and trepidation as he sampled his first bite. The reaction?

"Mmmm, ver ver yum..."

Maple Pecan Pie (Adapted from the November 2009 issue of Cooking Light)

1uncooked pie crust, per your favorite recipe
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1 T bourbon
1 cup pecan halves

~ Press the pie crust into a 9" pie plate. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
~ Vigerously beat together the brown rice syrup, maple syrup, whole wheat flour, salt, eggs, and egg white until well blended.
~ Whisk in the vanilla and bourbon.
~ Fold in the pecan halves.
~ Pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake for 45 minutes - or until the center of the pie is set.
~ Allow to cool a bit before serving, but serving while still warm is highly recommended...