INGREDIENTS

For Vanilla Cinnamon Sugar Pie Crust

• 1 1/4 Cup flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter (cubed and frozen)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4-6 tbsp. iced cold water
  
  

For Filling

• 5 tbsp. butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp. Tennessee Whiskey
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I use Vanilla Bean infused)
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink sea salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups pecan pieces

For Candied Bacon

• 8 slices thick cut bacon
• 1/8 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Crust

1. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter on top. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until all flour is coated. (You’re looking for pea-sized bits of flour coated butter).
2. Add 4 tbsp. of ice water. If it needs additional cold water, add one teaspoon at a time. (It should look crumbly, but if pinched it will hold together). Do not over mix the dough, you want to keep it nice and flaky. (Overmixing will cause it to become tough while baking.)
3. Pull everything out of the bowl and quickly form a ball and wrap in plastic wrap.
4. Place in fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill. 
5. On a clean lightly floured surface, roll out the dough slightly larger than pie tin.
6. Carefully place the dough into your pie tin.
7. Cut edge of dough off, around pie tin and crimp edges. Using fork, poke holes a few times in bottom of pie crust.
8.  Place in freezer 30 min while preparing filling.

For the Filling

1. In a small saucepan over Medium Heat, melt 5 Tbsp. butter, then add brown sugar and stir until smooth and creamy. (About 2 min). Remove from heat and let cool.
2. In separate bowl combine eggs, whiskey, maple syrup, sea salt and vanilla.
3. Mix to combine.
4. Add in cooled brown sugar mixture. Mix well.
5. Place Pecans in bottom of frozen pie crust and pour filling mixture over pecans.

To Cook the Whiskey Maple Bacon Pecan Pie: 

1. Place on smoker at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Preheat your pellet grill to 350 degrees F using B&B Pecan Pellets, or use B&B Pecan Cooking Wood in your offset or wood fired smoker and bring it up to 325-350 degrees. (if using a wood fired smoker, try to keep the temperature in between 325-350 degrees F so that your pie will cook evenly)
2. Bake the pecan pie for about 1 hour, or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean. If you notice the crust starting to get too brown, cover the edges with foil.
3.  Remove from grill.
4.  Meanwhile, chop bacon into small pieces and cook in a preheated skillet till almost crisp. Add in maple syrup and brown sugar. Stir to coat well. Place candied bacon evenly on top of warm pie.
5. Serve with fresh homemade Whip Cream! Enjoy 

For the best whip cream, mix 1 Cup Heavy Cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix on Medium speed in your countertop mixer or with a hand blender and whisk attachment for about 5 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Tips and Tricks:

• HOW TO MAKE SMOKED PECAN PIE: Instead of using an oven, we are going to use a pellet grill to make this pecan pie. By doing so, it will kiss the pie with a hint of smoke flavor. You can cook this pie on any smoker, but I recommend using a pellet smoker because the smoke flavor infused into the pie from a pellet smoker is generally more mild than that of other smokers that are fueled by charcoal and hardwood. The key to this recipe is balanced flavors and you certainly do not want to overpower the pie with a heavy smoke flavor. With a pellet grill, you can easily fill the pellet hopper with pecan wood pellets (my personal favorite is B&B Charcoal brand Pecan Pellets, or the Jack Daniels Tennessee wood pellets) then set the temperature to 350 degrees F and let it do its thing! If you do not have a pellet smoker or just prefer to use another smoker such as an offset smoker, that is fine. You will just need to be more diligent in managing the fire to ensure it is maintaining a consistent temperature and not producing too much smoke 
• DOES PECAN PIE NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED? Yes, pecan pie needs to be refrigerated due to its egg base filling. After it comes off the smoker, you may keep it on the counter for up to 2 hours, but after that, cover and place in the refrigerator. 
• CAN YOU FREEZE PECAN PIE? Yes, you absolutely can bake then freeze your pecan pie. All you need to do is make sure the pecan pie is completely cooled after baking. Then, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, trying to cover completely without any air pockets. Place in freezer and when ready to eat, allow to thaw in refrigerator, then enjoy. If your looking to have warm pie, pull from freezer and bake for 10-12 min at 325 degrees F, just till warm. 
• HOW TO TELL WHEN THE PECAN PIE IS DONE: Pecan pie is done when the top looks lightly caramelized and when gently shaken, the center has a slight jiggle. It should be stable but slightly wiggly in the center and the edges are set. If a knife or toothpick is inserted into the center, it should come out clean. Do not overbake, it will dry out the pie. Remember that once taken off the smoker, it will continue to bake for a few minutes.