Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year – if only for the food! Of course, I am so thankful for my amazing friends and family, for doing a job that I love and am passionate about, and for living in a city full of life and new things to discover every day. It’s also a time for traditions, like pumpkin pie, turkey and stuffing and all the dressings to go with it.
This year for Thanksgiving I decided to make a Bourbon Vanilla Cream Pie with Oatmeal-Pecan Cookie Crust – to mix up tradition a little bit from the Pumpkin and Apple pies we always have on our table. Folks, hold on to your seats (or forks!)
The crust is made from an oatmeal cookie mixture crumbled with chopped pecans, butter and brown sugar. The pie filling is a luscious creamy custard filling made of sugar, brown sugar, cream, egg yolks, extra vanilla and a shot of bourbon – and just for a fun, a few more chopped pecans for some texture. It bakes into a lovely crumbly crust filled with a delicious creamy caramel-y filling like you have never tasted before. It reminds me of creme brulee inside an oatmeal cookie with a kick of bourbon to warm up your insides – not such a bad thing, and come to think of it, something to be VERY thankful for. One bite, and you’ll be hooked too. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! (Now let the eating and thanks begin!)
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Bourbon Vanilla Cream Pie with Oatmeal-Pecan Cookie Crust
Ingredients
- OAT PECAN COOKIE CRUST
- Nonstick baking spray
- 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 5 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 cup chopped pecans
- CREAM PIE FILLING
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon bourbon whiskey
- 1/8 cup chopped pecans
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- OAT PECAN COOKIE CRUST
- Preheat oven to 350. Coat a rectangular metal baking pan (13x9x2 inch) with nonstick spray.
- Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl. Beat mixture with electric mixture until light and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.
- Add egg; beat until fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until well blended.
- Spread oat cookie mixture onto baking pan and press into an even layer. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking pan to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
- Once cooled, break up cookie in pan and crumble into a fine mixture.
- Add cookie crumbles to a large mixing bowl and add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar and chopped pecans, mix well and transfer cookie mixture to a 9 inch glass pie dish.
- Spread cookie mixture evenly into pie dish up to the sides and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- CREAM PIE FILLING
- Whisk both sugars, salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Add melted butter and whisk until blended.
- Add cream, egg yolks, vanilla, bourbon and chopped pecans and whisk until well blended.
- Pour cream pie filing into cookie crust and bake pie for 30 minutes until filling gets bubbly.
- Reduce oven to 325 and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Cool pie for about 2 hours on a cooling rack.
- Chill uncovered or loosely tented with foil in the refrigerator overnight.
- Sift powdered sugar over the top of the pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve chilled.
- Garnish with some bourbon infused whipped cream, if desired.