Chocolate Oreo French Silk Pie

In honor of National Pi day, I'm making a quick and easy pie for my daughter to take into her math class tomorrow. Unbelievably I had everything in the house to make this pie...when does that ever happen??

Ingredients
4 ounces, weight Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
1 cup Salted Butter, Softened
1-1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 whole Eggs
1 package Baked Pie Shell
10 Oreo cookies, crushed

Instructions

In small microwave safe bowl melt 4 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate until stirrable (about 45 seconds on high). Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat 1 cup (2 sticks) of regular (salted) butter and 1 ½ cups of white sugar until fluffy (about 1 to 2 minutes). When melted chocolate is cooled, drizzle it over the butter/sugar mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat the mixture thoroughly until combined (on a Kitchen Aid mixer, you will be using the whisk attachment).

Turn your mixer to a medium speed and over a period of 15 to 20 minutes add in the four eggs, one at a time, leaving about 5 minutes between each egg addition. Take crushed Oreo's and place in bottom of baked/cooled pie shell. Once the pie filling is well mixed, pour it into the pie shell, scraping every last speck of it out of the bowl. Smooth out the pie filling and place pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours (preferably longer).

Cream together butter and sugar

Melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl

Drizzle melted chocolate into butter/sugar mixture

So creamy after mixing for 20 minutes

Spread crushed Oreo cookies on bottom of baked pie crust

Pour pudding mixture on top of pie shell and chill for at least 2 hours

Enjoy! 

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

Oatmeal Streusel Apple Pie

I am not a huge fruit dessert person, but this apple pie recipe tempted me into it, and I wasn't disappointed. The addition of the oatmeal cookie streusel topping added an additional dimension to this pie.

 I made this at the end of the summer and placed it uncooked into my freezer, I found it yesterday and was able to pop it frozen into a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, then I dropped the temp to 350 and baked it for an additional hour...amazing! 

Ingredients 
5 to 6 cups thinly sliced apples, a combination of varieties
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c melted butter
3 TBSP flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 deep dish pie shell, unbaked

Topping
1/2 c flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
6 TBSP butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 rolled oats
1/4 c chopped pecans ( didn't add)

Toss sliced apples with lemon juice to coat well. Add 1/2 c sugar and the brown sugar, 1/4 c melted butter, flour and spices, stir until mixture is well blended. Prepare pie shell.

In a food processor, combine topping ingredients; pulse until mixture is crumbly. You can also use a pastry blender or forks to cut this mixture together.

Pour apple mixture into the prepared pie shell. Sprinkle topping mix evenly over the top of apples.

Place in preheated 375 oven. Bake for about 45-60 minutes, until apples are tender and topping is browned. Check after about 30 minutes to make sure the crust isn't getting too brown. Use a pie shield or ring of foil to protect the crust edge if necessary. Let cool before cutting.

Enjoy! 

Chocolate Chip Pie

I've been wanting to try this recipe for years and I've never made it a priority until today. I absolutely love chocolate chips and have been known to hide an open bag in the freezer just for me. This pie goes together so quickly and I'm almost positive you'll have most of the ingredients already in your pantry and fridge, so get baking!

Ingredients
1 unbaked 9 inch Deep Dish Pie Shell
2 large Eggs
1/2 c Flour
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c packed Brown Sugar
1 1/2 sticks Butter, softened
1 c Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 c Nuts (optional, I didn't use them)

Preheat oven to 325.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into pie shell. Place on cookie sheet before baking.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. ( I ended up baking mine for closer to 70 minutes, but every oven is different) Cool on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Ingredients

After mixing up filling

Pour into pie shell an bake

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Pie

Today is my sweet neighbors birthday, she is a like a second mother to my daughter so I had to do something big for her.  Paige's favorite dessert is apple pie and since I just brought home BAGS of apples from NC I decided to make one for her. One major problem with this thinking was my stove top cracked last night and I'm now oven-less. I didn't think she'd mind baking her own birthday pie so I took it over ready to pop into the oven. She took one look at it and burst into tears (she'd had a rough day), sometimes birthdays are like that. This is what baking is to me, bringing love and joy into other peoples lives. Happy birthday dear friend.

