This has become a Wells family holiday favorite, adapted from our North Carolina friend’s recipe, whose family made theirs for many generations from the huge old “PEA-can” tree in their front yard. Sadly, the grand old tree blew down in a hurricane a few years back, but you can make sure the recipe lives on!

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar  (198 grams)
3 Tbsps. butter, melted
1/2 cup dark corn syrup  (156 grams)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 to 2 cups pecan halves
2 Tbsps. good-quality bourbon
1 (9-inch) deep-dish pie shell, unbaked

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, hand-stir together the sugar and melted butter. Add the corn syrup, eggs, pecans, and bourbon, and stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell, and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and continue to bake for an additional 50 minutes, or until the pie is set. (The center of the pie should have reached 200 degrees.) Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

This pie is scrumptious, served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or served cold so it reminds you of pralines and pecans!