Craving a warm, gooey, deeply flavorful, from-scratch-tasting Bourbon Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving, but have absolutely no time to fuss with making a crust? This incredible, shortcut recipe is your new holiday lifesaver! Using a store-bought frozen pie shell and a secret ingredient—rich caramel sauce—we’ll show you how to create the easiest, fastest, and most delicious pecan pie you’ve ever made.
This isn’t just a recipe; it’s your guide to a completely stress-free holiday dessert that doesn’t compromise on flavor. The one-bowl filling comes together in about five minutes, and the result is a stunning, classic pie with a rich, caramel-bourbon custard and a beautiful, crunchy pecan topping. This is proof that you can have a truly impressive, homemade-tasting dessert with a fraction of the work.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview: Your Holiday Lifesaver
What makes this Bourbon Pecan Pie recipe so spectacular is its brilliant combination of smart shortcuts and gourmet flavor. The use of a store-bought frozen pie shell eliminates the most time-consuming part of pie making, while the addition of prepared caramel sauce to the filling creates an incredible depth of flavor that tastes like you slaved over a hot stove. It’s a simple, one-bowl, stir-together filling that bakes up into a perfect, gooey, yet sliceable pie every single time. It’s the ultimate dessert for a busy holiday host.
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 1 hour 15 minutes |
| Active Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
| Servings | 8 slices |
The Essential Ingredients for This Easy Pie
This recipe uses a handful of simple ingredients and smart shortcuts to create a spectacular result.
- The Shortcut Crust:
- A 9-inch Deep-Dish Frozen Pie Shell: This is the key to making this recipe so fast and easy! A good quality, store-bought frozen pie shell is a fantastic, reliable foundation that saves you all the work of making pastry from scratch. Using a deep-dish shell is important to hold all the delicious filling.
- The Caramel-Bourbon Filling: This is the rich, gooey, and sophisticated heart of our pie.
- Caramel Sauce: This is the secret ingredient! Instead of the traditional corn syrup, this recipe uses a high-quality, prepared caramel sauce (the kind you would use for ice cream). This adds a wonderful, rich, buttery, and complex caramel flavor with zero extra effort.
- Brown Sugar: Using packed light brown sugar provides a deep, rich, caramel-like sweetness with notes of molasses that is the signature flavor of a great pecan pie.
- Bourbon: A splash of your favorite bourbon adds a classic, sophisticated, and warm Southern flavor that is a fantastic pairing with the caramel and toasted pecans.
- Toasted Pecans: For the best, deepest flavor and a superior crunch, it is highly recommended to toast your pecan halves before adding them to the pie.
Pro Tutorial: How to Easily Toast Pecans
Toasting your pecans is a simple, 5-minute step that makes a huge difference in the flavor of your pie!
- Simply spread your pecan halves in a single layer on a dry baking sheet.
- Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until they are a shade darker and smell very fragrant and nutty.
- Let them cool completely before you use them in the recipe.
Step-by-Step to the Easiest Pecan Pie Ever
This recipe comes together in a flash, all in one single bowl.
Step 1: Prepare Your Pan and Oven
First, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
Place your frozen, deep-dish pie shell onto a parchment-lined or foil-lined baking sheet. This makes it much easier and safer to transfer the pie in and out of the oven and will catch any potential drips.
Step 2: The 5-Minute Caramel-Bourbon Filling
In a large mixing bowl, add the 3 eggs, the 5 tablespoons of room temperature butter, and the 1 cup of packed brown sugar. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the ingredients together until they are completely incorporated and smooth.
Add the 3/4 cup of caramel sauce, the 2 tablespoons of bourbon, the 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, the 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and the pinch of salt.
Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until the filling is smooth and well combined.
Gently fold in the 1 1/2 cups of toasted pecan halves with a spatula.
Step 3: Fill and Bake to Gooey Perfection
Carefully pour the prepared filling into your frozen pie shell.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. The pie is perfectly done when the filling is just set in the center.
Pro Tip (The “Jiggle Test”): A perfectly baked custard pie should not be completely solid when it comes out of the oven. The edges should be set and slightly puffed, but the very center should still have a slight jiggle or wobble to it when you gently nudge the pan. It will continue to set up from the residual heat as it cools.