Sorry for not having an "after" pic, my oven is broken!

Ingredients
2 Deep dish pie crusts (I like Marie Calendars)
5 large Apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 c Sugar
1 TBSP Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Salt
2 tsp Vanilla
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Caramel Sauce (found where ice cream toppings are)
3 TBSP Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Peel, core and slice apples and place in large bowl. In small bowl combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix together and add to apple slices, mix. Pour apple mixture into pie crust. Pour 1/4 jar of caramel sauce over the top of the apple slices. Next roll out remaining pie dough onto work surface, I used a small heart shaped cookie cutter and cut out numerous hearts and placed them on top of pie. Whip an egg white and brush on top of crust hearts, sprinkle with 3 TBSP sugar mixed with 1 tsp Cinnamon. Loosely wrap aluminum foil around pie and bake for 30 minutes on a cookie sheet,  remove foil and continue to bake for another 20. Let cool for 30 minutes before cutting.

Ingredients

I have one of these fancy apple peeler-corer-slicer machines

I love it!

Yummy caramel! 

Pour the caramel all over the top of the apples

Enjoy!

Old Glory Blueberry-Cherry Pie

I swore to myself I wasn't going to bake anything big today, and then of course I did! I'm so excited to share this with you and know it's too late in the day for most of you to make it, but I'm still going to post it. To my friends in Utah, I know you will be celebrating on the 24th of this month and this will be a perfect dessert! This dessert goes together super quick, I cheated and used Marie Calendar's frozen pie dough and canned cherry pie filling. 

Ingredients
1 can Cherry Pie Filling
1 pint Fresh Blueberries
2 Frozen Pie Shells
1/2 Lemon
1 TBSP Corn Starch
3 TBSP Sugar
Cinnamon
1 Egg White, beaten

Take one pie shell and place on counter, use second pie 

shell and cut crust off rim and use to make a dam.

In small bowl combine sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of cinnamon, mix. 

Squeeze lemon juice over blueberries and then mix sugar mixture into blueberries. 

Blueberries and lemon juice

Sugar mixture

Pour blueberry mixture into wedge shape in pie dish.

 Next pour can of cherry pie filling into rest of pie crust. 

Roll our remaining pie crust and use a small star shaped cookie cutter cut out 3-4 small stars, place on

blueberries. Next use a paring knife and cut some strips out of dough and place on top of

cherry part. 

Using 1 egg white, brush dough and then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 400 for 45 minutes. Check at 30 to see if crust

is getting too dark, if so, lightly top with aluminum foil.

 Let cool for at least 3 hours before cutting.

ENJOY! 

Happy Pi Day

I know today is Pi day and I know I should make a pie marking this special day but I have 2 reasons not to.
1. My Crack Pie recipe is the bomb diggity of all pie recipes
2. It's my birthday tomorrow and I'm going to make myself a cake and don't need pie in the house right now.
 My math loving husband loves numbers and thinks pi day to be pretty awesome, he even bought our daughter a "cutie pi" t-shirt from Harvard one year. I hope you have a wonderful day indulging in all kinds of pi!

Enjoy!

Crack Pie

My husband Tom read an article a few years ago about a restaurant in Los Angeles that served pie so yummy and addictive that it became known as "Crack Pie". I will admit this pie is delish but it's also very time consuming and the finished product is not a visual show stopper. But the taste.......OMG! You will begin by making a large oatmeal cookie, cooking it, crushing it up and then using it as one ingredient for the crust, see I told you it was time consuming. I also have not found the perfect time to bake it, I keep testing it until it's fairly firm in the middle (when jiggled). The best part of this pie is the taste and the fact that it makes TWO PIES! 


This pie calls for 2 (10-inch) pie tins. You can substitute 9-inch pie tins, but note that the pies will require additional baking time, about 5 minutes,  (more than 5 min, trust me) due to the increased thickness of the filling.

Cookie for crust
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.


Crust
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) milk powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar, garnish
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla
3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes.  I find that I have to cook the pies much longer than called for. Keep jiggling the pies until they seem firm. Remove the pies and cool on a rack. I have frozen these pies for 6 weeks and they still taste great!
6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.


Total time: 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling and chilling times
Servings: Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)

Enjoy!