pie

Tasty Tuesday–Pie!

It’s almost Thanksgiving! Here are a few of my favorite Thanksgiving-ready pie recipes:

If anyone’s wondering, I just use the standard Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe…nothing too fancy there!

Tasty Tuesday–Pecan Pie

Today I’ll share a bonus Tasty Tuesday pie recipe, in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday next week. You can never have too many pies at Thanksgiving! (Trust me, I should know…I got roped into making six of them this year!) I like this particular recipe because it doesn’t use corn syrup.

  • 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup butter, melted
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
  • 1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 400.
In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar, and flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla, and nuts.
Pour into pie crust. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until done.

Tasty Tuesday–Butterscotch Pie

Thanksgiving is next week…can you believe it?!? Here’s another family favorite pie recipe…this is the one that Bunny requested (demanded?) that I make this year. It’s truly a labor of love, for me at least, because I hate tempering eggs! It’s worth it though…there’s nothing quite like a homemade butterscotch pie!

  • 1 9-inch pie crust, baked and cooled (make sure to poke holes in the crust with a fork before baking!)
  • 3 Tbsp. butter (no substitutions)
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 3/4 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Whipped cream for topping

In 12-inch skillet, cook butter over medium heat for 6 to 7 minutes or until butter melts and turns deep golden brown in color, being careful not to burn. Add brown sugar and stir until blended. Carefully stir in boiling water; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly until smooth. (If there are a few lumps of brown sugar, that’s OK.) Remove from heat.
In 3-quart saucepan, combine cornstarch and salt; with wire whisk, mix in milk, cream, and brown sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils, stirring constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
In small bowl, with wire whisk, lightly beat egg yolks. In thin steady stream, whisk about 1/2 cup hot milk mixture into yolks. Gradually whisk yolk mixture back into milk mixture, stirring rapidly to prevent curdling. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is very thick and coats the back of a spoon well. Stir in vanilla.
Pour hot filling into cooled pie crust; press plastic wrap onto surface. Refrigerate overnight until filling is set. Top with whipped cream, if desired.

Tasty Tuesday–Caramel Apple Pie

Since Thanksgiving approaches, I thought I’d share the recipe for one of our Thanksgiving standards…caramel apple pie. It even won second place at a church pie contest a while back!

20 individually wrapped caramels
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
5 large Granny Smith apples–peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350.
Unwrap and cut caramel candies in half. In a large bowl, mix candy with flour. Stir in apples, ice cream topping, and lemon juice. Pour filling into pie crust.
Place in oven on a sheet of foil to catch the drips. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

 

Tasty Tuesday–Strawberries and Cream Pie

This was the pie I made for our Pentecost celebration this year, and it was so delicious, Turkey decided that it’s now tied with the S’mores pie as his favorite!

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  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 tsp shortening
  • 1 Oreo or chocolate pie crust
  • 1 8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip
  • 2 cups fresh strawberries, halved

Melt chocolate chips with shortening over low heat. Pour into bottom of pie crust and chill until firm.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in Cool Whip. Pour over chocolate in pie crust. Refrigerate overnight.
Before serving, arrange strawberries over the top of the pie. Drizzle with additional chocolate, if desired.

A Pie for Pentecost

Last year, I made a different cake for every week of the season of Easter, plus a bonus red velvet cake to celebrate Pentecost Sunday. This year, I made a variety of pies throughout the season of Easter, ending with a red (of course!), strawberries and cream pie for today:

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I wonder what kind of theme I can up with for next year?

Tasty Tuesday–French Silk Pie

This pie is almost as good as the French Silk pie I used to love at Baker’s Square, although it is missing the chocolate curls because I don’t have the patience to make them. You will need to set aside a good 35-40 minutes just for beating the ingredients. How much whipped cream you use is up to you. I consider it to be an ingredient, so I put a thick layer over the whole pie. If you want it as just a garnish, feel free to use less!

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  • 1 8-inch pie crust, baked and cooled
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 2 1 oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • Fresh whipped cream

Beat butter and sugar until sugar is no longer grainy, 20-25 minutes at medium-high speed with an electric mixer. (Yes, that’s correct…20-25 minutes…that’s necessary for the “silk” texture.) Stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, two at a time, beating 5 minutes on medium speed after each addition. The filling should be a light, fluffy brown at this point. Spoon the chocolate filling into a cooled, baked pie shell.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours…overnight is best. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Tasty Tuesday–Spiced Apple Cranberry Pie

This was a new recipe I tried out for Thanksgiving. I wanted something similar in taste to the wassail I make at Christmastime, and with the apples and cranberries, plus the cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice, this definitely fits the bill. Around here, we’re even calling it “wassail pie!” The blend of spices is perfect, and I love finding another use for fresh cranberries.

  • 2 unbaked pie crusts (I use store-bought)
  • 3 1/4 lb. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 4 tsp. cornstarch
  • 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 10 oz. fresh cranberries
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Egg wash: 1 egg white, beaten with 1 tsp. water
  • 2 tsp. granulated sugar

To make the apple-cranberry filling, in a 5 1/2-quart Dutch oven, stir together the apples, brown sugar, 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar, the cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, salt and cornstarch until the apples are evenly coated. Set over medium heat, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are just tender but not mushy, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and vanilla, and let cool for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, stir together the cranberries, the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar and the water. Set over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have broken down slightly and the liquid has thickened to the consistency of a loose jam, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. Add the cranberry mixture to the apple mixture and stir to combine.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven, place a baking sheet on the rack and preheat the oven to 400.

Let the pie crusts come to room temperature for about five minutes. Line a pie plate with one crust, and spoon in the apple cranberry filling. Gently place the second pie crust over the pie. Trim the edges flush with the rim of the dish and press the top and bottom crusts together to seal. Brush the entire top crust with the egg wash and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Place the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden brown, about 1 hour, covering the edges with aluminum foil if they become too dark. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 1/2 hours before serving. Serves 8.