Let the pie cool on a wire rack for about 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
Pecan pie is the absolute perfect make-ahead dessert for the busy holiday season.
- Make-Ahead: You can bake this pie completely up to 3 days in advance. Let it cool completely, then cover it and store it in the refrigerator. The flavors will actually meld and become even more delicious.
- Storage: Store the finished, cooled pie, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Serving: This pie is delicious served chilled, at room temperature, or slightly warmed. To warm a slice, you can microwave it for just 15-20 seconds. For the absolute best flavor, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
The Easiest Bourbon Pecan Pie (with a Shortcut Crust!)
A quick and easy recipe for a rich bourbon pecan pie that uses a store-bought frozen pie shell for convenience. The simple, no-cook filling is made by beating together eggs, room-temperature butter, brown sugar, and jarred caramel sauce. The custard is flavored with bourbon, vanilla, and cinnamon, and then folded with toasted pecan halves. The pie is then baked until the filling is just set in the center and cooled before serving.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours (includes cooling time)
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 (9-inch) deep-dish frozen pie shell
- 3 eggs
- 5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup caramel sauce
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the frozen pie shell onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer to beat together the eggs, room-temperature butter, and brown sugar until completely incorporated.
- Add the caramel sauce, bourbon, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Fold in the toasted pecans.
- Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell.
- Bake until the center of the pie is just set (it should have a slight jiggle), about 40 to 50 minutes.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for about 1 hour before slicing and serving.
Notes
- This recipe is a shortcut version of pecan pie, using a pre-made frozen pie shell and jarred caramel sauce to save time.
- Toasting the pecans before adding them to the filling is a key step that enhances their nutty flavor.
- It is important to let the pie cool for at least an hour to allow the custard filling to set properly before slicing.
Creative Recipe Variations
- Decadent “Turtle” Pecan Pie: For a classic, rich, and gooey flavor combination, you can stir 1 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips into the filling along with the pecans.
- Use a Different Spirit: If you’re not a fan of bourbon, you can easily swap it with an equal amount of a good quality dark rum or a Tennessee whiskey.
- Add a Salty Finish: For a sophisticated, modern twist that beautifully complements the sweet caramel and pecans, you can sprinkle the top of the cooled pie with a touch of flaky sea salt just before serving.
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Enjoy a True Holiday Icon, Made Easy!
You’ve just created a truly special, from-scratch-tasting dessert that is the very definition of a holiday indulgence, all with a few clever shortcuts. This easy Bourbon Pecan Pie, with its gooey caramel filling and its crunchy pecan topping, is a rewarding and deeply satisfying recipe that is sure to become a new, much-requested tradition at your holiday table.
We hope you and your loved ones enjoy every last, perfect, and delicious bite!
If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves an easy and impressive holiday dessert!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: Can I make this easy pecan pie with a homemade crust instead?
Yes, absolutely! If you have the time and a favorite from-scratch pie crust recipe, it would be fantastic. You will need one 9-inch deep-dish pie shell. Because this pie has a long bake time, there is no need to pre-bake (or blind-bake) the crust first.
Q2: What kind of caramel sauce should I use?
You want to use a high-quality, thick, prepared caramel sauce, the kind that is typically sold in a jar as an ice cream topping. Avoid using a very thin, watery caramel syrup, as it may not allow the pie to set up as well.
Q3: My pie seems a little underbaked and too jiggly in the center. What did I do wrong?
A runny pie is almost always just a sign that it needed a few more minutes in the oven. All ovens can vary slightly, so it’s important to rely on the visual cue of the “slight jiggle” in the center, not just the clock. If the center still looks very liquidy and has a wide, sloshing wobble, it needs more time.
Q4: Is it really necessary to toast the pecans before I put them in the pie?
While it’s an optional step, it is highly recommended and makes a huge difference in the final flavor! Toasting the pecans in a dry skillet or in the oven for a few minutes brings out their natural oils and gives them a much deeper, nuttier, and more complex flavor and a crispier texture.
Q5: How do I prevent the edges of my pie crust from getting too dark or burning?
The thin, exposed edges of a pie crust will always brown much faster than the rest of the pie. A pie shield or a simple, homemade ring of aluminum foil is the perfect tool. If you notice during the bake that your crust edges are getting too dark before the filling is set, simply cover just the edges with a foil ring for the remainder of the baking time.