Step 1

Roll out the pie crust and place it into a 9-inch pie plate. Crimp the edges as desired. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Place the pie plate in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 3

Break up just 1 cup of the pecans and leave the other cup whole. It is easiest to break the nuts up by hand, snapping them quickly into quarters.

Step 4

Place the butter, brown sugar, your syrup of choice, and the kosher salt into a large sauce pan. Melt the mixture down over medium heat until you can easily stir everything together. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the butter and sugar to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil for just 1 minute and then remove from the heat.

Step 5

Add both the broken and whole pecans, bourbon, and vanilla to the sauce pan. Stir to combine. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Step 6

Beat the eggs in a small bowl. While whisking with one hand, ladle a spoonful of the warm pecan mixture into the eggs with your other hand. This will help bring the eggs up to the right temperature so they don't scramble in the pie. Pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan and whisk it all together.

Step 7

Remove the prepared pie crust from the freezer and place it on a baking sheet. Pour the prepared pecan filling into the pie crust and smooth it out as needed.

Step 8

Bake the pecan pie for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check the edges of the pie crust after 20 minutes. If they are browning too quickly, you can loosely cover them with aluminum foil strips.

Step 9

How to Know the Pie is Done: The filling should look puffed up and jiggle only slightly when you pull at the baking sheet.

Step 10

Serve the pecan pie at room temperature with whipped cream or whipped topping. It is also delicious topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce over the top.