Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie

Instructions

• WHIRL flour with 1 1/2 tsp sugar and 3/4 tsp salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter. Pulse until finely crumbled. With machine running, add water through the spout, 1 tbsp at a time, and continue whirling until dough comes together, 30 sec. Roll one third of pastry and form into a square. Form remaining pastry into a disc. Wrap each with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min.

• POSITION rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat to 375F.

• REMOVE chilled pastry from refrigerator. Roll out larger pastry piece on a lightly floured surface into a 12-in.-wide circle. Gently fold pastry in half and lift into a 9-in. pie plate. Unfold and press dough over bottom and up sides of plate, leaving a 1/2-in. overhang. Carefully trim off edges. Refrigerate.

• ROLL out smaller pastry piece on a lightly floured surface into a 12 × 6-in. rectangle. Cutting along the long side, with a ruler as a guide, cut off 12 1/4-in.-wide strips. Discard remaining dough. Working with 3 strips at a time, braid the dough on a floured surface. (You will need about 36 in. of braids to line a 9-in. pie.) Brush beaten egg over edges of pie crust. Arrange braids over edges, pressing gently to stick and trimming to fit. Brush with beaten egg.

• WHISK 4 eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in corn syrup, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, bourbon, vanilla and 1/8 tsp salt until combined. Scatter pecans and chocolate chips on the bottom of the pie crust. Pour filling evenly overtop.

• BAKE in bottom third of oven, until edge of filling has set and centre is slightly jiggly, 55 min to 1 hour. Cover with foil for the last 10 min, if browning too quickly. Transfer to a rack to cool completely, 1 hour.