Servings: 9" Pie, 8 to 12 slices

4 large eggs 4 large eggs
1 cup, 8 ounces water 1 cup, 8 ounces water
3 cups, 21 ounces plain or toasted sugar 3 cups, 21 ounces plain or toasted sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, such as Diamond Crystal 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, such as Diamond Crystal
1 stick, 4 ounces unsalted butter, cold 1 stick, 4 ounces unsalted butter, cold
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, Scotch, or bourbon 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, Scotch, or bourbon
2 1/2 cups, 10 ounces pecan halves, raw 2 ½ cups, 10 ounces pecan halves, raw
1 fully baked 9-inch pie crust 1 fully baked 9-inch pie crust

Before getting started, place the whole eggs in a small bowl, cover with hot tap water and set aside.
Combine 8 ounces (1 cup) water with the sugar and salt in a 3-quart stainless steel saucier over medium heat. Stir with a fork until the sugar dissolves and the syrup begins to bubble, about 7 minutes.
Fill a ramekin with water, then use it to wet a pastry brush and wipe all around the edges of the pot, wherever you see sugar crystals or splashes of syrup. Rewet the brush as needed, “washing” around the sides until totally clean. Be generous! Extra water will not hurt the pie filling, but sugar crystals will.
Crank the heat to medium-high and clip on a digital thermometer. Cook without stirring until the syrup is honey colored and 325°, about 12 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat, add the butter all at once, and stir with a heat resistant spatula until the foam subsides. Cool the syrup to 200°, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure it cools at an even rate.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°.
Whisk the eggs and vanilla (or booze) in a medium bowl until well combined, then fold in the pecans with a flexible spatula.
Pour the hot butterscotch over the eggy-pecans and fold with a spatula until the pecans are well coated in butterscotch and the eggs are mostly absorbed. The butter will seem to pool out of the mixture, and you may notice a few specks of curdled egg, but that’s a-okay. Really.
Scrape into the prepared crust, and don’t worry about trying to spread it into an even layer. Bake 30 minutes, then cover the outer ring of crust with a pie shield and continue baking until the filling is bubbling hot and all puffed up, about 15 minutes more. When fully baked, the pie will registers 210° in the center.
Cool at least 2 hours before slicing with a chef’s knife; prior to that the filling will be warm and runny.
Wrapped in plastic, leftovers will keep 3 days at room temperature, or a week in the fridge.

Troubleshooting:  Troubleshooting:
This recipe depends on an accurate digital thermometer, and when things go wrong you can bet the readings were off. This can happen by misreading an analogue thermometer, failing to fully submerge the probe in the syrup, or simply when good thermometers go bad (a sad fact of life). It can also happen with meat thermometers not intended for high heat, or when the batteries start to fade. Check the temperature range of your thermometer to be certain it can register 335°, then test its accuracy by making sure it reads 212° in a pot of boiling water.  This recipe depends on an accurate digital thermometer, and when things go wrong you can bet the readings were off. This can happen by misreading an analogue thermometer, failing to fully submerge the probe in the syrup, or simply when good thermometers go bad (a sad fact of life). It can also happen with meat thermometers not intended for high heat, or when the batteries start to fade. Check the temperature range of your thermometer to be certain it can register 335°, then test its accuracy by making sure it reads 212° in a pot of boiling water.
Recommended Pie Crust Recipe: www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/old-fashioned-flaky-p...  Recommended Pie Crust Recipe: www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/old-fashioned-flaky-p...