I’ve never been a huge pecan pie person because the traditional recipe is full of corn syrup. Questionable health issues aside, I find corn syrup to be pretty one-dimensional in flavor, and every time I’ve purchased a bottle of corn syrup for a pecan pie recipe, it’s sat there, untouched, until the next time I make a pecan pie (which would likely not be until the next Thanksgiving). I wanted an alternative recipe, and maple syrup seems to be a common substitute. When I tried recipes will an all maple syrup base, however, though the flavor was great, I wasn’t getting that gooeyness that’s so distinctive to a pecan pie. Scanning the sweeteners at my grocery store, I hit on brown rice syrup. Its thick, syrupy texture and caramel flavor are perfect for pecan pie, and, as a bonus, it’s supposedly one of the healthier sweeteners out there (again, questionable health claim, but since it worked in this recipe, I’ll go with it).

Since I was going the “healthy” route, I took the opportunity to test out a whole wheat pie crust recipe as well, which turned out great. The key here, as with most whole wheat desserts, is to use whole wheat pastry flour, instead of regular whole wheat flour. Since the flour is finer, it acts more like white flour, and produces a lighter end product. The other trick is to freeze your butter and then grate it before adding it to your flour. This way, your butter is well distributed in your flour without melting, preserving the flakiness of your crust.

Whole Wheat Crust

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 and 1/2 sticks butter, frozen
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoon ice water
1 egg

Pecan Pie Filling

1/3 cup brown rice syrup (many regular grocery stores now carry brown rice syrup, but you can definitely find it at your local health food store)
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon bourbon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups raw pecans

WHOLE WHEAT PIE CRUST

Take your butter out of the freezer and grate it on a plate (don’t use a box grater, as the butter will get stuck inside!). Put the grated butter back in the freezer until it’s time to use it.
Mix together flour, salt, and sugar.
Add butter to the flour mixture, making sure the butter pieces are coated with flour. Work quickly, so as not to melt the butter.
Beat egg into the ice water, and add the liquid mixture into the flour/butter. Mix together with a spoon or fork until dough just forms.
Form dough into two discs, and place them each in separate plastic sandwich bags.
This recipe makes 1 double crust pie or 2 single crusts, so save one crust in the freezer. For the crust you are using, let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.

PECAN PIE FILLING

Preheat oven at 350 F degrees.
Whisk together brown rice syrup, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla, salt, and bourbon, if you’re using it.
Fold in pecans and pour mixture into unbaked pie crust (I blind-baked mine for 10 minutes and my crust was just a bit too browned for my taste).
decorate the top of the pie with extra pecans.
bake for 40 minutes, or until filling no longer jiggles.