TWD: Dorie's Favorite Pecan Pie

Things were crazy busy during December, so I didn't get a chance to bake ANY of the Tuesday with Dorie December assignments. I felt so guilt that on New Year’s Eve (afternoon) I was in the kitchen baking not ONE but THREE TWD assignments.

The first one finished was “Dorie’s Favorite Pecan Pie”. The dessert was going to a New Year’s Eve party, so I wanted the pie to be more finger-foodish.

Ta Da – mini chocolate pecan pies.

Like any pecan pie, it is a breeze to throw together. Pretty much dump all the indigents into a bowl, give it a few stirs, pour it into a pie shell, and bake. Dorie’s Favorite Pecan Pie is different from most because it contains chocolate, cinnamon, and espresso powder.


So has Dorie’s Favorite Pecan Pie become mine? Well honestly, no. I love chocolate. I love Pecan Pie. But for some reason I didn’t like the two combined.

I think I’ll stick with my go-to Maple Pecan Pie recipe. It is sweet, gooey, and the maple flavor gives it a unique taste.

Cran-Apple Crisp Pie

I wanted to bake an apple pie for our Christmas Day lunch, but I couldn’t decide which recipe to try. Should I use a recipe that called for pre-cooking the apples or one that used raw? Raisins? Nuts? Did I want a double crust pie or one with crumble? The possibilities were infinite.

In the end I decided to use Dorie Greenspan’s Cran-Apple Crisp recipe but baked in a 9” deep-dish pie shell instead of a soufflé dish. Like all of Dorie’s recipes, it turned out yummy.

Here are the filling ingredients just waiting to be tossed together.

And here are all the yummy sugar-coated goodness squeezed into their pie-shell home.

And the crumb/crisp topping. (Not very pretty, huh?)

Such a shame to hide all those beautiful bright red cranberries and crisp green apples, but I new the end product would be delicious. Thanks again Dorie. Your recipes never disappoint.

Cran-Apple Crisp Pie

Adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours – Dorie Greenspan

For the topping
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

For the filling
4 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, don’t thaw)
1/2 cup raisins (dark or golden)
1/2 cup pecans
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 - 9" deep-dish pie shell (frozen or home made)

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

To make the topping:
Put all the topping ingredients in a large bowl. Using your fingers or a fork, cut the butter into the topping mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumb. (You can make the topping up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight bag.)

To make the filling:
Toss all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl. Place frozen (or home made) pie shell on the lined baking sheet. Pour the filling into the pie shell, and spoon the topping evenly over the top of the filling. Bake 40-45 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit juices are bubbling up around it.

Maple Pecan Tarts

Pecan pie is one of the easiest desserts you can bake. Just whisk together all the ingredients, pour into purchased shells and bake. No fuss, no mess, no complicated instructions or time consuming prep. This is my kind of pie. And as an added bonus, it tastes divine.

Yield: 8 mini pies

Ingredients

1 package of 8 frozen mini pie shells
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 large eggs, lightly whisked
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, plus 8 perfect pecan halves for garnish.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Remove frozen/unbaked mini pie shells from wrapping and place on a foil lines cookie sheet.
Distribute the chopped pecans between the 8 pie shells.
Whisk together remaining ingredients.
Pour filling into shells and over nuts. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of filling mix.
Place a pecan half in the center of each pie and drizzle the reserved filling over the pecan half.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until the tops are puffy and the crust is golden brown.


Heaven in a butter shell.

Mini Apple Pies

A few months ago I stumbled across a blog entry for Mini Apple Pies and fell in love with the concept. Miniature little pie shells, tiny crimped edges, the little gems were just too cute for words! I had to give them a try...




When the 4th of July rolled around, I decided to bake mini apple pies rather than my usual offering (Mrs. Smith's frozen pie). So off to the store I went for Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust and apples. People always say to use tart varieties like Granny Smith in pie filling, but I like a mix of sweet, tart, firm and soft apple in my pies. Just call be a pie rebel.


Below is the Apple Pie filling recipe I used. It is from Michael Lomonaco with a few minor adjustments by me (added brown sugar and nutmeg, eliminated cloves and raisins).

Ingredients:
2-1/2 pounds firm apples
1/2 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Pie Dough (make your own, or buy the roll-out kind like me)
1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoons water to make an egg wash


Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4-inch wedges.


Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the apple wedges and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar to the apples and stir until combined. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and stir.

In a small cup combine the lemon juice and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the sauteing apples. Stir to combine and remove pan from the heat. Let cool completely.


Roll out your pie crust to 1/8" thick and using a 5-1/2" bowl, cut out a circle.


Don't , I repeat DON'T, use a 4-1/2" cookie cutter for this! It may look big enough, but it doesn't give you enough extra dough to crimp the top and bottom crusts together. Just look at what happened to my first batch:

~~ Oh the Shame ~~

I used the 4-1/2" round cookie cutter and the bottom piece of raw dough fit perfectly into the cupcake pan, BUT I didn't have nearly enough dough to form a good crimp. I was hesitant, but I told myself it would be okay and forged boldly ahead. Little did I know what horrors awaited me. Sometime during baking process the seal failed and apple filling bubbled out. The sticky stuff oozed onto the pan and down in between the bottom crust and the side of the cupcake well. What a mess. What a royal mess. The pies stuck to the pan like glue and in some cases had to be chiseled free. So learn from my mistake and give yourself a lot of crimping room.

Now back to the directions....
Place the (extra large) circle of dough into the cupcake well.

And carefully smooth and stretch the sides to fit flat.


Overfill with that delicious pre-cooked apple filling.


Put a smaller round of dough on top of the filling (I did use the 4-1/2" cookie cutter for the tops), and squash the edge of the top crust into the bottom. Trim off the excess, leaving about 3/8 - 1/2" of dough all the way around.


Crimp the top and bottom pie crust together and curl on top of the pie. Don't leave the crimped edge on the flat part of the cupcake pan or the crust will burn. Add pie dough decorations (I used little cut-out leaves) and cut three little slits for steam venting. Brush the top with egg wash (oops, I put the egg wash on a little too thick), and sprinkle with sugar (I used coarse decorating sugar).


Pop the minis into an preheated, 375 degree F oven and bake for 20 minutes (or until the crust is golden brown).

That's it. Easy as pie.

Enjoy…

Strawberry Pie

I never realized how many strawberries are in a “flat”. I bought a flat a few days ago, and after making strawberry cupcakes, strawberry cookies, and strawberry shortcake I still had 6 of the 12 pints remaining. So what is a girl to do??

What else, Make Strawberry Pie…

Here is the cooking…

The pouring…

The final product…

Don’t you just love strawberries!

Hubig Pie

There is nothing as tempting as a Hubig's Pie. Fresh fruit wrapped in tender crust, deep fried, and then enrobed in a thin sheen of crunchy icing. Was there ever a more perfect junk food invented?

I think not....